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 >
Charging Cell Phones
Most teens and some adults live off of their cell phones. Most people with cell phones charge them over night. According to the Daily Nexus, when a charger is charging a phone it is using about 4 watts of energy. Even when the phone is not plugged in the charger alone uses about 1 watt of energy. If you leave your charger plugged in 24/7 like most students, this can add up to over 4,000 watts of electricity used a year that can easily be diminished. Not only is this hurting the environment, it is a waste of money. According to this article you can save around $20 a year by unplugging the charger from the wall when you're done using it. This may seem like a very small amount of money but saving any money is good. Unplugging your charger from the wall when you're not using it is a very small task that could greatly impact the environment if we all participate in it. Also, as well as unplugging chargers unplugging any electronic appliances from the wall when not in use can positively impact the environment. Just think of how you could be helping the environment and all the money you could help to save. Here is the article referred to: http://dailynexus.com/2012-02-08/unplug … od-wallet/
I think that unplugging cellphones is a great way to save energy. Of course that is not a great way to save energy but it is a start. Not only unplugging chargers but also turning lights off can also help save alot of energy. Perhaps even considering turning off all electronics while not in use.
I definitely agree that unplugging our phone chargers is a great way to start trying to save energy. It may be something as small as this that helps us go in the right direction to reducing our carbon footprint. If everyone made this a habit in our households we could make a big difference in how much energy is being wasted.
I also think Antonio has the right idea of unplugging all electronics when not in use, but many people are lazy and/or don't care enough to remember to unplug something each time after using it. I believe that if we just started with small things, like unplugging our chargers etc, then it will become almost a second nature to unplug other electronics.