Something I am very willing to change would be my shower time. Taking long showers increases our co2 emission because of the gas water heating system in houses. For some people this can be an easy thing to change, but for others it can also be hard. Many people use showers as their time of relaxation and alone time (like me). After a long day all I want to do is stay in a warm shower and relax, but taking a shorter shower will minimize my relaxation time. This would be a challenge I would encounter. Some support that would make my life easier could be to ask for more time alone away from my siblings from my parents.

I completely agree! After a long day, I find enjoyment in my showers because they are the one time I can truly relax without any distractions. However, I know how big of an impact long showers have on the environment, and now that I’m aware, I am going to start cutting my time short. Shorter showers use less hot water, which means my water heater burns less energy and produces less CO2, helping reduce my personal carbon footprint. I’ve realized that I can still enjoy my relaxation time without harming the planet, like listening to calming music, or use scented soaps and lotions to make my shower feel luxurious even if it’s shorter. By being mindful and intentional about my shower routine, I can feel refreshed, unwind after a busy day, and still do my part to protect the environment.

By making small, thoughtful changes to what we eat, each of us can help create a healthier planet. Eating fewer resource-intensive foods, especially beef, can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions because cows release large amounts of methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas that is much more effective than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere over a 100 year period. Methane from cows adds a surprisingly large portion to our overall carbon footprint, not just from the gas itself but also from the land, water, and feed required to raise livestock. Making small shifts, like incorporating more plant-based meals or choosing environmental-friendly options, can collectively lower the environmental impact of our food system. I'm not telling you to never eat the foods you enjoy again, but all of us consuming slightly less of it can meaningfully cut methane emissions and conserve precious land and water resources. Even small dietary changes, when completed by millions, can help slow down climate change and create a more sustainable future for everyone.

There are many things that as people we naturally indulge in that we really have no need for. Because most people have evolved to be so naturally lazy we use things so environmentally horrible its shocking. Instead of driving your car to work you could bike instead,also by reducing shower times by just 5 minutes the energy needed to heat it could be affected greatly. Eating more organically and healthier could help you have a lower carbon footprint and be able to be more physically active meaning a bike is now a possible option over a car. Mass.gov says that other ways to be carbon efficient at home is to do things like recycle half of you plastic waste, and lower/ raise your thermostat depending on the temperature outside. With all of these together it is possible to make a comeback against mass carbon emissions and helps save humanity.

I agree with this completely since humans have evolved to be a lot lazier because we have made everything easier for humans. So for example instead of walking 20 mins to go to and from work we would instead just choose to take their car and save 15 mins of their day. So it is very important to understand the effects these actions will have on our environment and how they will eventually ruin our planet. So instead of making short term choices thinking that they wont effect anything we should instead make choices to better the overall health of our planet. Like instead of driving everywhere we go we could instead try to take public transit when you can. Also instead of taking 40 minute long everything showers we could try and cut down our shower time to only 15 or 20 minutes long. While doing your part by yourself stopping climate change is a group effort so reminding others to do their part can also play a big part in lowering the carbon footprint.

I also agree with this. Humans have gotten a lot lazier and more accustomed to things being made easy for us. For example, ordering clothing online; If you order online, there is often a lot of excess packaging, usually plastic. All this extra plastic being manufactured in large factories, which increases our greenhouse gas emissions. When you order something, it has to be shipped to you, either by plane, boat, and/or car. This further increases our carbon footprint. We have also become more, and more reliant on fast food, or factory made foods. These all have plastic containers or packaging, which greatly effects our environment. These are things that are now in our daily lives, and I think that even if we can't avoid these things every day, we can still try our best to avoid them as much as possible, even if its just a few times a week.

Earth's temperature is warming up at an alarming rate due to how big our carbon footprint is. The global average carbon footprint per person is 4.8 metric tons. Due to how much CO2 we are releasing sea levels are rising and our ecosystem is collapsing. Most of CO2 comes from our households due to how much energy they hold. A way to reduce how much CO2 your producing is using a renewable energy source. An example of this is implementing solar panels. Additionally, you can use fans instead of air conditions. Another method you can use to lower your carbon footprint is unplugging your devices when your not using them or installing low-flow showerheads since they are proven to reduce water consumption and the energy needed to heat water. The final method I recommend is following the RRR rules. Reduce, reuse and recycling minimize waste and gives items a second chance. Most people throw items after one use since it has become normalized in society. But small changes like the ones I just recommended add up to a big step towards lowering your carbon footprint.

I totally agree that it is the small things in what we do that could make the biggest change. Especially since most people would be much more likely to change small things like starting to recycle more instead of ridding a bike all the way to work because of the drastic change it would be to there life.

The growing human population is one of the many problems humanity is facing. Every person has an individual carbon footprint which affects our atmosphere with greenhouse gases and climate change. Every person on average has a carbon footprint of around 4,700 kgs (according to google). A quick calculation shows that the global carbon footprint is around 37.6 trillion kgs if the population is exactly 8 billion (which it’s not, it’s higher than that). That number is extremely high and will heavily impact our atmosphere. T
he population is expected to reach 10 billion around 2060-2070. At that point the global carbon footprint could be around 47 trillion kgs. This number could also get way larger if technology over times increases the average carbon footprint per person. Some consequences of this carbon footprint include: an increase in natural disasters, floods, unpredictable weather, and a heavy increase in global temperature.
This can all be avoided however, we as a population can cut back on some costly lifestyle choices that increase our carbon footprint, such as being responsible for when we run our water, and turn on the lights. Technology could also benefit our carbon footprints in the future by reducing the amount of carbon used for everyday items such as cars, lights, fans, etc. The future doesn’t have to be a scary doomsday scenario and it’s not too late to turn around and heal the planet so we don’t end up with an atmosphere similar to Venus.

According to Yale Climate Connections, in 2023 SHEIN (a popular online fast fashion company) emitted 16.7 million total metric tons of carbon dioxide. In addition to this, another fast fashion website called Temu contributes to 10% of carbon emissions in the fashion industry (GreenMatch.co.uk). Fast fashion is largely harmful to our environment, the way that these clothes are produced in factories is unsustainable and often inhumane. A lot of people buy clothes from these websites because they are incredibly cheap in comparison to most available clothes. However, there are ways to get cheaper clothing without relying on fast fashion clothing. Thrift stores and charity shops have affordable clothing that is often much higher quality than the clothing available on fast fashion websites. Thrift stores are much better for the environment because they reuse clothing that has already been manufactured and worn by others, meaning it does not produce any more carbon. It also prevents clothes that people don't want from being put in landfills, leading to less waste. Another reason people buy clothing from these websites is because of trends and current fashion cycles. If you have old clothes that you don't like anymore, instead of buying new clothing, you can upcycle clothing by altering them into different styles of clothing, trying new/different ways to wear clothes, or embellishments like embroidery, paint, and patches.

I heavily agree with this sentiment. I would also like to add how according to Sakshi Venkataraman from NBC News, these rich corparations advertise their fast fashion through micro trends that last for a few, or maybe even one month and that is why they are made with such low quality materials. They are created to be thrown after a few months and it is very sad. Usually when I see these clothes in stores like Ross, where unbought clothes are sent for a cheaper price, I sew and alter them for both the benefit of me and also the benefit for the earth by making them longer lasting, which makes me need to buy clothes less.

Adding to this; with how tarrifs are now and the prices on these "fast fashion" websites, there is absolutely no excuse any longer to not go thrifting or go to affordable clothing stores. I'd also like to say that we should strive for natural-fibre clothing rather than synthetics. The material also promotes biodegradation.

buy a sheep, spin its wool, and then sew your own clothes. loads more climate friendly than recycling clothes that might have aids on it. unless you want them to get aids so that their are less humans polluting the earth.

ay carumba

Reducing carbon footprints requires coordinated individual and collective efforts. On a personal level, limiting vehicle use, conserving electricity, and adopting sustainable diets can reduce emissions. At the community level, investments in solar energy, green building design, reforestation, and efficient public transportation systems can create substantial reductions. For example, implementing electric school buses and renewable energy grids can reduce carbon output dramatically. Understanding the balance between individual responsibility and policy-level interventions is critical for effective climate action.

There are many ways that we can lower  our carbon footprint, The main feeder of our carbon footprint is from the burning of fossil fuels, like Electricity, heating, transportation, etc. We need to use less fossil fuels. Just buy more blanket, use public transportation.  If we don't lower Our carbon footprint, there will be no future. We need to deduct the use of our carbon footprint.

I agree with your statement, but I would also like to include that we can use renewable energy like water, windmills, and solar panels. This can also help us lower our carbon footprint and burn less fossil fuels so we lower our global temperature.

If you have kids, I found a website that shows you arts and craft ideas you can do with recyclable materials, so they do not end up in our oceans or streets. Kids have such creative imaginations and anything you give them is a blank canvas. For example, an egg carton. They can paint it, glue faces or other materials to it, or they can draw it! This is just one of many examples.

Here is the link if you'd like to check it out. https://craftprojectideas.com/now-trend … earth-day/

One creative way to reduce carbon footprint is to start gardening! This may be some like an added job, but there are so many benefits. It gets you outside, people say they feel like they have a responsibility with great reward, and you can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases you transmit to the atmosphere.

Click here to learn more tips and tricks to reduce your carbon footprint.
https://greenamerica.org/reduce-your-im … 0Footprint

Transportation plays a big role in carbon emissions because most vehicles that aren't electric run on fossil fuels like gasoline. This causes tons C02 to be released into the atmosphere when cars, trucks and airplanes burn these fuels. In many countries transportation in the biggest source of C02. To help the planet we need transition from using gas transportation to using electric cars, biking places more, or using more public transportation, also cities making public transportation electric can also help a lot.

I'm so glad electric cars are becoming more common now, because they are super helpful for reducing carbon emissions and are a lot better for the environment (and a lot cheaper because no buying gas!) than regular cars. I see electric cars all the time now in my city, which is really great!

For me, what I would do would be to use more bicycles and public transport, avoid eating meat often, but what would work would be to buy more electric cars, use bikes, not eat meat often, and check the car.

I was very surprised by the high carbon levels in America compared to other countries' averages. It got me thinking: why is America so bad at reducing its emissions? I have a couple of solutions to this, starting with producing more naturally produced foods or producing things like meat in a more carbon-efficient way. This could bring down the carbon footprint immensely if people in the US did not eat at fast food restaurants so much and supported more places that sell natural foods. We could also switch things like gas stoves and gas cars for electric stoves and electric cars, which emit less carbon than gas-powered items.

Over the past few years climate change has accelerated with the average temperature today being 1.1 Celsius higher then what it was in 1880. This may not seem like a lot but the more we continue, the worse it gets. One leading cause to this problem is us, In 2023 37 billion metric tons of carbon was produced and over time that number will grow. My carbon footprint exudes the average of the person which is why I should take an effort to take action now. I also personally believe that grabbing the attention of people is the most important part of this process because the more people that are involved, the better of an impact we have. There are also thousands of other solutions to this problem like stopping the burning of fossil fuels as they contribute to 89% of CO2 emissions which is the biggest leading cause to climate change and why It's time for action.

You brought up some really strong points about climate change. That 1.1°C temperature rise doesn’t sound huge at first, but like you said, it makes a big difference over time. The carbon emissions number from 2023 is honestly kind of shocking.

I also agree with you about how important it is to get people’s attention. A lot of folks don’t realize how serious this is or think their actions won’t matter. But if more of us talk about it and actually make changes, we can have a bigger impact together. ?

I’ve been trying to cut back on driving and use public transport more when I can. It’s a small thing, but I think if everyone does something, it adds up. Thanks for sharing – your post definitely made me think more about what else I could do!

The average person worldwide produces about 4 tons of CO2 yearly, while the average American produces 16 tons. At this rate, global temperature will rise by approximately 2.5°C by the year 2040. This would increase the risk of extreme heat waves, droughts, floods, sea level rise, and the overall ecosystem collapse. In today's modern world, producing carbon is inevitable, but reducing carbon release will go a long way. Most carbon emissions come from households, and simple ways to reduce emissions are by switching to LED light bulbs, unplugging inactive devices, air drying wet clothes, washing clothes with cold water, and using ceiling fans during warm seasons. High carbon emissions also come from transportation. This can simply be reduced by carpooling and using public transportation. Working from home is another recommendation, if possible, to decrease the necessity for transport. Food is another significant factor in high carbon rates. Eating less meat and dairy, buying locally grown food, and composting food scraps decrease carbon production. Finally, what a person buys impacts the environment and ecosystem via carbon emissions. Producing more products for human use releases CO2 into the air. A simple way to help is by buying only what you need, repairing rather than replacing, and using recycled materials.

Its hard to think big and try to help the world with just two hands! That's why taking small steps and making small actions are easier. There are many things you can do on your own too! For example you can, recycle, walk and bike, donate to environmentally friendly organizations, take shorter showers, turn lights off, or go thrifting! When I calculated my carbon footprint i noticed that a big percentage of my purchases number was from buying new most of the time. Buying used items is a great way to reduce our plastic waste and the amount of money we are spending. But it is also a great way to reduce the amount of transportation needed to import items from far away. Most of us don't pay attention to the shipping when buying things online, but some items can come from across the world, needing a boat or airplane to ship. And even fewer people pay attention to shipping when inside a physical store. For some items, like clothing, all it takes is to look at the tag to see where it was made. With larger and more popular stores and brands, most of their items will be shipped from other countries, especially if the store originates somewhere else. So thats why when you shop local, you have a higher chance of finding items that have not been shipped or at least not from far away. So why pay for carbon to be released atmosphere when you can spend your money on an item with better quality that is made either locally, or has already been used!

I think you make so many good points. What caught my eye in your post is the title and the idea that small actions are easier, because I think that it is so true and so few people think about it that. Climate change and our carbon emissions are this huge problem and so people are scared to try and take it on because it is so hard to see that there are smaller pictures in the larger one. And that if each of us take smaller actions that will create a larger action and that will get the ball rolling. But it is really hard to see where the best place to start is and if that information was more widespread and shared better than more people would begin to take action. For me, when I was calculating my carbon footprint a big percentage came from transportation. And in the US that is a really big contributor to carbon emissions because there is not a lot of easy access to public transportation and people have such hectic schedules that it is really hard to stop and think about carpooling. So for a small action that I think would be good to take is carpooling more. I carpool to and from my sport, and I ride a public bus to school, but there is still so much driving that I do. And it is really hard to change how much we need to drive because there are not a lot of options but if more people just started to carpool that could make a big difference.

I totally agree with what you said and I hope people eventually realize that we all have complete power over our everyday choices when it comes to helping the environment. After calculating my carbon footprint I realized that every decision I make adds up, because other people around the globe are doing the same, without even realizing. Your observation about buying locally is super important especially because most people ignore it. While online shopping, most people do not pay attention to where their items might be shipping from, but the journey it takes to get here; whether through a boat, a truck, an airplane, etc, all takes a tremendous amount of energy. Additionally, these large businesses that are selling you their products are only in it for the profit. They are not being held accountable for the fossil fuels they are releasing into the environment, nor are they putting a lot of care into their products. Converting to buying locally helps keep those selling closer to home, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions needed to produce their product. Shopping locally also almost guarantees you are making a good purchase, knowing that these businesses truly care about its customers. If we start to understand that we can make a change with just our “two hands”, we can truly help the environment, which is what really matters.

We have to start making changes about saving resources such as water,electricity, reusing materials that we can use multiple times, trying to use as little plastic as possible. We must try to refuse plastic bags when we go shopping. When we wash the dishes, we should turn off the water when we don't need it. Let's not leave the TV on when we're not watching it. We can donate old clothes that we don't wear or at least turn them into rags.

I agree with everything you said. By doing these things we can help our planet and save it for future generations. Some other things that I can think of and always do is turn off the lights when I leave a room and not to leave the water running while brushing my teeth. Water is something we won't have forever, and eventually we will run out of it, so we have to be careful when using it. Like the tittle says now it's time for action because if we don't act now soon we won't be able to save our planet anymore.

More than half of my recorded footprint came from food because I go through like 3 gallons of milk by myself in a week.  If I went vegan or something my footprint would be below average but I just consume too much dairy.  And it's not even meat like I eat a considerable amount of meat too but nothing outside of what's considered the normal amount, plus I need the protein for working out.  On top of that I feel like it can't be good for my health, humans are the only animal that drinks milk from another animal and that just doesn't sound natural.  literally when I input dairy in the food category my total went up by like 3,000 kg it was insane

You are right. Accordingly to environmental studies, cow's milk has significant impact due to methane production which contributes to climate change. There are several better alternatives to cow's milk that are more sustainable and offer similar nutritional benefits. Oat milk, almond milk or even rice milk would help you lower your carbon footprint. Personally, oat milk tastes the best to me.

I believe that I could eat less cheese, which comes primarily from cows that produce methane from their bodily gases.  Along with cows, eating less steak and beef would help slow climate change, as less use of cows means that the farmers will need less and therefore there will be a decrease in the methane released in total.

I’ll be willing to cut the water waste. I take a shower in the morning to get ready in the morning then I shower at night. My showers at most are up to 15 minutes. Challenges could be staying clean, I take two showers usually because I'll start to smell like every other person. I also run a lot which causes me to smell so I shower for that as well. So my wanting to stay clean is gonna outweigh trying to help the environment. My parents would probably want it and I could just use more deodorant and calones.

I know that everyone likes ice cream, milk, Mac n' Cheese, and just cheese in general--- but have you ever thought about how it affects the climate? Cows--- the source of all our dairy--- release methane, a global-warming inducing chemical, through their digestive system.(As in, when they b*rp or far*...) Personally, I am the only dairy eater in a lactose-intolerant family, but I still feel that we could cut back on the dairy so that farms don't breed cows so much, and so (Hopefully) the amount of methane going into the atmosphere will reduce. (Lactose-free ice cream is good, people!) This is just a thought, but personally, I will try to cut back on the dairy. A pebble in the ocean still creates a ripple! Thanks for hearing me out, and if anyone has any other ideas that don't involve giving up cheese for the sake of the world and reducing methane, I'm all ears!

Yes, I agree with everything you are saying but I also think it is important for people to realize the other impacts of eating dairy or even the animal agriculture busyness in a whole. Yes, cows producing massive amounts of methane is a problem. But we can reduce the amount of methane that cows produce by feeding them what they are originally built to be fed. Grass. The main reason we need to cut back on dairy and meet products is because grazing for animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of deforestation all across the world. Because of the space needed to grow the grain they eat, thousands of acres of forest are being destroyed ever second. And because the amount of water used to water the grain fed too the cows and the amount they drink in a lifetime before they are slaughtered eating one hamburger is equivalent to taking a shower for two months. So yes cutting back on ice cream, cheese, milk and meet can all help there is a bigger problem that not a lot of people have been educated about.

Through most most people's carbon footprints, you can realize that most familes have their carbon footprint based onto either food or transportation. There many ways you can solve each problem. First, to solve food carbon footprints, I would first suggest going vegetarian because when you eat and buy meat, you can cause a large amount of carbon footprint. Another way to restrict carbon footprint by going fo something local. The first way is to simply go to a local vegtable shop and buying something there. Even if you still want to buy meat, you should still use it through a local source. If you want to use transportation, it should be better if travel and have vacations locally and not go somewhere very far. Even if you do, you should still use public transportation like trains to get somewhere. This will be able to help solve many of the world's problems in our carbon footprint.

Yes I, believe going vegetarian will help, because if we don't eat a lot of meat it won't cause a large amount of carbon footprint. So I totally agree that eating vegetables will help lower the carbon footprint. And I also agree that going for vacation not going to a far place also helps the carbon footprint lessen

Yes, being vegetarian would be better for Earth. Because we wouldn’t pollute the world more.

Vegetarian is better for the Earth but it is also really hard for many families to stop eating meat. It might work to gradually start eating vegetarian meals.

While I agree that eating less or no meat is better for the earth, it isn't always that easy. Eating meat is an important part of many cultures, and it isn't fair to ask those people to stop eating meat. I think we also have to consider that a big part of the carbon coming from meat is from the deforestation and clearing of land for animal agriculture. Because of this, the land that we are already using for animal farming would still be used to grow alternative sources of protein. While it would reduce the amount of methane being released by a lot, I don't think we can "fix" this problem, or erase our food carbon footprint. In addition, other sources of protein such as quinoa or chickpeas are much more expensive than meat, and there are many countries and people who cannot afford the alternate options. Yes, whoever can should consider eating less or no meat, but we can't ask everyone to cut meat out of their diet.

i think you make a valid point but it is also very difficult to do these things for example some people live far away from there schools or stores, I live very far away from my school and therefore have to drive there. in addition to this it can be very difficult to just stop eating meat and to buy local for some people. As an example some people only have enough money to buy food at stores such as costco because they have lots of family or not enough money to afford high quality local vegetables. Also for some people eating meat is culturally important. I think it is important to think about what you are saying before you say it especially on the internet because it is difficult to judge others comfort unless you know them and in this situation not many people can follow through on this advice.

Did you know that progress in women’s political participation remains slow. According to my research on the UN Sustainable Development goals... In local governments, the participation was higher at 35.5% as of 1 January 2023. While global employment sees nearly 40% representation from women, they only held 27.5% of management positions in 2022, a notable decrease from 28.5% in 2021.

As we all know, climate change and carbon footprints are destroying our precious yet weakening planet. We talk about it all the time. We talk about the causes and effects, the solutions, and why we shouldn't produce so much carbon footprint. But no one really took action. Instead we just sit here ranting on and on about how evil humans are, and how "deeply necessary" it is that we do something, blah blah blah. Now, don't get me wrong, what we talk about is all right and true. But we need to take action. For example, I now walk to school more often than before, instead of riding in a car. Even though this may not seem like a big change at all, it is still something. Remember, small things lead to great things. For those who have the ability to make a bigger change, don't wait, just do. This is for our planet. It's dying day by day while you're deciding if you should buy one more pair of shoes to add to your LOVELY shoe collection.
So please, let's start taking action into saving our planet Earth, and its wondrous nature. Big or small, it's still something, and it will help lead to a better future for everyone.

Hello, I think it's important to make a conscious effort to reduce our carbon footprints, because spreading awareness without effort does nothing for the planet. Unfortunately, for some people, they have to rely on cars to go to/from work or school, but carpooling could cut down the use of car emission overall. Reducing personal use of electricity and plastic can add up, and if everyone had this mindset the Earth could be taken care of better. I agree with your statement, a big or small effort is better than nothing!