Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
Reducing my carbon footprint
Reflecting back on my carbon footprint results, the biggest reasons my carbon footprint was as big as it was is for my transportation, and showering habits. One thing I can do to address my transportation portion of my carbon footprint is carpooling as much as I can. According to CoolCalifornia.org, "Carpooling can reduce the carbon footprint of an average household by up to 2,000 pounds (1 ton) of CO2e annually. Use the Household Carbon Footprint Calculator to find out what other actions can save money and lower your carbon footprint." Carpooling heavily affects the environment in a good way. I am taking this into consideration much more and I suggest the same for my peers and others who may read this discussion post. Secondly, my showering habits have gotten a little out of hand. I think I have been getting up to 20 minutes and beyond which is just too much as it is wasting water and severely affecting my carbon footprint. A solution is to make an effort to be quicker in the shower, being more conscious about your water use. This is something I need to work on very much because in California especially, we have been in a constant drought for a long time and taking super long showers does not help the cause. I am going to start making a better effort to moving faster in the shower. In conclusion, carpooling and being conscious of showering can lessen your carbon footprint significantly. I suggest anyone reading this post to take a carbon footprint test and reflect on your high use.