Although I live very close to my school I drive at least half the time. I mainly do this because the weather is usually pretty bad and I don't particularly enjoy walking whereas I always enjoy driving. I also go out to drive pretty much every night just for fun. This of course means my carbon footprint is a lot higher than it would be otherwise. The main reason as to why I would stop driving is because of fuel costs, not my carbon footprint. I do not believe that I singularly have much effect on the world just because I drive to school. If however I actually knew the harm my driving was causing then I might reconsider. I believe schools need to educate their students more on what their actions mean for the world and how and why they should try and change for the better.

I agree with you and I do think that driving and fuel costs do affect our carbon footprint. I am similar in the way that i drive a lot but my problem is that I have to. I live 30 minutes away from my school without traffic so with traffic it takes me around 40-50 minutes every morning and every afternoon, going to school and going back home. If I did live close to school like you do, I think I would probably walk or take a bicycle or maybe even carpool with a few friends that live close but in my case, I can't really do that. I also think it depends on where you live and how safe it is for someone to walk around at different times during the day. Something I need to reduce or "take off the table" is the amount of technology and electricity used. A lot of people these days have this problem but I think mine is really bad. I am sometimes and usually actually just lazy and can't be bothered to turn off my laptop, the lights, the water heater and so many other things. Maybe if I keep them on for a few hours it won't be so bad but imagine them on and going for days and days.  I mean they don't stay on for that much time because my mother turns them off after me usually but I need to get rid of that bad habit and start being more responsible and aware of the little things I do around me.

I agree to what you are saying about how schools need to educate their students more on what their actions mean for the world and how and why they should try and change for the better, also I understand you believe driving is very fun but the only reason you would consider driving less is because of fuel cost. If you are driving to school because of bad weather and you simply just enjoy driving and dislike walking, a solution is carpooling. Although you may think taking one or two cars off the road because of carpooling doesn't make much of a difference, it does especially when a lot more people start doing it.

I agree. Driving cars individually impacts a huge part of someone's carbon footprint. I bike to school everyday (even in the rain) when I'm at my dad's house, but when I go to my mom's I live too far away to walk or bike, so I drive to school and back. Walking or biking to your destination is always the better choice because of the lessening your carbon footprint and save you gas money. Many of these options not only will help you but also help save our planet.

I agree that kids should be educated about their past, present, and future actions. Especially since the world is based on the next generations, kids should be told how they impact the world as a whole. Driving is a basic action people do every day that has become so ordinary that many people do not realize how it affects the environment. Like you stated, if people are shown their effect, it would cause most people to think twice about each unnecessary drive.

My off the table would definitely be transportation. My family spends a lot of time in our car. We live approximately 31 miles away from my school. We are constantly driving to school back from school to other extra curricular activities. Although I know that driving this much is not good for the environment I can not see my family being able to spend less time in the car.

In large cities it is essential to use drive places.

Even in large cities you can find ways to use public transportation and bikes. if you have to drive, try to make sure that it it absolutely necessary, and that you can't use an alternative form of transportation.

Every day we drive about 15 miles to school then my mom drives either back to our house or 45 miles away for work then back a couple hours later to pick me up. This can take anywhere from an hour to 3 hours just to begin our morning routine. From this, I think one way I can help lessen my carbon footprint is to take the bus to school or carpool, which will not only decrease my footprint but also give my mom more time to get her work done.

sounds like a win-win!

Sounds like a good plan to start car pooling or taking the bus. It will for sure lessen your footprint.

I also have a large carbon footprint because me and my family like to travel a lot. We usually travel around using a big car like a van since it could carry so many people.

I found out as well that my footprint was really high and mostly came from transportation. I don't usually go on airplanes but i do drive in the car quite a bit. I found the average transportation number in my region compared to mine was almost 2500 kg over the average of transportation. To change this my family and I could walk to some places instead of driving and also possibly carpool or use the bus like Anthony also said.

I agree. The bus would make everything a lot easier for both you and your mom if the bus stop is in a convenient location.

I agree with you Anthony as drop offs can take up a lot of the carbon we use. Since there are so many parents dropping off kids at our school there will be much more carbon being let out, so if we can limit the amount of drop offs and do more car pools we can save a lot and not use so much carbon

Anthony, it sounds like a good idea to me.

I totally agree with your idea of taking a bus or carpool to school instead of your parents driving you to school and back home again. This strategy would cut your carbon foot print lower, but the carbon footprint would still be high since your parents are still driving to and from for many hours to their destinations. But, I still agree with your strategy since it would cut the carbon footprint down.

I completely agree with the idea of carpooling being more sustainable to our environment. The less we use cars, the lower our carbon footprint goes, which is healthier for the environment. When we use cars, it emits fossil fuels such as carbon monoxide.
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/ve … QaBC1Pyvow

I agree that it would be better for the environment if we as students are able to take the bus or carpool with a group of friends. Though I think another option is to use fuel efficient cars. Either cars that are all electric or a hybrid would help the environment limit the amount of CO2 emissions in the air.

[IMG_0269](//muut.com/u/footprint/s2/:footprint:l2yk:img_0269.png.jpg)

I agree but have an idea in mind. Maybe we could use more electric cars or cars that are based off of solar energy. This way people could save energy while getting to their destination safely. Personal electric cars are good. But why won't we make our public transportation electric as well. Now many people are saving lots of energy all at once.

This is a good idea because taking the bus can hold more people and use less cars which will create more greenhouse gasses that will affect our atmosphere and ruin our world.

I agree as well, I think this is a very good idea. Taking the bus would help because less people will be driving so the amount of CO2 would decrease because of the less cars. Also, carpooling with others that go to your school would help decrease the amount of CO2 in the air.

I agree that taking the bus or carpooling is a good idea and I know it would reduce your carbon footprint, but how much CO2 does a bus release every mile? Carpooling would also help in a car that has very good miles per gallon ratios because then the CO2 would be even less than a bus depending on situations

I agree with Anthony as well because in the morning my mother picks me up from my fathers house to take me to school which increases not just my carbon footprint but my mothers as well. She works in Antioch which is a long ways out so I feel that i can take my part and reduce my footprint. Bishop O'Dowd has a school bus that takes us students to school at 7:45 and 8:00, and I feel that I should start taking it so i can reduce my carbon footprint. This is a great way of carpooling.

I agree with this as well, and I have similar situations. The altimate goal is obviously reduce our carbon footprint, so doing simple things like carpooling or taking a bus to work or school would be the best option. If possible biking or walking would be even better options, but unfortunately these things are not always possible to depending on location. I make efforts to try and reduce my carbon footprint by riding with my sister to school and or riding the bus.

Taking the bus or carpooling are great ways of decreasing the amount of CO2 you are emitting just in those 15 miles. Both of these options reduce the number of cars on the road that are all releasing carbon dioxide. Taking the bus is probably the best option because it allows a number of students to get to one place in one vehicle. This lowers the number of cars that are on the road by even more than just carpooling with one or two other people. Overall I think you have the right idea of how to lower you carbon footprint, but you could definitely take it a step further by talking to your mother about possibly taking public transportation, which would lower your families footprint even more.

I agree, taking the bus and carpooling are great ways of decreasing the amount of CO2 you are emitting in the air. Both of these options reduce the number of cars on the road that are all releasing carbon dioxide. Taking the bus allows a great number of students to all get to the same place, just by using one vehicle. This is better than carpooling because it lowers the number of cars on the road emitting CO2.

I am in agreement with your plan to take the bus or carpool. The bus would be the best option, because it decreases the number of cars emitting CO2, but both would greatly reduce your carbon footprint. Anyway you can reduce how much carbon you and your family emit is good, and it really would make a difference.

I completely agree with the statement that taking the bus is much better for the environment. At the moment transportation is responsible for for 27% of our carbon footprint, the largest contributor. It is no secret that public transportation is much better for the environment, as opposed to private transportation in which many people can take different cars to one place or join collectively to travel to a specific place. Recently many more public buses have become fuel efficient as well natural gas as opposed to gasoline. This allows for a smaller production of CO2 levels. If possible public transportation is viable and efficient.
(https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/source … -emissions)

A part of my life that I don’t think I could change is driving. Driving where I live is somewhat a cultural milestone. All teenagers look forward to the moment when they can finally drive themselves and have the freedom of not depending on their parents to take them everywhere. Also my house isn’t an easy or efficient walk to any stores or even my friends homes. To do much of anything I have to drive to get anything done. Although I do drive an electric car I still sometimes feel bad about my habits. When I drive to school I am not able to carpool with others and when I get together with others, being in the Bay Area, many of my friends are spread out. Unlike Amsterdam for example, the city I live in is not as bike friendly and for most people it is just not convenient. Most of my effort to lower my carbon footprint in the transportation area is to avoid driving when it is just not needed or limit the distance I travel.

I agree with you.  Driving is something that is necessary in our every day life, and using public transit isn't as convenient as using your own car.  However, one way you can decrease your carbon footprint while still driving is by carpooling.  According to "How to green your commute: Carpooling and public transit", an article by MNN, "a once-a-week shift to carpool can reduce a commuter's carbon footprint by 20 percent."  Carpooling can also cut travel time by using HOV lanes, and it can save you money on gas and even on insurance.  Since my school is about 25 miles away from my house, my friend and I have been carpooling to school.  We have both saved a lot of money, and we became closer friends.

I agree with both of you.  Driving is something that I do a significant amount of every day.  I live in a different city than I go to school in, and I have to drive seven miles back and forth each day.  Although recently I have been trying to carpool to school and practices, it is extremely difficult for me to cut down on my driving.  Another way I have tried to cut back on my carbon footprint is by riding my bike more when I have the opportunity to.  There are ways however, that we can cut down on our driving emissions without giving up driving.  According to the EPA, going easy on the gas and brakes, as well as maintaining your car by getting tune-ups and oil changes, can help reduce car emissions.  I think that these methods can help us reduce our emissions, while still giving us the freedom to drive.

All - I completely agree that driving is really a necessity in our society.  It is a shame that such an action is so crucial to our lives because it truly takes up a large portion of our carbon footprints.  I think specifically for us, living in the San Francisco Bay Area and the United States as a whole, the land and civilization is very spread out.  There are very few rational alternatives, however as Clayton mentioned, carpooling is one of the best ways to ensure fewer carbon emissions.  Though I drive very often, I am rarely alone and usually have my car at full capacity with people.  Carpooling is something that, in my opinion, our society should look to as the first step in the right direction.  There are a few examples of our encouragement for it.  Many freeways in the Bay Area include a carpool lane that is only available for those with multiple passengers in the vehicle, providing an extra benefit to carpooling.  At my high school, parking spots on campus are cheaper for those with additional passengers than for those who drive alone, promoting carpooling once a gain on the daily commute.  I can confirm Clayton's analysis of better driving and frequent maintenance reducing carbon emissions as this idea was reinforced by carbonfund.org in their article on ways to reduce our impact.

I agree with what all of you guys are saying. Driving is essential in our everyday lives and in mine too. I have to drive my sisters to Berkeley on most days of the week for their extra curricular activities. My commute is 13 miles from my house to their destination and 13 miles back. It is quite a trek! I also drive myself to school everyday and back and I mostly just drive alone to school. And I know plenty more people drive a lot as well. This is awful for our carbon footprint and it releases so many greenhouse gases. In fact according to the EPA, the average person releases about 4.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide just by driving.  A great way to greatly reduce the carbon emissions is by carpooling and by car maintenance as mentioned by you guys above. I also believed that electric cars could help with the carbon footprint reduction however they are only as clean as the source of their power. According to this website https://www.theguardian.com/environment … ate-change it shows how the electricity used by the electric cars is most ly produced by burning fossil fuels. In California, 60 percent of electricity is made by doing so. So I believe that electric cars are still not the answer for now. So definitely carpooling would be a better solution to reducing carbon emissions.

Fun fact I learned when researching this topic, according to this website https://cotap.org/reduce-carbon-footprint/ if you drive you will use up less gas if you unnecessarily accelerate or speed up. Accelerating can reduce your mileage by 33%  If you avoid this you will save a lot of money and reduce you carbon footprint as well.

Correcting my last paragraph- You will use up MORE gas if you unnecessarily accelerate