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 >
JeffH's Carbon Footprint
Hey! I'm Jeff, from Mooresville, North Carolina, USA. I'm 17. My carbon footprint was just over 20,000. That's a little bit above average for US residents, but waaaaaaay above average worldwide. My biggest contributor was Transportation... My family is in the car constantly, going back and forth everywhere. I expected a higher number there, but it still surprised me to see that it was as high as it was (12,000). I was equally surprised by my Home use, but for the opposite reason. It was MUCH lower than I expected. I assumed that my family used heat and AC like crazy! So that was a pleasant surprise. Next year I can lower my footprint by carpooling more and walking or riding my bike from place to place.
I also had a massive transportation footprint. I think it is because America is so busy that we are always traveling for work or for business and so we have a pretty high average carbon footprint. I just hope that, as a country, we can work on maintaining a lower carbon footprint.
I had a very high transportation footprint as well! Americans are so busy working and going from place to place that we don't even stop and take the time to realize that we are impacting the environment greatly. I hope that America can work on decreasing our carbon footprint. Especially our transportation.
My transportation wasn't high so maybe I can help! I found the best way to lower transportation is to just never go anywhere! Jokes aside. Riding a bike can really help out the environment on your part.