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The app shows two numbers. Your footprint is an estimate of the greenhouse gases your household activity causes in a year. Your offset is an estimate of the emissions your logged actions avoided. Both are in kilograms or tonnes of CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent), which puts methane and other gases on the same scale as CO₂.
Both are estimates, built to be useful for tracking your own progress. They are not an audit, and the offset is not a carbon credit.
Your footprint
Your answers in the calculator are multiplied by India-specific emission factors across six areas: electricity, cooking, transport, diet, waste and lifestyle. For example, grid electricity is counted at 0.82 kg CO₂e per kWh, based on the Central Electricity Authority's figures for the Indian grid. The more questions you answer with real figures, such as units from an electricity bill or the actual distance of your commute, the closer the estimate gets.
Green Coach names your biggest lever by picking the area with the largest share of your footprint.
The comparison figures
| Comparison | Figure used | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| India | 2.0 tonnes CO₂e per person per year | India average used across the app's calculations |
| World | 4.7 tonnes CO₂e per person per year | Global Carbon Budget, via Our World in Data (fossil fuels and cement, rounded) |
What counts towards your offset
An action counts only where there is a published, defensible conversion to avoided emissions. The factors are deliberately conservative.
| Action | How it's counted |
|---|---|
| Segregation verified by your collector | A fixed amount per pickup rated Good by your collector (half for Average), based on typical household wet waste kept out of landfill |
| Composting | About 0.5 kg CO₂e for each kilogram of wet waste composted instead of landfilled (methane avoided) |
| Recycling | Per kilogram handed over or sold, with a factor for each material: plastic, metal, paper, cardboard, glass, e-waste, used cooking oil |
| Batteries and e-waste | Per kilogram where weighed, otherwise a small fixed amount per drop-off |
| Donating and passing things on | Per kilogram for donations. Items given to neighbours use a typical, low-end weight for the kind of item |
| Repairing instead of replacing | A modest fixed amount per repair |
| Greener trips | Only the difference between a trip and your usual commute. A trip that is no better than usual counts nothing |
| Challenge days you keep | An amount per kept day set for each challenge; for travel challenges it depends on your commute |
| Daily missions | A fixed amount for missions with a clear saving, such as a public transport trip |
What doesn't count, and why
- Things without a defensible factor. Attending a cleanup drive, or a challenge you define yourself, is worthwhile but has no fair per-event conversion, so it isn't added.
- Anything bought or traded. The offset only reflects what you did.
Verified and self-reported
Some records are confirmed by someone else: your collector's segregation rating, a buyer weighing your scrap, a partner confirming a donation. Others are logged by you. Both count towards your offset where a factor exists, but your records keep them separate, so you can always see how much of your progress was independently confirmed.
Sources
- CO₂ emissions per capita — Our World in Data (Global Carbon Budget)
- CO₂ Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector — Central Electricity Authority
- Sixth Assessment Report — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Put this into practice with the EarthReheal app
Free on Android and iPhone. Know your footprint, sort any item, sell your scrap and join drives near you.
More help
How can I reduce my carbon footprint?
Find your footprint, see what matters most for your household, and track whether your changes are working.
Getting started with the EarthReheal app
What the EarthReheal app does, how to sign up, and where to find everything once you're in.
Where the EarthReheal app works
Which features work everywhere in India, and which depend on local partners in your city.
How challenges and daily missions reduce emissions
What each challenge avoids per kept day, how check-ins work, how to do a challenge with friends, and what the daily mission adds.
Cleanup drives: who runs them, and how to start or join one
Who organises cleanup drives and community events in the EarthReheal app, how to create your own, and how to find and join one near you.
Selling scrap, donating and sharing with neighbours
Who buys your scrap and how you're paid, how to donate to a registered partner, and how the Neighbours board keeps your number private.