In our daily lives, everyone uses goods and participates in activities that result in the consumption of energy. Depending on where you live and how your goods were produced, the source of the energy used to make the amenities you use may differ. In the U.S.A., the majority of our energy is derived from fossil fuels, which create greenhouse gases during the process generating energy. Germany, on the other hand, has reduced fossil fuel use to the point that fossil fuels are responsible for less than half of the electricity generated in the country. The total amount of greenhouse gases produced directly or indirectly by an individual, organization, event, product or service, known as a "carbon footprint", is used to measure the impact of the entity on the environment.
What we eat and drink in every day has a profound effect on our carbon footprint. Many people in Germany choose to be vegan, vegetarian or reduce their meat consumption in order to lower their carbon footprint. Raising livestock requires more water use than growing vegetables. Raising livestock also requires more land, and natural lands are often destroyed to make land for grazing and feed production.
