The Importance Of Carbon Footprint

Although I am often unaware of it, my daily actions are impacting the environment in negative ways. As countries are working to reduce their average carbon footprints, it is important for myself and others to be conscious of how our lifestyles affect the world around them. During the past week, I have tracked my energy and water usage in addition to the amount of waste I’ve produced to determine my own carbon footprint and how my carbon footprint compares to national and worldwide averages. Additionally, my data collection helps me predict how substantial my future environmental impact may be and the combined effect on the planet if others lived the way that I do. According to Carbonfootprint.com, I alone produce about 7.7 metric tons of …show more content…
Energy usage is the main area that I could improve on in order to reduce my carbon footprint. I tend to leave appliances that I am not using plugged in at all times, which is wasting energy. In the week I tracked, I left my phone and laptop chargers plugged into the wall at all times despite only using them overnight. I charged each of my devices overnight for an average of nine hours, although it takes much less time than that for them to fully charge. Realistically, I don’t think that I will stop charging my devices overnight because that is the most convenient way for me to ensure they are fully charged when I go to class, so I have been shutting my laptop off more often and only charging it every other day. Another habit I have adopted is putting my phone on airplane mode during class to limit the amount of times that I need to charge my phone in the middle of the day. Most of the time, my roommate and I try to conserve energy during the day by keeping our big light off and only turning on the small light in our …show more content…
After college, I will most likely have a family and live in a larger home or apartment that will require me to use more electricity and heat. To reduce my energy usage and cost, I plan to use energy efficient light bulbs and appliances in my future home. Another factor that I believe will increase my carbon footprint is the amount of traveling I do. Currently I travel less than a mile to get to class, but when I have a job I expect to have to commute a much farther distance to get to work. I do want to live in a town or suburb and not in a rural area which should limit the number of miles I need to drive. I also hope to visit other countries when I am older, which would increase my environmental impact by requiring me to travel by