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 family footprint
I would start with small changes like always turning off lights before you leave the house. But I would also like to use solar panels to help with electricity and a whole house fan to take cool air from the outside to cool the house.
First of all, I think you are right about turning off the lights before you leave the house. However, using too much energy is bad for the environment, which can lead to increase of greenhouse gas. I like your ideas, but try to not take in too much electricity from the panels and stuff.
I agree that it is good to start with small changes like turning off the lights before leaving the house. Many people do not realize that those "little things" can add up to huge amounts of energy that are being used. In this link, https://cotap.org/reduce-carbon-footprint/ 25+ tips are shared on how to reduce your carbon footprint. As I scrolled through this list, I came across many easy tips that everyone can use to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, speeding and unnecessary acceleration. This wastes gas and money, and also increases your carbon footprint. There are many small, easy changes we can make in our lives to reduce our carbon footprints.
I love the idea of starting small...this way I won't become frustrated and give up, which happens when I try to take on a goal too big or too challenging for me.