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 footprint
Honestly, this is a shock. 16,462 kg of CO₂ , nearly 6 times the French Polynesian average and 16 times the "sustainable" threshold of 1,000 kg. I expected to be above average, but not to this extent.
What strikes is transportation: 12,954 kg, versus a regional average of 510 kg. It makes sense though living in Papeete and travelling to mainland France or elsewhere almost always means long-haul flights, and a single Paris-Tahiti round trip already carries a massive footprint. The 2,152 kg for"home" is also surprising especially that I don't even have air conditioning, it must come from electricity use.
On the other hand, I'm glad to see food and purchases below the regional average my consumption habits aren't the real issue here.
The conclusion is that as long as I keep flying at this frequency, the rest of my efforts remain insignificant, and that I must reduce my flights frequency.