My name is Jacob. I am from Mooresville, North Carolina, in the United States of America. I am sixteen years old and my carbon footprint total was 31,876 kg. My total footprint is much greater than the average. Most of my carbon footprint is from transportation because my family is not from North Carolina, so we travel a lot. I expected my footprint to be more than average because of how much I travel. One way that I can improve my carbon footprint is by traveling to see my family one time a year instead of two.

My carbon footprint was somewhat lower than i expected it would be.

I think we should reduce the amount of transportation.

Also, I think we should put trash in the correct bins also, we reducing transportation and climate change.

We might not need to reduce the amount of transportation, we might just need to make it more efficient. Maybe more public transportation would help.

I am in agreement with you if humans used other alternatives other than carbon for cars the planet would be more healthier. I think we all should use bikes because there is no carbon and it's exercise as well.

Reducing transportation is a good idea. We can walk or ride bikes to the store or to school. It will be good for the earth and for you.

I think that reducing traveling would really help a lot because I think that is where most of out carbon footprints come from.

I agree, the majority of my carbon footprint was transportation use which made me realize that a lot of the things we don't pay attention to are the things that can produce the most carbon.

I agree that transportation is the biggest issue with our foot print. We should find other ways to get places like riding a bike or walking close distances.

I was thinking the same thing.

That is a good idea

I had a 14359 in Orange Park Florida

I see a higher concentration of those who took the test on the East Coast, or in Europe. I think that this is the case because those are countries that are more developed, and are more focused on trying to  reduce the effects of global warming because those countries have the money to do so. Personally when taking the test, I noticed that planes created a huge impact on my carbon footprint. For instance, I flew from SFO to Korea, Boston, Philadelphia, and Lansing all within the last year. Due to all of these flights, my carbon footprint drastically trumped the averages for California. Also, according to Air Transport Action Group, 80% of carbon emissions from aviation comes from flights that exceed 1500 kilometers, which all 4 of my flights contribute to. Also, aviation leads to over 750 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the air. Due to this, I can try and cut down on the amount of flights I take every year because it will help reduce the amount  of carbon emissions released. However, I ultimately feel that I alongside other people will need to take more action to reduce our carbon footprint than just cutting down on airplanes.

I do think differences in carbon footprints exist across the world. Culturally, the U.S. for example has a large consumer based economy, rooted in capitalism. Advertising and consumption are huge parts of our lifestyles including the production and consumption of technology, food, clothes, and other material goods. This leads to larger greenhouse gas emissions through factory use and transportation. Other less industrialized countries, however, have a larger focus on meeting basic means of living and thus have less overconsumption and a lower contribution to carbon footprint. To lower my footprint significantly, I would lessen the number of airplane rides I take. In the past year I have flown often due to volleyball tournaments, college visits, and family vacation. I am going to be more aware of how traveling and transportation affects my carbon footprint and will focus more on minimizing my driving and using public transport more often because that is an impact that can be personalized to my daily life.

Hello, I'm Ariel Conley. I am a freshman at Bishop O'Dowd Highschool in Oakland California. Recently I calculated my carbon footprint is 27,189. The average in California is around 9,727. I am way over and need to work towards improving my footprint.

There are a lot of ways to reduce your carbon footprint, but not all of them are up to you. Talking to your family about making your house more energy efficient will help greatly. Changing things in your house like energy efficient appliances, LED light bulbs, and temperature. You said you lived in California, so I assume it's usually fairly warm outside. Try walking or riding your bike to school which will decrease your footprint (and get you exercise!) Eat locally and even try to start your own garden at your house. Try to limit your purchases as well. Good luck!

Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist? I defiantly see the differences across the globe. The differences could include the location; coasts, inland, cities, how rural a place is rather then a dry area. It might also have differences depending on what resources are available and the economy of the place.

To reduce your carbon footprint you can reduce, reuse, and recycle, limit your water use, use more energy efficient stuff, and a lot more things.

It is important that you and the people around you know how important and impacting the way we treat our environment is. Start by watching the acitivities you do and reduce the mileage you use to do them.

One of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to only drive to school, work, and the store. Don't go out of your way to travel to places to eat and things like that. Another great way to reduce your carbon footprint would be getting a fuel efficient car to help reduce gas consumption.

You should try lowering your carbon footprint by recycling and reducing water use

It can be very hard to lower you footprint because many things we find so normal in our everyday routine can cause your footprint to be larger. Start with the simple things, like changing your lightbulbs to a more energy efficient ones, and turning off lights when you're not using them.

Hello. My name is Nicholas Richard and I am from Mooresville, North Carolina. My total carbon footprint was a little higher than the average of my region as it was 16,323. I was below average in home and purchases. My home was only 5,681 and I believe this is because I am eco-friendly around my house as often as I can be. My purchases came out at -13 which put me significantly the average. To promote a better carbon footprint and get mine below average I can use smarter forms of transportation, change my diet, and still be cautious about things around the house.

After looking through all the data from students around the world, I found that the mean carbon footprint for the high school students in the United States is higher than that of the students from other places of the world. For example, the mean carbon footprints for high schools in Europe range from about 5000kg to about 10000kg. However, the mean carbon footprints for most of the American high schools range from about 10000kg to about 20000kg. There is even one high school reaches 40000kg. Also, as I observed, the schools that participated in this activity in the United States are really diverse. There are public high schools, private high schools, and even colleges. However, most of the schools in the developed countries that participate in this activity are private international schools. This means that most of the students in these schools are from higher classes in the society. For this reason, their average carbon footprints may be higher than the average carbon footprints of all the high school students in their countries. Therefore, the actual difference between  the American high school students and high school students from other countries may be larger than the data in the map shows. This finding is not surprising to me at all. According to the Trends in global CO2 emissions: 2016 Report by European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), the United States has the second largest Carbon Dioxide emission in the world which is 14.34% of the world share, while its population is only 4.30% of the world share. About 5,172,338 kt of Carbon Dioxide is emitted by people in the United States during the year of 2016.

Patrick - nice analysis of the footprint map!

And I think you are absolutely correct about participation from overseas - heavily skewed towards wealthier students in some countries.  One possible reason for this is uneven internet access in poorer countries, and another possible reason is that English proficiency is probably highest in those private international schools.

I completely agree the High School carbon footprint in the United States is deplorable and needs to change somehow someway.  My school started out with a HUGE footprint, especially for a school who prides themselves for their agriculture.  But, by the end of my run there, they started recycling, they started drives for cleaning roads, they cleaned the campus numerous amount of times, and students participated plenty of times.  I think it's the small things that count to make a true difference in your community.

My footprint has made me realize the how big of a affect it has on the atmosphere and the environment.

How much less C02 would be added to the atmosphere if everyone carpooled with their neighbor to school.

If everyone carpooled, I suppose that the amount of CO2 produced from transportation would be cut in half, as the amount of people driving to and from school would be divided by two.

I agree, but Carpooling only affects the environment if almost everyone does it. and it has its problems because it can get very complicated. It is easier if everyone at school puts their bottles, trash, and compost in the right bin at school.