Taming Bigfoot

The Taming Bigfoot carbon emissions calculator provides a simple way for users to track their impact on the environment. Knowing the environmental impact of how we chose to live our life empowers each of us to decide how we can best contribute to a more sustainable future. Quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions from many of your everyday actions is the first step. The Taming Bigfoot calculator takes basic information about your home energy, water and public transit use, garbage production, and fuel and food purchases to determine your carbon footprint. The footprint is measured in terms of pounds of carbon dioxide gas, but accounts for all the various greenhouse gases associated with all the included consumed fuels and goods.

Data entry is easy. Each item can be input separately, as they happen, or in batches, e.g., each week or month. As you enter data, you will see how each affects your total carbon footprint. In addition your total footprint is divided into three separate categories: Home, Transportation and Food/Shopping.

The second step in contributing to a sustainable future is deciding how to reduce your carbon footprint. The Taming Bigfoot app allows reports on how your monthly footprints are changing, so you can see the environmental impact of choices you make. Knowledge is power and the developers of this app hope that the app helps you help the world.

The Taming Bigfoot calculator originated as a tool used in a series of Taming Bigfoot competitions in Washington State. The competitions challenged teams to first determine their current collective carbon footprint and then formulate and implement a strategy to reduce their footprint as much as possible. Participants in these competitions learned about the relative impacts of various more-sustainable practices, enjoyed the opportunity to help and be helped by others on their team work toward a common goal.