For a rude awakening on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that our home is creating, I tried several carbon emissions calculators, with mixed results. 

My calculations were based on our annual electricity usage of 15,130 KW and our gas consumption of 2868 m3. Some calculators work with the corresponding annual or monthly costs.

According to Zerofootprint, which calculates the emissions per individual, based on our average monthly cost of our electricity and gas consumption  it would appear that our home generates 18.4 tonnes of carbon, or 4.4 tones per person. (Un)holy smokes!

According to Carbon Zero, our home's emissions work out to 9.99 tonnes CO2e per year.

Hmm, that's quite a variance, so I checked the Climate Mundi calculator which netted 8.77 tonnes. My personal emissions with our car factored in came in at 5.53 tonnes (according to Zerofootprint), which is on par with the national average.

However, Zerofootprint reminds us that "we’re going to have to bring that number down by a huge percentage if we are to avert catastrophic climate change. Some say as much as 90%."

Until we are able to significantly reduce our home's carbon emissions, we are contributing to carbon offset projects, like supporting wind power, that will "neutralize" our net emissions in the atmosphere.

Carbon offsetting is supposedly an easy and affordable way for us to take responsibility for the emissions we create. But, really, the key is to reduce carbon emissions, rather than fooling ourselves into thinking we can just neutralize our impact.

Zerofootprint Offsets is a Toronto-based carbon offset company that combines renewable energy and tree planting in its mix of offset projects.