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 >
Sydney Bernhardt: Mooresville, NC, USA (Age 16)
Hi, my name is Sydney. I am from Mooresville, North Carolina in the United States. I am 16 years old. My carbon footprint is 15,662 kgs. My total footprint is about average for my region (North Carolina). However, my carbon footprint is below the average for the United States. The majority of my carbon footprint came from transportation. I drive frequently, and to many different places. I can see how this would take up the majority of my footprint. My overall reaction to my results were surprising to me. I wasn’t expecting my total carbon footprint to be about average for my region. I figured that I would have a much higher total footprint compared to my region. What surprised me is that my purchases were below my region’s purchases. I thought that I bought an abundance of items, so I assumed it would be at least about average compared to my region. I learned that transportation was the majority of people’s carbon footprints, judging by the data that I collected. Some future actions that I can do to decrease my carbon footprint in the future recycling more of my paper, t urning the water off when I brush my teeth, carpooling with friends, and turning off the lights all the time when I leave a room. All of these simple tasks can decrease my carbon footprint!