In order to properly discus carbon foot print and the impact that it has on our environment we have to first define what it is to get a better understanding, second we will look to see my personal contribution and how that compares with the national average and then compare it on a global level we will end by identifying new ways to offset and reduce the impact on our environment.
Merriam Webster dictionary defines carbon footprint as the amount of greenhouse gases and specifically carbon dioxide emitted by something (as a person 's activities or a product 's manufacture and transport) during a given period (1) in other words when you drive your car from point a to point b the engine burns fuel which in turn creates certain amounts of CO2 …show more content…
While researching this topic I came across 3 websites that offered a CO2 calculator for my house hold they all accounted for one year’s worth of CO2 emissions but they certain sites went more in-depth than others not just asking about my travel whether by car plane or public transit but also including electricity expenses food and other goods and services. The first website I dove into was nature.org which gave me an estimated yearly CO2 emission of 25 metric tons of CO2 which was the highest the second, website was carbonfootprint.com and it gave me an estimated 14 metric tons of CO2 and finally was terrapass.com which gave me the lowest score of 11 metric tons of CO2 a year; there is a drastic difference in the numbers given I suspect it has something to do with how many activities were measured and accounted for while nature.org asked about household expenses and attributed to the total based on other purchases of goods terrapass.com only asked about my travel specifically about my car I used some of my basic math skills and calculated the average at 16.66 but 17 is a whole number so let’s run with it. My Carbon footprint is very high falling a few points short of the national average per person which is currently at 20.40 metric tons which does not sound like much until you take it a step further …show more content…
Reducing ones’ electricity consumption, using public transit instead of personal vehicle or even carpooling, buying locally these are all great ways to offset CO2
Merriam Webster dictionary defines carbon footprint as the amount of greenhouse gases and specifically carbon dioxide emitted by something (as a person 's activities or a product 's manufacture and transport) during a given period (1) in other words when you drive your car from point a to point b the engine burns fuel which in turn creates certain amounts of CO2 …show more content…
While researching this topic I came across 3 websites that offered a CO2 calculator for my house hold they all accounted for one year’s worth of CO2 emissions but they certain sites went more in-depth than others not just asking about my travel whether by car plane or public transit but also including electricity expenses food and other goods and services. The first website I dove into was nature.org which gave me an estimated yearly CO2 emission of 25 metric tons of CO2 which was the highest the second, website was carbonfootprint.com and it gave me an estimated 14 metric tons of CO2 and finally was terrapass.com which gave me the lowest score of 11 metric tons of CO2 a year; there is a drastic difference in the numbers given I suspect it has something to do with how many activities were measured and accounted for while nature.org asked about household expenses and attributed to the total based on other purchases of goods terrapass.com only asked about my travel specifically about my car I used some of my basic math skills and calculated the average at 16.66 but 17 is a whole number so let’s run with it. My Carbon footprint is very high falling a few points short of the national average per person which is currently at 20.40 metric tons which does not sound like much until you take it a step further …show more content…
Reducing ones’ electricity consumption, using public transit instead of personal vehicle or even carpooling, buying locally these are all great ways to offset CO2