My name is Karis and I go to Mooresville High School in Mooresville, North Carolina, USA. I am 17 years old and for our Honors Earth Environmental class we calculated our carbon footprint. My total carbon footprint was 26,249 kgs as compared to 15,918 kgs for the state of North Carolina and 3,791 kgs worldwide, so I was well above average. The majority of my carbon footprint came from transportation, and that was because I took two non-stop flights to the west coast within the past year a drove around a decent amount while I was there. My results were around what I was expecting, but it disproved one of my hypotheses and proved the other. I predicted that my total carbon footprint would be about the same as the average person in North Carolina, which was wrong as it was actually significantly higher. However, I also predicted my total would be higher than the average human, which was true. I was not greatly surprised with any of the results except exactly how much higher my total carbon footprint was compared to the average person in North Carolina. To decrease my carbon  footprint in the future, I plan to drive around less and replace as many lights in my house as I can with compact fluorescent lights rather than incandescent or halogen lights.

You, like a lot of other people are seeing your highest portion of the footprint coming from transportation. Transportation is definitely a hard part to try and cut down on if you don't drive a fuel efficient car or if you have to drive a lot. The planes definitely make a huge impact on your total footprint as well. I hope you can continue to decrease your footprint!