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 >
Carbon Footprint
I was surprised by how much flights increase my carbon footprint. Flights alone were more than half my footprint. Its hard to reduce this number without also reducing trips to see family far away or going on vacations. Through the calculations I also discovered how many incandescent light bulbs were in my home, and how big their impact is. My family is starting to replace these bulbs with LED bulbs as they burn out to try and reduce our footprint, every action counts.
I agree with your statement. I too discovered that my carbon footprint was incredibly large in comparison to the average regional footprint, the year before. That made me aware of how my personal decisions affect the atmosphere. What I also noticed was that I unaware of how many actions actually produce carbon. This is especially concerning due to the fact that Stanford scientist, Mark Jacobson's discovery that increasing carbon dioxide levels have a clear correlation to increased mortality rates in humans. Which should surprise many people.