Carbon footprints

I seem to be shuttling back and forth between cultures so much I am either so far ahead of my current pack or so well behind them that my terminology is incomprehensible to anyone but myself.

One term I heard a lot from my English friends on my pass-through last year is Carbon Footprint - a conveniently packaged phrase that I don't think was so audible in Canada by the time I left, though perhaps that has changed. It would still be understandable in context of course, it's just that it didn't seem to have permeated the public discourse as it had in England.

The Guardian published an article recently which lets you calculate the size of yours (hint: it should be small, and "you live like an American" is not the rating to strive for).

You can also use their handy Climate Care Calculator for a quick look at what your lifestyle costs the environment. While you are cleaning up your act, you can pay your penance directly to a charity called Climate Care. Or if you prefer your calculator American-style, there's another one at Carbonfund.org.

It's an interesting and topical area for the food industry which, it seems, leaves not so much a footprint as a crater.