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 >
Are 1,000 kgs of Co2 Really Possible?
Has anyone been able to lower their carbon footprint to 1,000 kgs on the carbon footprint calculator? The lowest I could get mine to go was 1,034 kgs. This is very discouraging because when I reached that level, I had to enter so many things that simply seem impossible as a student living in a large city in the US! I had to say that I lived zero miles away from school, walked and biked EVERYWHERE, washed dishes by hand, bathed using a bucket, ONLY had LED lights in my house, never traveled, and never had any fires. This kind of lifestyle simply doesn't seem practical OR sustainable, since it isn't bearable for a person to live that lifestyle. There are many things I'm willing to give up in order to save the planet, but this seems to be asking too much!
It is very practical and doable, I lived like that for a while in California. It wasn't all that difficult really, but anyone who got he most of the recession knows what I mean.
I believe that it is indeed possible but not done yet.
yes, like XD_SIM and David said, it is possible, however it is really hard for someone in Seattle to do so. i remember that at the end of the test it said that here had to be 1k of carbon polution, *per capita*
One of the things to think about is this: if it is impractical for each of us to reduce our footprint to that level, what can the larger society do to try to reach that goal? Here in Washington state we are voting in 8 days on a carbon tax - it would be the first in the nation.
If we Washingtonians vote Yes on I-1631 (https://yeson1631.org ), then the state of Washington may make it easier for each of us to lower our footprints to sustainable levels, and that could be a guide for other states and countries to follow.