Grabbing that burger in the departure lounge before boarding your flight has just gotten worse. Farming the meat on your bun, and the emissions of your plane are among the top climate killers – that much was known. But now a new score card reveals that the companies in the business are not much better when it comes to their own climate credentials.

With little or no visible efforts to curb their carbon footprint, Wendy’s and Burger King are among those placed lowest in ClimateCount’s ranking of corporate commitment to climate protection around the world. McDonald’s, although placed marginally higher, outshines all others only by registering the largest annual drop in point score of any of the 145 companies surveyed.

Airlines do fare better on average. But particularly US airlines are among the most die-hart opponents of public policy moves towards climate protection.

Here are all the details and the ranking in the ClimateCounts.org scorecard flipbook

So we told you about how you can reduce your carbon footprint for air travel, right? Well, you can definitely reduce your carbon footprint on land, too–by doing things like recycling, cutting down on electricity, etc. And a new study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley gives you the chance to directly assess your impact on the environment.

 

According to the researchers, factors like who you are and where you live actually play the biggest role in how big or little your footprint is. The study analyzes a whole series of households, so it gives you the chance to calculate your carbon footprint AND compare it to other households–even your neighbors!

 

You can find the calculator on the Cool Climate Network website. After it helps you figure out the size of your footprint, the calculator helps you find ways to slash CO2 emissions, too. So take the challenge–what's your carbon footprint? How does where you live and who you are affect it?