Does it exist? can it please? I am tired of bogus
carbon calculators. I just went to one from a source I trusted--a really nice urban homesteading book--and it had one thing broken and another was off by a factor of 4. I googled around till I got straight information on it, and I'm quite sure of the math for that figure.
I would really like a carbon calculator that really tells me how I'm doing.
If I'm going to put in the time and
energy to try to assess my impact on this planet and make changes, I'd like to have actual science to help me, rather than rhetoric.
If other people who have less interest in
sustainability than I do are going to put in 5" on Earth Day to do this, they
should at least be rewarded with truth.
I strongly doubt most of these calculators actually look at cradle-to-grave costs. i want cradle-to-grave costs.
I also want to have REFERENCES for EVERYTHING in the calculator. What numbers are you using? where did those come from? primary sources. Hm, this is like something that an ACADEMIC should be doing. Wouldn't that
be nice!
And I want to know also the amount of carbon I'm already costing just by enjoying the protections of the US Government,
local police force, construction of roads around me, I don't know what else I am supporting by paying my taxes...
I know it's really complicated and hard to figure all this out, but it's worth it. No made-up numbers. No unreferenced apps. People are not dumb. Their good will should not be squandered.
At the end of the day, I will still make my decisions by intuition, gut feeling, primarily. But I'd like the objective feedback I receive to be actually objective and accurate.
And then it would also be nice to know the positive impact that you have if, say, you put some tax dollars that go toward maintaining a public park with
trees in it, or don't cut down the ones in your
yard, or are involved in sustaining a non-profit that has
land with trees on it.
I know carbon isn't the only issue, and I know it's not necessarily even the most important one, but it is a measurable one.
Water is another.
I also want a water calculator.
Some techy out there please give me these things for my birthday (it's coming up. OK, in like three months, but still.)
Water includes water used per food item grown with irrigation.
I want to know if
Toby Hemenway is right, that I would be making better use of my resources supporting CSA's than trying to grow it myself.
Toby Hemenway is smart. He's right about a lot of things. But how do I know about _my particular case_? that's where a really accurate carbon and water calculator is needed.
OK, if this already exists and someone can point me to it, that would be great! I am the Simon Cowell of calculators, though, please keep in mind. I am willing to be really snobby about this.
Thanks.
