I calculated my carbon and ecological footprints for 2022 – here’s what I found

I produced just one bin of recyclables and half a bin of general waste over the year, writes Donnachadh McCarthy

I did manage to grow or scrump eight months of fruit and green salad leaves. I also provided all my own jams, chutney and wild garlic pesto (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Every year on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday (2 October), I calculate my annual carbon and ecological footprints, in honour of Gandhi’s call on us to practise what we preach. It is my personal National Carbon Footprint Day. But like my self-employed tax return, it can be the subject of procrastination. I finally managed to do my eco-accounts last week.

On energy and transport, it was a good result, rubbish was as low as other years, but I bought more new clothing and household goods than I have for years. Mains water usage was up due to drought and my rain barrels springing leaks, and I switched to more vegan foods.

The headline figure was that my combined carbon footprint for home electricity, heating, flights (none), car (I do not own one) and e-bike was minus 0.2 tons of CO2.