The other day we learned about carbon footprints. What they are and exactly how they affect us and everyone else around. Most importantly how it affects our environment.
While most carbon footprints are pretty similar to others around some are very big. In fact, they are so big that they alone account for hundreds and even thousands of others.
For example, most people’s carbon footprint amount is nearly 24 tons of CO2 per year. That’s a lot of pollution harming our environment but the average celebrity is over seven times that. Their carbon footprint is quite a bit larger because of their lifestyle.
A good example would be when they use a private jet. According to Ecofabulous.com a jet flying from Los Angeles to New York City has a .05 tons of CO2 per passenger. When celebrities fly private that can make their carbon footprint nearly 90 times that of the average person flying.
So what is accounted for with your carbon footprint?
Well it takes into consideration everything that would give off carbon dioxide, either while you use it or while it was created for you to use, as well as methane gas giving off from the food you eat, such as cows and other animals used for meat. The garbage you create also causes a lot of methane gas which has a greenhouse effect 25 times greater than CO2.
Having a large carbon footprint doesn’t make you a bad person but it does make you more harmful to our environment and effects our climate more. There are ways that you can decrease your footprint without changing your lifestyle. You just have to adjust it.
Recycle, recycle, recycle.
In my opinion that is the most important and quickest way to turn back your footprint.
Other ways would be to use city transit or simply being more conscious with your driving behavior. You can also ease up on the amount of meat you eat. Meat has a higher carbon footprint than fruits and vegies. You can also buy local. You can even purchase carbon credits that go towards renewable energy and planting trees.
If you can’t afford to make these adjustments or don’t want to give up your lifestyle you can always change your internet searching habits and use a search engine called Ecosia instead of other search engines.
Ecosia is just like Google but for every search you make they will plant a tree. What a great idea.
So whether your carbon footprint is big or small you can do some very simple things to help offset your impact on the environment.
Ashley, 9th grader from Omaha, NE
