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 >
Sustainable Home
In my AP Environmental Science Class, we had to create a sustainable house using Google Sketchup. It was frustrating at times, but it was cool to do research and learn about different structural designs that will overall improve the sustainability of your home. First, we had to pick a location for our home. Based on that, we had to design our house in a way that would appeal to the location. I chose a location in the South, so I made sure to implement roof overhangs and windows on the south side of my home. We even had to choose what materials we would use for carpeting and roofing. I chose to use wool for carpeting, because it is naturally insulating. Clay tiled roofing is also beneficial, because it helps improve the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems and has reflective properties. This was an eye-opening assignment because it made me realize how time consuming it is to build a sustainable home. Regardless of time, thinking sustainably is well worth it for the environment!