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 >
The "Next Big Thing"
There's no debate that consumerism has an affect on the environment and global industry, specifically the tech industry. The average consumer will only use their phone for less than a year before getting a new one, and 140,000,000 phones will end up in landfills this year when they could've been recycled. This is no surprise though, big companies like Apple and Samsung are constantly competing to make the "next big thing", and advertising their products in a way that will make consumers feel like they're missing out if they don't buy them. Personally, I don't need a new phone, although it is tempting when you see all the new updates that the latest phones have to offer. I think it is important to remember that having the latest phone is not a necessity, and that using what I have works perfectly fine. It is also really important to know that when the phones that you are throwing away are put into landfills, they leak extremely harmful toxins into the earth. Because of this, if just can't keep yourself from buying the newest phone, always remember to recycle your used ele ctronics. You can do this my finding local e-waste drop-off centers in your community, which we offer at my high school.
Our best bet is to go into these E-waste landfills and recycle their parts for further use.