📊 Am I Normal?
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🌍 Environment

How sustainable is my lifestyle?

The average person needs 1.75 Earths — where do your habits land?

Rate each statement 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Your score updates live.

1I walk, cycle, or use public transport for most of my daily journeys.
2I avoid flying whenever possible and choose trains or video calls over air travel.
3If I drive, I have chosen a fuel-efficient, hybrid, or electric vehicle.
4I buy secondhand, repair items, or choose durable products over fast fashion and disposables.
5I actively reduce food waste — planning meals, using leftovers, and composting when possible.
6I eat a mostly plant-based diet or have significantly reduced my meat consumption.
7I recycle correctly, avoid single-use plastics, and bring reusable bags and bottles.
8I actively manage my home energy use — turning off lights, using efficient appliances, insulating.
9I use renewable energy at home or support renewable energy through my utility provider.
10I consciously limit hot water usage and keep my thermostat at an eco-efficient setting.

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How sustainable is the average lifestyle?

According to the Global Footprint Network, humanity currently uses resources at a rate equivalent to 1.75 Earths — meaning we consume 75% more resources per year than the planet can regenerate. Earth Overshoot Day — the date when humanity has used all biological resources that Earth regenerates in the entire year — fell on August 1 in 2024, earlier than ever. If everyone lived like the average American, we would need 5.1 Earths; the average European lifestyle requires 2.8 Earths.

Where does your footprint come from?

The average person's carbon footprint breaks down into four major categories:

  • Transport (27%): A single round-trip transatlantic flight generates ~1.6 tonnes of CO2 — nearly the entire annual budget for a 2-degree pathway (2.3 tonnes). Driving a petrol car averages 4.6 tonnes per year.
  • Food (25%): Producing 1 kg of beef generates 27 kg of CO2-equivalent, while 1 kg of lentils generates 0.9 kg. Poore & Nemecek (2018, Science) showed that even the lowest-impact animal products exceed the highest-impact plant alternatives.
  • Housing/energy (25%): Home heating, cooling, and electricity account for roughly a quarter of emissions. Switching to renewable electricity eliminates 1-3 tonnes of CO2 per year depending on your grid mix.
  • Consumption (23%): Fast fashion, electronics, and disposable goods have enormous embedded carbon. The fashion industry alone accounts for 8-10% of global emissions — more than aviation and shipping combined.

Individual action vs. systemic change

The concept of a "personal carbon footprint" was popularized by BP in a 2004 ad campaign to deflect responsibility from fossil fuel companies. While this framing is misleading — 71% of global emissions come from just 100 companies (Carbon Disclosure Project, 2017) — individual choices still matter for two reasons: they reduce actual emissions, and they shift market demand. Research by Sparkman et al. (2021) shows that visible individual action creates social tipping cascades that drive policy change.

The highest-impact individual actions

Wynes & Nicholas (2017, Environmental Research Letters) ranked personal climate actions by impact:

  • Have one fewer child: 58.6 tonnes CO2-equivalent per year (by far the largest)
  • Live car-free: 2.4 tonnes per year
  • Avoid one transatlantic flight: 1.6 tonnes per round trip
  • Eat plant-based: 0.8 tonnes per year
  • Switch to green energy: 1.5 tonnes per year

Three sub-scales in this quiz

  • Transport (items 1-3): Travel habits, vehicle choice, and flight frequency
  • Consumption (items 4-7): Purchasing patterns, food waste, diet choices, and recycling
  • Energy Habits (items 8-10): Home energy efficiency, renewable energy use, and resource conservation

Sources: Global Footprint Network (2024, Earth Overshoot Day), Poore & Nemecek (2018, Science), Wynes & Nicholas (2017, high-impact actions), Carbon Disclosure Project (2017, corporate emissions).