Working fathers doing traditionally male household jobs like mowing the lawn and odd jobs around the home produce almost 3.75 tonnes of emissions each year.

Yesterday it was revealed Australian mothers juggling child-rearing responsibilities and housework pumped out more than four tonnes of emissions a year.

Not to be outdone, men pollute in other ways, emissions offset group Carbon Planet found.

Using a leaf blower once a fortnight for 15 minutes to clear up the garden and driveway produces almost 8kg annually.

Mowing with a two-stroke fortnightly for 20 minutes burns 29kg each year and buying a sandwich every day accounts for 120kg, including the production and transportation of ingredients.

Daily computer use produces 240kg of greenhouse emissions each year and watching TV for four hours a week pumps out 46.8kg.

The biggest single emitter, however, is driving to and from work. A sedan driven 40km five days a week spews out more than 2.7 tonnes of emissions. Taking the bus would slash that to 888kg.

Simon Hunter, a father-of-two and owner of a wood-fired pizza restaurant in Seaforth, usually does two separate trips in his car each day - one to the bank in the morning and one 20-minute drive to work in the afternoon.

He uses a toaster and kettle at breakfast, as well as his computer.

Mr Hunter is in charge of the garden at the family's Naremburn home and mows the lawn once a month, uses a leaf blower and, in summer, fires up the gas barbecue once a week.

The household's big energy guzzler is the airconditioning system, which he said would be switched on twice a day every second day.

In the garage, he has a typical set of tools, including drills, a chainsaw and a grass trimmer.

But he has been conscious of energy use since childhood.

"I make sure that lights are turned off when they're not being used because that's obviously money being wasted and it affects the environment," he said.

As the public debate on climate change heats up, Mr Hunter is thinking more about the latter.

"Everyone has to contribute, not just government but businesses and the individual," he said.

If government rebates were more generous, he and his wife Gaby would consider options like solar energy and rainwater tanks, but governments needed to re-educate a whole generation of Australians, he said.

"Governments have forced us into going one way - now they've got to take it the other way."