Have you ever driven inside a car? For some, your daily commute might involve travelling by car. For others, you might go to a grocery store or park by travelling by car. Whatever the reason, simply travelling by car can increase our carbon footprints dramatically, and unfortunately, emit more carbon dioxide, polluting our earth. However, there are many factors that can affect our carbon footprint, whether positively or negatively. For me, I realized that a big chunk of my carbon footprint was from travelling. So, to reduce this, starting today, I am going to walk to places near me such as a local grocery store or gym. Another change I will make to lower my carbon footprint is to use less water. This includes turning off the water when brushing my teeth, taking cold showers, or taking shorter showers. Although these sacrifices might be hard to implement it is worth it to help our environment.

Across the globe, I noticed that students’ carbon footprints tend to be higher in North America, and carbon footprints are lower in countries in Europe such as Croatia or Germany. For example, Carlsbad High School in NM, United States has a mean carbon footprint of 32,727 kg, compared to Gimnazija Požega in Požega, Croatia’s mean carbon footprint of 6894 kg. This can be because of how things are structured in the country. For example, Alex MacLean investigated this and concluded, “How we organize ourselves on the ground is the key factor determining how much fossil fuel we burn” (Yale Environment 360). So, it is possible that Europe’s carbon footprint differs from those in North America because the way each country’s living structures are different.