For ages, I’ve been gripped by the widespread call to decrease your “carbon footprint.” It pushed me to become vegan, ditch fast fashion, and make many other lifestyle changes. However, after diving deeper into understanding the origins behind the term, I’ve realized that it isn't the perfect solution to climate change that I thought it was.

Take the case of the mobile app VYVE, which serves somewhat like a Fitbit, but instead of measuring steps, it calculates personal carbon emissions. On the surface, this sort of technology appears beneficial towards lowering overall emissions; however, it was sponsored by the oil company British Petroleum (BP), making me question its true motives.

BP first popularized the “carbon footprint” by tweeting about their “new calculator” in 2004. The phrase has spread like wildfire with many organizations such as the US Environmental Protection Agency and the New York Times all creating their own spinoff carbon calculators. Despite this, BP is still responsible for emitting 55 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, suggesting that greenwashing is at play. BP’s marketing team is effectively using the carbon footprint to serve as propaganda. The metaphor of carbon emissions as a “footprint” shifts the responsibility for environmental action onto the individual instead of industry and subtly downplays the role businesses play in causing climate change.

The fact that only 100 companies (BP included) produce 70% of global carbon emissions reinforces the idea that solely focusing on an individual’s carbon footprint is insufficient in making progress. The major drivers of a changing climate are enterprises such as industry, power grids, and the transportation sector, not individual actions. Thus, combating the climate crisis requires collective action and systemic change.

The dark truth behind the origin of the carbon footprint doesn’t necessarily mean that adopting sustainable habits is futile, but instead demonstrates that more responsibility must be shifted back onto corporations. To achieve this shift, we must be acknowledged that climate change is ultimately a systemic problem, not an individual one.