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 >
Noelle: Mooresville, NC, USA (Age 16)
I’m Noelle, a sixteen year old from Mooresville, North Carolina (U.S.A.). My average total footprint was 9,299 kgs. In my region, thats about 6,600 kgs lower than the average 15,918 kgs. Worldwide, my footprint is higher than the average of 3,791 by about 5,500. Most of my footprint came from food consumption.
I was somewhat surprised with my results, as I expected my footprint to be higher than it was; I thought it would be about the same as the average in North Carolina, but, as it turns out, I was wrong. I also thought most of my footprint would come from home and/or transportation rather than food, since those things tend to make more of an impact, especially transportation (with its generally high consumption of fossil fuels).
To decrease my carbon footprint in the future, I can eat more natural foods that create less of an impact on the planet. I can use carpooling even more than I do now to decrease my footprint transportation wise. Using a more fuel effi cient vehicle will also decrease my carbon footprint. Using less heating/cooling during the year at home could also lessen my impact.