The largest problem with my carbon footprint was my travel. Last summer I flew to England and back. Because of this my transportation skyrocketed. I love to travel, but I didn't realize how much it harmed the environment. How could I still travel while maintaining a low carbon footprint?

Hi Lyra - this is a question that many students in the program struggle with!

First, you may have noticed in the calculator that taking non-stop flights is *a lot* more efficient than making stops.  This is for two reasons:
1) taking off uses a ton of fuel; the more "take-offs" the higher your footprint
2) stops on the way often mean the least direct route (e.g., Atlanta to New York City to London)

So, a solution is to always look for the non-stop, and take other transportation before and after your non-stop flight to make that happen.  So, for example, let's say I wanted to travel from Seattle to Quebec City.  I could take a bus to Vancouver BC and fly from there to Montreal.  And then from Montreal, I can take a train to Quebec City.  Or something like that.

Second, make sure that you really take full advantages of your long distance travel.  Can you travel once across the country to see family and stay a bit longer, rather than 2 trips in a year for a shorter time each trip?

Third, look to other areas of footprint savings.  Do you always use the drier to dry your  clothes?  If so, what about hanging your clothes when you can and using the sun and wind?  That can save a lot of carbon.  Another big place for savings is home heating and air conditioning.  Use more blankets for heat at night and fans instead of AC.  And finally, what about driving (or getting rides) around town?  Can you bike or take public transit instead?

Good luck finding the right balance for you !

Jason is absolutely correct, taking flights with no stops (saving 10,000+ gallons of fuel) is much more conservative.
   Lyra: Depending on where you are, if you are in the eastern U.S.A., then perhaps taking a ship rather than an airplane would help cut down on vast amounts of CO2. Of course, the waste is released into the ocean rather than the atmosphere.
My strongest recommendation, although it may be more expensive in circumstances, is to take flights in smaller aircraft, since they are much more efficient and usually better maintained than larger planes (e.g. Boeing, Airbus). Their smaller profile makes them more agile, requiring less fuel and fuel consumption than large, 100-seat planes.

I travel a lot also. Last year, I flew to Arizona two times and during the summer I went to Jamaica and back. When I calculated my carbon footprint, I realized that the transportation had a very large impact on my footprint. Every year, my family and I take a family trip to a place outside of the country. It's pretty difficult for my family to find non-stop flights. Is there anything else I can do to reduce my transportation portion of my carbon footprint?

I think that since it is hard for you to avoid traveling so much, you can reduce your carbon footprint by making small changes to other things you do. You could reduce your transportation carbon footprint by doing simple things like, carpooling more, using public transportation, and walking or riding your bike to more places. Reducing your carbon footprint in other areas can also benefit your attempt to reduce your C02 emission.

Thank you Javiera for your input. I agree, I think I could carpool with my friends and use public transportation to reduce my transportation aspect of my carbon footprint.

I also am wondering the same thing Lyra. With my carbon footprint I also had lots of traveling and the exact same thing happened to mine. I think a couple things I could do better is try to lower all my other categories so that the only thing that makes my carbon footprint high is my traveling.