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 >
Carbon Footprint - Transportation (FL, USA)
Hi all,
Victoria again... the largest number on my carbon footprint data was in transportation. Unfortunately, the college is about 17 miles from my house, so I end up traveling 34 miles a day for school alone! Luckily, I can attend classes online too, so I only have to travel to the school twice a week. Another factor that came to play was simply how much traveling I have done in the past year. My granddad lives about 500 miles away, so each trip to see (and help) him is at least 1000 miles... usually more like 1200 miles total when you include errands for him in there! (He lives in a small town and even Walmart is 40 minutes away...) This year, he has had several surgeries and we have made at least 8 trips to see him. We also took a non-stop flight to see my boyfriend's family who live 2000 miles away, but that's only the second time I've traveled via airplane.
Additionally, I'm a professional pet sitter in a city that is plagued with urban sprawl. I travel about 500 miles per month for business alone. It is very difficult to get around in many parts of Florida wit hout a car for transportation. I'm sure this is an issue for many, especially in the United States as more and more areas are affected by urban sprawl. If I could afford a Toyota Prius, I would save a LOT of money and spare the world a bunch of CO2 emissions too! (Something I'm working toward!) In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint from traveling, I will be taking a train the next time I go to see my granddad. Once there, we will just drive his car around for errands, when we can't walk or ride a bike. Also, I will pay more attention to my speed and acceleration and braking rates. I will continue to use cruise control, keep up with the maintenance on my car and combine as many trips at once as possible.