Many students using our footprint calculator said that they could not pledge to reduce their home footprints because they were not making the decisions for the household. Here is your chance to design your own sustainable virtual household!
If you had your own home, what would you do to make it more energy efficient? Where would you get your electricity from? Where would your house be? Would you live near to your school or work or local transit options? Where would you get your food from?
MY Family Footprint >
My Carbon Footprint (Transportation)
After calculating my carbon footprint, I was surprised to learn that my footprint for transportation was above average, while my footprint for home, food, and purchases were below average. The total amount of CO2 released because of my transportation was 20,404 lbs. This was mainly because of my traveling to and from Hawaii this past summer and my road trip to and from Big Bend, Texas. I didn't realize how much CO2 was released when you fly somewhere. I would recommend carpooling as a way to reduce your carbon footprint for transportation. When you are out running errands, I suggest finding a place where you can get all of the items you need. This would prevent taking multiple car trips to many different places when you could just get everything you need at one place and time.
Skylar,
I completely agree and I think that the solutions that you came up with are very affective. My family and I practice one of your solutions. We find most of our groceries in one to two stores instead of driving everywhere looking for them. Not only is it time and CO2 efficient but it also is very cost efficient. We spend less on gas, and we find the best deals at certain shops which gives us more use of our money.