Ill be honest in the manner of you. For years, I avoided those "impact calculators" gone the plague. Theres something very humblingand frankly, a bit terrifyingabout staring at a cold, difficult number that tells you exactly how many Earths wed obsession if everyone lived taking into account me. We all bearing in mind to think were doing "enough" by recycling a few plastic bottles or skipping the straw at a caf. But deep down? I had a sneaking suspicion my lifestyle was in secret bloated.

Last month, I decided to end guessing. I sat next to with a coffee (admittedly, in a disposable cup, which I felt unpleasant about) and dove headfirst into using an online ecological footprint calculators footprint calculator and water carbon footprint calculator. It wasn't just a math exercise. It was a wake-up call that hit harder than my first tax bill.

Youve probably seen these tools loose vis--vis the web. Some are sleek and gamified; others look gone they were built upon a Windows 95 interface. I tried three alternative versions, and I noticed something weird: the results fluctuated wildly. One site told me I was animated quite sustainably (bless their hearts), though option suggested I was abandoned held responsible for the melting of the Arctic.