All of you have calculated your emissions and you have surely discovered the unexpectedly high impact of some of your behaviors (eating meat, flying to a sunny destination, etc.) on your total footprints.
Are there any behaviors that you are really willing to change or to improve for the sake of the environment? What challenges do you encounter or think you will encounter while trying to change these things? What help, support, and insights from others would make your life easier with these new behaviors?
Let's discuss these issues and make our pledges here!
Now It's Time for Action >
Simple things make a huge difference
When I calculated my carbon footprint I learned my family's home carbon emissions were pretty far above average. I have been searching for different ways to lower our carbon emissions and found that the junk mail we receive actually contributes more than you would think. If you look at it, pretty much every house in America and even other parts of the world receive necessary junk mail that usually just ends up being thrown away. About 100 million trees get cut down every year to provide this junk mail. Therefore, if the junk mail was stopped or even cut down, we could reduce the number of trees getting cut down and the amount of trash that is being thrown away.
Junk mail is wasteful, and also just plain annoying. It would please people I think if a legislation could be made to reduce the amount or even stop it, but I doubt the company's that benefit from it would appreciate and adhere to it. However, maybe starting to recycle it could make an impact on how badly it would affect us rather than just throwing it straight to the trash.
I agree with you about how junk mail could be impacting the earth more than we expected. It is such a random thing that I don't think a lot of people would consider when thinking about trying to limit their carbon footprint. This is why we need to spread more awareness about these little things. I also agree that people would like to stop getting junk mail because it's just unnecessary and a waste. Simple and small things do make a huge difference and I believe that more people need to realize this before it's too late.