In keeping with the aims of the Sustainable Official Community Plan, the City of Powell River will be posting a link to a carbon footprint calculator on its website.
At the Thursday, November 20, council meeting, Councillor Myrna Leishman said the initiative came to council through the sustainability steering committee.
The recommendation was that the city provide a link to the LiveSmart BC carbon footprint calculator on the city website to assist citizens with estimating their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on their energy consumption.
Council carried a motion to post the calculator.
According to a report from Marie Claxton, city clerk, heating, transportation, food resources and travel can all be evaluated via a carbon footprint calculator to determine greenhouse gas emissions. She indicated the city has a number of options for including a carbon footprint calculator on the website. The simplest way is to provide a link to an already established calculator.
Claxton’s recommendation was LiveSmart BC, which provides a simple calculator that provides an accurate household GHG calculation based on home heating, water heating, dishwasher, washer/dryer, fridge, freezer, automobile and flights use. The calculator also provides tips on reducing energy consumption in each category.
Once an individual has inputted data into the calculator, the individual’s results are compared with the BC average. The calculator does not save any data, nor does it create or store a personal profile. Readers can view the calculator online.
