My footprint was a lot higher than I thought it would be. My footprint was average for California but three times the average United States citizen's footprint. I thought that I was doing well because my family has solar panels and low water pressure toilets and things. I also barely spend anything and get most of my stuff from other people. The two biggest contributors to my footprint were food and transportation. I only sometimes eat vegetarian but I thought that that wouldn't be a big deal. I would like to know if there are other ways to lower my footprint besides going vegan. I also use transportation a lot but I need to use it. I can't bike to the places I go and I was taking the bus to school almost everyday before COVID. I think a big factor is probably airplane rides because I do that a lot. I looked it up and airplanes produce fifty-three pound of carbon a mile. I travel from the west coast to the east coast three times a year because I have family there. I travel like ten-thousand miles a year to see my family. I can't not see my family, but the plane rides have such a huge impact on carbon levels. I want to know if I can still fly without creating that much carbon. I wonder if there are certain airlines that use fuel that is better for the environment but probably not. I have such a huge carbon footprint but I can't just stop eating the foods I love and I need to visit my family. I really want to know if there are any tips for lowering my footprint.

There are a few different things you could try to help reduce your carbon footprint. For example, to lower your transportation footprint, instead of meeting them physically, you could meet with them digitally. If you have to see them in person, you could try flying more environmentally friendly planes, or fly over and stay a longer time with them, with the trade off of meeting them less times a year. Instead of flying over 3 times and spending something like a week, you could fly over 1 or 2 times and spend a few weeks. That way, instead of flying around 10,00 miles, you could fly around half that without cutting out family time. For your food footprint, you could try finding more organic versions of the food you enjoy. If you find yourself really needing snacks such as chips or other non organic foods, you could buy in bulk, such as 2 large bags as opposed to 12 small ones, to reduce the amount of waste. Another thing you could try is eating vegetarian more often than usual, while eating your favorite foods either less or cooking them in a more efficient manner.