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 Carbon Footprint (Mooresville, Nc, USA) 17
My name is Caleb Klucking and after I had completed putting in my data for the carbon footprint test, my total footprint was 43,686 kgs of C02 per year. This was compared to the total footprint of people in North Carolina and their average was 15,918 kgs of C02 per year. My footprint was a whole lot higher than the average, almost 30,000 kgs higher. This came from my transportation footprint that I leave in the atmosphere. I drive myself every single day somewhere, and most of the time more than one place. My family takes trips to the beach that I also calculated because we will drive there and back ranging 750 kilometers each trip. Also I travel on an airplane once or twice a year to go see my father. The airplane rides contributes 3,218 kilometers to my total footprint also.
My Totals:
Transportation: 34,302 kgs
Home: 2,992 kgs
Food: 5,745 kgs
Purchases: 647 kgs
Reaction:
When I saw my results, I was not that shocked that I had a larger footprint than the average person in North Carolina. I knew that by my driving, my families driving, and my airplane flights would p robably put me in the higher averages. It did surprise me in the fact of how much higher my transportation was compared to the average. My carbon levels for transportation were almost eight and a half times greater than the average. This made me learn that I need to appreciate being able to drive myself and take airplane flights like I do because most people are not open to that luxury. I also learned that I maybe need to cut down on how much I drive because of the amount I am contributing to the carbon in the environment.
Future:
What I plan on doing in the future is changing the way that I get myself around. I will try to car pool with my friends more often. Instead of driving myself, I will see if someone can ride with me or if I can ride with them to save gas for both of us. Also whenever my family goes to the beach or on vacations, we will plan it to be a bigger trip so we will not go as many times.