I was not aware of how much an individual's carbon footprint contributes to climate change until I learned about it in high school. First of all, students should become more aware of their carbon footprint way before high school. Another reason teenagers and children may not care about carbon footprint is because they think they are too young to make a difference. That is not true at all! Turning off the lights before you leave each room is one of the easiest ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Anyone can do this! Every minute a light is on, carbon is released. Low energy light bulbs use less than 20% of the energy of a conventional light bulb, and can last up to 15 times longer. By swapping a normal bulb to an energy saving bulb you could cut energy wastage by three quarters. How hard is it to turn off the lights and use light bulbs that benefit the environment instead of harm it? I think the biggest challenge is consistency. You might be doing great with the lights for the first couple of weeks, but as the second month comes, you have probably gone right back to wher e you started with your carbon footprint. I recommend setting a calendar with each room, and everyday check off that each room's lights are off however many times you leave the house or room. Another way that will help all of us is to make this problem known to many teenagers and younger people. Remind your friends the importance an individual, no matter what age, can make to the environment by simply turning off the lights.

References: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/lightbulbs.html

This is great idea for reducing carbon footprints. It is simple and easy ,yet it will make a big impact. I am very forgetful and often have trouble remembering to turn off lights. My closet light is on all the time and the bulb dies frequently. Remembering to turn off lights and tracking how often you actually turn them off can reduce your carbon footprint. Another benefit is that you will spend less money on light bulbs. You will be reducing the amount of time light bulbs are on which will make the bulbs last much longer.

Using more efficient light bulbs in addition to turning off lights currently in use is a great way to reduce emissions, and I think we are starting to see a shift in mentality that will lead to that. For instance, in Oakland many of the street lamp bulbds have been replaced with more efficient LED's. Not only does this save power, but they are simply more effective. What this demonstrates to me is that there are often solutions sitting in front of us, we just have to take the perogotive to institute them We must not be afraid to change the current establishment, for example the old light bulbs here in Oakland. I think everyone should start taking steps to reduce carbon footprints like turning off light bulbs. If change is going to occur to become a sustanaible society, we must be the ones to activate that change.

I agree with you, Katie! In addition to saving energy, turning off the lights also saves money by decreasing you electric bill. See http://www.thesimpledollar.com/how-much … ally-save/ for more information about the impact of turning off the lights. It also has great ideas for remembering to turn off the lights.

That is an awesome idea! I didn't realized how much leaving lights on effected carbon footprints, but it does pretty majorly. Also, you could save money on bulbs and energy costs. It also makes the bulbs last longer which reduces waste. I think that the type of bulb matters greatly, because they use varying amounts of energy.