In this day-and-age, we’ve all heard about the importance of reducing our carbon footprints. A carbon footprint is “the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2),” (http://timeforchange.org). For example, driving your car increases your carbon footprint, as well as purchasing and consuming goods that release carbon during their production.
To calculate your personal carbon footprint, you can use the website http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/. Simply go enter information about where you live, how you heat your home, how you travel, what your diet consists of, and whether or not you recycle. This allows you to calculate your own carbon footprint, and also shows you a comparison of your carbon behavior breakdown to the carbon behavior of the United States as a whole. By breaking down your footprint into different behavior categories (travel, diet, etc.) you can learn which area of your life is producing the most carbon.
So go ahead and take the first step in reducing your carbon footprint by finding out the impact that you have. For there, you can take action to improve your daily behavior and reduce your carbon footprint.
Written by Ciara McGillivray, class of 2018