One relatively easy way to reduce one's carbon footprint is to turn off the lights when leaving a room. I have always done this, and was surprised when I found out that many of my friends didn't. A large part of the average carbon footprint comes from the use of household appliances, and this section could be reduced significantly if the use of light bulbs were to be cut down. Another way to do this is by using light bulbs that are more efficient in themselves. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, compact fluorescent bulbs use %75 less energy than incandescent bulbs. If more people turned off the lights when they were not in use and used more efficient bulbs whenever possible, the cumulative carbon emissions of humanity would be greatly reduced.

I agree, Kate. It is shocking that such a simple task as turning off a light or using a different type of bulb could have such a big impact on the world. I discovered that not only do CFLs use less energy than incandescent bulbs, but LEDs use even less! According to Global Tech LED, LED light bulbs could decrease carbon emission and save the U.S. (or any country for that matter) billions of dollars. (http://globaltechled.com/2016/08/04/10- … rgy-waste/) If every American switched to LED lights in the next 20 years, the U.S. would save $250,000,000,000. That's a lot of zeros! Not only that, but LED light would cut carbon emissions by 1,800 million metric tons. And on top of it all, electricity use from lighting would be halved. It seems to me that switching to LEDs is the best choice in carbon emission reduction and is a good solution for saving electricity and money.