You recycle and feel it is not enough
Because it is not, and you sense that.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to reduce your carbon footprint where it actually matters
Cut the emissions that matter, and stop sweating the ones that do not.
A course on personal emissions with a sense of proportion. It covers where a typical footprint actually comes from, why the actions people feel best about are often the smallest, the few changes that move the number, and how to think about what an individual can and cannot do.
Open Cadence on the App Store, type the sentence when it asks what you want to learn, and answer a few setup questions. Free to start. Android testers can request early access.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to reduce my carbon footprint, but I do not know which changes matter. Help me see where my emissions really come from and which actions make a real difference rather than a small one.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Rank your last year by flights, driving, heating and meat
These four dominate almost every personal footprint. Everything else is a rounding error next to them.
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Turn the heating down one degree
A single degree cuts heating energy by several percent for the whole winter, and nobody in the house will notice.
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Swap one weekly beef meal for anything else
Beef is in a different league from chicken, beans or fish. One swap a week does more than a year of paper straws.
- Best for
- Environment & climate
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What do you do now: recycle, drive less, eat less meat, or not much yet?
- What is your situation: car, flights, home heating, diet?
- Do you want to cut your own footprint, influence others, or both?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You feel guilty about everything
Straws, bags, flights, all at once.
You want to do the things that matter
And stop pretending about the rest.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06Where emissions come from
A typical footprint, by share.
The small actions
Bags, straws and recycling: why they feel good and count little.
Home energy
Heating, electricity and the changes that pay.
Travel
Flights, cars and the honest numbers.
Food
Meat, waste and what actually moves the figure.
Beyond your own footprint
Voting, work and influence.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Know your footprint
Home, travel, food and stuff, roughly sized.
Rank the actions
Which changes are big, which are small, and which are symbolic.
Make the big ones
Heating, flying, driving and diet, and how to change each realistically.
Keep perspective
What individuals can do, what systems must, and how the two connect.
Ideas this course corrects
Recycling is the most important thing you can do
The relative impact depends on your household and location. Compare travel, home energy, food and purchases alongside recycling.
Individual action is pointless
Individual choices are small; individual influence is not. And the big personal changes are not small.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to reduce your carbon footprint where it actually matters: what can I do today?
Rank your last year by flights, driving, heating and meat. These four dominate almost every personal footprint. Everything else is a rounding error next to them. Turn the heating down one degree. A single degree cuts heating energy by several percent for the whole winter, and nobody in the house will notice. Swap one weekly beef meal for anything else. Beef is in a different league from chicken, beans or fish. One swap a week does more than a year of paper straws.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A course on personal emissions with a sense of proportion. It covers where a typical footprint actually comes from, why the actions people feel best about are often the smallest, the few changes that move the number, and how to think about what an individual can and cannot do. It sits under Environment & climate in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to reduce my carbon footprint, but I do not know which changes matter. Help me see where my emissions really come from and which actions make a real difference rather than a small one.
Open Cadence on the App Store, type the sentence when it asks what you want to learn, and answer a few setup questions. Free to start. Android testers can request early access.