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 >
Reducing My Footprint One Flight at a Time
After calculating my carbon footprint, I realized the primary reason it was so large was because of my traveling habits. My frequent trips to the East Coast boosted my footprint and diminished the impact of my sustainable habits. Despite the convenience of flights, I should try to opt for a more sustainable form of travel and fly less during the year. Even though a majority of my flights were to the East Coast, some of them were to places like LA and Washington. When traveling to destinations 12 hours or less by car, it would be more environmentally friendly to drive rather than take a 3-hour flight.
I relate to you because my carbon footprint was too mostly impacted by my traveling habits. However, I live in Guatemala (Central America) so mainly my trips are outside the country, so I don't know how I could reduce my carbon footprint in that aspect.
Dear Olivia
Check out the train as well for really reducing your impact in travel. The options in this country are still limited, but you are lucky in CA to have more train options than most places, and there is a high speed train coming to CA soon as well.