A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). In other words: When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2, depending on its fuel consumption and the driving distance. When you buy food and goods, the production of the food and goods also emitted some quantities of CO2. Even if you heat your house with electricity, the generation of the electrical power may also have emitted a certain amount of CO2.

Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2, which were induced by your activities in a given time frame. Usually a carbon footprint is calculated for the time period of a year.

(Source: China Daily)