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 >
Water bottles
I think that using reusable water bottles is a great way to reduce one's carbon footprint. For starters, many companies will claim that their bottled water is healthier than regular tap water, but this is often not the case. In fact, many water bottles contains substance known as PET, which is commonly called polyester. Ingesting polyester is bad for one's health, so plastic water bottles have no benefit, and can possible harm you as you drink it. In order to create plastic water bottles, many resources are used up, and pollution occurs on a large scale. Many such plastic water bottles end up in the ocean, and can collect into masses such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Just to produce one plastic water bottle, it uses up more water than is contained within the bottle.
In my own experience, it is better to use a reusable water bottle, as they are easier to carry around for me, and most places have areas you can refill them, so it is a better deal than plastic bottles. They are also more durable, so they last much longer, and can be reused. Because they can be reuse d, there is less pollution in the environment. I find using reusable water bottles is easier than plastic bottles in general. They last longer, and can hold more water. That's why I think that it is a great idea to convert from plastic to reusable water bottles. You can buy them almost anywhere for very cheap, and are better for the environment in general.