technofatty Questions, awkwardly answered.

Questions, awkwardly answered.

This tool uses UK context. View US version →

Life · Carbon guilt gauge

Carbon Guilt Gauge

Is your environmental anxiety proportionate to your actual footprint — or is individual guilt being used while structural causes go unaddressed?

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Life Under 2 minutes Verdict card

Carbon guilt gauge

Waiting for your input

Enter your flight frequency, diet, car use, and home energy source. Podge returns your real footprint versus the average, and a frank assessment of whether personal changes are the right target.

What this means

This instrument starts blank so it does not judge a made-up example before you have entered your own situation.

Formula used

Carbon footprint score = flights per year + diet carbon factor + car use factor + home energy source factor. Guilt calibration = footprint versus UK average, adjusted for whether systemic factors dominate.

Worked example

One long-haul flight per year + meat-heavy diet + daily car commute + gas heating = above-average footprint. One long-haul + vegan diet + no car + renewables = below average despite the flight. Guilt proportionate to footprint.

Common questions

Is individual action on carbon pointless?
No, but it is frequently over-weighted relative to systemic change. The tool distinguishes between users who have a high personal footprint and those who are carrying guilt out of proportion to their actual impact.

What is the UK average carbon footprint?
Around 7–10 tonnes CO2e per person per year in total, including embedded carbon in products and services. This tool focuses on direct behaviour categories: travel, diet, and energy.

Plain-English summary

Fill in the questions on the left to generate a verdict card.

This section translates the result into a short, direct takeaway rather than leaving the page at a bare number.

Disclaimer: This tool uses approximate carbon factors. Individual footprints vary significantly. This is a calibration tool, not a precise carbon audit.

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