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 >
My Carbon Footprint
My Household’s Carbon Footprint – Eye-Opening Transportation Impact
After calculating my household’s carbon footprint on the i2Sea website, I was surprised by how much higher my total emissions were compared to the average in my region. The biggest difference came from transportation. My household emitted 19,210 kg of CO₂ from transportation, while the regional average is only 2,557 kg. This gap is mainly due to frequent flying. My family took 46 flights, which alone added up to over 8,000 kg of CO₂.
In contrast, my household’s home energy use was 5,550 kg (compared to 3,757 kg regionally), and food emissions were slightly below average at 2,061 kg. Interestingly, my purchases were much lower than the regional average (268 kg vs. 1,191 kg), which might be because we try not to buy new clothes or electronics often.
This data really helped me see how certain choices — especially travel — can hugely affect the climate. I think it’s important to consider reducing air travel or using carbon offsets in the future. I learned that even if I try to be careful in some areas, one big category like transportation can outweigh all the rest.
This connects with what we’ve been learning about individual action and carbon footprints. According to climate science research, transportation is one of the leading sources of emissions globally, especially in high-income countries. It’s clear that personal choices — like flying less — can make a real difference.