I have noticed significantly different trends in global carbon footprint averages. I think that the climate, social norms, economic status, environmental consciousness of the nation in which you live are all important contributing factors. For example, where I live in Vancouver, the average carbon footprint for students at my school is 8,844. This is around average for most of the world, but for some places, for example compared to some schools in California, it is extremely low. I think part of this has do with the fact that are more wealthy than the average person where I live, so they fly much more than average. Also the average purchases are much higher, likely because they have more money to buy things. Also, in much more extreme climates, you use more carbon to heat homes. In dense cities, the carbon footprint for transportation is lower than rural areas, because it less walkable, and longer distances are travelled every day. These are just a few thoughts on why carbon footprints vary so much globally.

Hi tivakc! I agree that your carbon footprint varies for where you live. A big contributor of the difference of our carbon footprints to the places I think is transportation.Where I live transit is a big part of the city and there are so many options to walk ,bus, and sky train.But for example in more rural areas they can only drive to get simple things like groceries or to get school. I think it’s important to factor in what is accessible for others in different cities instead of just judging people for what parts they play in climate change. It would be great if all cities had transit, locally grown food, and a fresh water supply. Does anyone have any ideas of what we can change in our communities to make things more accessible?

For my personal carbon footprint I think it shows that I use a lot of hot water and it made my co2 go up by a lot. firstly I take showers longer than 15 mins and I use hot water when washing laundry in my house. But I'm going to try my hardest to take showers less than 15 mins and suggest to the people and my house to use warm water instead of hot or even cold. Something that made my co2 level go down is that my house hold recycles very well. I really encourage people that don't recycle to at least try doing more fit because its really important to our ecosystem and it doesn't take that long.

When I submitted my carbon footprint I noticed that the "home" category was the highest. I think it's because I live in two homes - one with my mom and sister and then one with my dad and sister (same sister). There for, there are less people in my household for the same use of electricity and gas. Some things I could do to make my carbon footprint go down in the "home" category would be to turn off the heat at night, only use heat when it's really cold and a sweater won't fix it, turn off lights when I leave the room, take shorter showers, buy LED lights instead of incandecent light bulbs, and only run the dishwasher when it's full. I'm sure there are more, if anyone has suggestions please let me know!

My carbon footprint is significantly lower than the average one in my state but a little higher than the world's average. I want to lower it because I want to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. My highest category of carbon emissions(?) is food, which is probably because I eat meat very often. I have no problem cutting down on that, so maybe that could be how I make a change.

Me too, I eat meat pretty often within a week for more protein. Although there are many alternitives we can switch to to still get the same amount of protein. Like Quinoa, peas and lentils all are very high in protein and are vegetarian. Food isnt the only thing keeping my carbon footprint high but also how often i leave my lights on. There are many times where i will turn my lights on in my room and walk away but forget to turn them off. So it does waste a lot of energy and increase my carbon footprint as well.

I was shocked when I saw my total carbon footprint because I didn't expect that I'm polluting so much. I was also shocked for my score at home becausse I'm trying to waste less. Usually at home I turn off the lights when I leave a room, I recycle and reuse items, I turn on the water only when I need it.

When i see mine i was shocked about it cause i didn't expect i do that much of polluting

Maybe you decompose foods that you don't eat.

I was shocked of how much carbon comes from meals and what you eat. Also when I checked at the end my food had the most carbon out of all of them.

plane flights can be a major role in your carbon footprint

I was very surprised to see my carbon footprint for purchases so low.

for me the only category that was really bad was transportation. but it was just bc I took a 16h flight from Germany to ca

Many flights over 3 hours can be a big reason peoples footprints are very high.

Transportation was the highest for me, mainly because I have to drive to everywhere I need to go.

You: 12,983 kgs
Average: 11,838

What can I change to lower my carbon admission.

Try turning things off when you aren't using them and walking, biking or using public transportation more.

You could turn the heat way down at night and use blankets instead.

My total footprint is 42,013kgs and the average is 21,237 kgs. My footprint is 3 times bigger than yours. My footprint is mostly in the home category, where's your's at?

My average carbon footprint was 18,856 kgs, and the average in Ohio is 21,237 kgs. However, I would like my footprint to be lower because most of it is in transportation, so I would try to ride my bike more.

My total footprint is 15,575kgs while the average is 21,237kg, shockingly, it's smaller than the average carbon footprint in my region, but most of my footprint is from my home.

My total footprint 37,058 and the average is 21,237. However, most of it comes from my house.

Looking at my home carbon footprint I realized it can definitely be reduced with it being almost 2000kgs over the average. One easy way to change it is to switch from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs it can save money and reduce CF. Another way is to wash clothes in cold water rather than hot reducing CO2 by 550 pounds and also is better for clothes making them less likely to shrink or fade.

More about lightbulbs from nps.gov:

If every household in the United States replaced one regular light bulb with an energy-saving model, we could reduce global warming pollution by more than 90 billion pounds over the life of the bulbs; the same as taking 6.3 million cars off the road. So, replace your incandescent bulbs with more efficient LEDs, which now come in all shapes and sizes. CFLs use a quarter of the energy incandescent lights use and last 20 times as long. Not only will you be reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but you will save money on your electric bills and light bulbs as well.

When doing this project I really felt my carbon footprint would be much higher than it actually was. I still want to do more though to continue bringing my carbon footprint down. One way I am going to is by trying to recycle and reuse items more often. I found some interesting sites that talk about how to reuse a lot of household items. But right now I am researching ways to reduce my carbon footprint. Here's a site I found interesting, https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/ … footprint/.

I also feel the same about my carbon footprint. Mine isn't so bad although I would love to lower it. Majority of my footprint comes from the home category. I feel like what can start doing is recycle and waste less. I don't waste much but I feel like what I don't eat that is organic material can go in a compost to give back to earth and help plants grow.

The results across the world were diverse in its own, however I think the majority of it depends on what's accessible to people. Transportation, for example, can be different for me than someone in the Netherlands. Where I am, there is not a prominent access to public transportations, so unfortunately my area relies on individual transportation. For people in other countries, it can be the complete opposite. While a conscious effort can always be made to cut down on personal transportation, such as carpooling, I believe these categories ultimately depend on what is accessible in different regions.

https://infrastructurereportcard.org/ca … 20transit.

I completely agree, while I may have buses where I live others don't. If accessibility because available in terms of buses then we could lower our carbon footprint significantly. The only problem is that we have to make the transportation method sustainable.

Planes are a huge contribution to carbon emissions. For me personally and my carbon footprint, my transportation segment was up to 13,626kg which is very high considering the average in my region is 2,557kg. I was below average in all the other categories but transportation is what seemed to trip me up. According to sierraclub.org, just 2 people in a fairly efficient (30 mpg) car generates lower emissions per person than the average plane. To put this into perspective, one gallon of gas produces 19.37 pounds of carbon dioxide, and one gallon of jet fuel produces 21.50 pounds. Although plane rides are sometimes inevitable and we cannot completely avoid them, it is important to sometimes think about alternative options to flying and really run through how much CO2 the plane you're onis emitting into the atmosphere.

Same

Agreed, Mine is really high for flights

My carbon footprint is about average, but I'm wondering how to cut down on my vacation footprint.

when renting a car on vacation, request on that uses less fuel, or don't even get a car and use public transport

I was better than other people until I entered the transportation. I fly a lot on airplanes, but I don't know how to reduce my carbon footprint. I can't stop taking fun vacations, and it is too far to drive.

I know right? My Co2 from traveling is literally off the charts, it just stretches on and on. Is there anything we can do?

My Co2 tracker was at the highest in the "Food" place, and I'm trying to cut back on the harmful things, but I agree, It's hard to figure out how we can help. My suggestion would be to bike or walk to school, even if it's a little far, or carpool so that there's less singular cars. Or, (If possible, I know we can't control this and some people have less money, this is a suggestion)

Sorry, my keyboard glitched and it cut off my message--- I meant "Or, (If possible, I know we can't control this and some people have less money, this is a suggestion) We could get electric cars for our families!" Sorry for the glitch, and again, this is just a suggestion. (Oh, wait, sorry, that typed weird, it sounded better in my head  :,|

Usually, flying does take up most of your carbon footprint, and it is hard to stop taking vacations, I agree with you Elias.