I am an international student in Bishop O’Dowd High School in U.S.A. I have to admit that I contributed a lot to our school’s high carbon foot print. I take airplane to China 4 times every year, so that made me used more than 15,000 kg of carbon in transportation last year. I noticed that people in South Asia (India, Myanmar, and Maldives) contribute the least carbon waste in the world. All international schools (including a lot of high schools in the U.S.A because they accept international students frequently) have relatively high carbon footprint than other schools in the area. For example, the Seoul International School in Seoul, South Korea has 16801 kg and Dominican International School in Taipei, Taiwan (I’d like to call it China, but let’s not run into territory dispute in this discussion) has 10400 kg carbon footprint, which is much more than Obama Fisheries High school, a normal high school in Japan, which has 6439 kg carbon footprint. (Note that this “Obama” has nothing to do with the current U.S. president, it is the name of a town in Japan. Source: http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_high_schools_in_Fukui_Prefecture). This makes sense because international students usually return to their country once in a while.

This is really good insight! I never would have considered the effect of international students on a school's carbon footprint if it wasn't for your post. I would also consider schools with students who commute long distances to get to school. Driving an hour to and from school every day can add up and significantly increase one's carbon footprint. After doing some research I was unable to find information on the density of schools in countries around the world. However, if this information was available, I wonder if countries with a higher density of schools would have have lower average carbon footprints because students would have to commute less to get to school.

Good thought! Another contribution to a high carbon footprint of the world could also be those that go to a boarding school in another state. You mentioned how much you travel back to your home as an international student. What about someone who goes to a school far from their own home but at the same time much closer to there home compared to an international student? Such as someone who goes to boarding school in North Carolina but goes home frequently in Tennessee? This could contribute a lot to one's carbon footprint. Living closer and closer to your own home when you are at boarding school could result in more trips between school and home.