There isn't a possible way to get an objective measurement of a "carbon footprint." It isn't possible. We barely are starting to get a feel for what kind of effect vegetation has on CO2 levels (by the way, CO2 is critical for life - the more there is, the better, as long as oxygen levels are good enough for respiration). Every time you breathe out, you put more CO2 into the air.
Actually, fluorescent light bulbs overall more harmful to the environment because they contain dangerous levels of mercury. The reason why they are being pushed as "green" is because they use less energy, and the only thing enviro-nuts care about is levels of CO2 (clearly they haven't done any research on photosynthesis - you should look it up, too. Besides, the correlation between temperature and CO2 is not only weak, but it looks more like they have it backwards). That being said, however, the amount you save on your electric bill is noticeable when you switch to fluorescent. I can't wait until they make LED's cheap enough for them to be used in home lighting. Much more environmentally friendly, less breakable, easier to clean up, use less energy, and last much longer.
Recycling is critical for having a sustainable level of resources, and helps to keep sustainable mining, extraction, and wood-harvesting practices. The most important thing is that we keep everything at a level in which the resources are ultimately infinite because they are replenished at the same rate they are expended.
Buying organic food does not help the environment, nor does it slow down any hurting of the environment. It's exactly the same as buying the non-organic stuff, only the chemical levels are slightly lower (even though the non-organic chemical levels are negligible) and the bacterial counts are significantly higher (my wife worked in a microbiology lab, and now she works in a chemistry lab at the same place. She knows).