Carbon footprint

[Jackie Gerbautz]

According to http://www.natlforests.org my carbon footprints came out to be 0.65 metric tons of CO2/year. My results in http://www.nature.org were slightly different my estimated greenhouse gas emissions were of 7.8 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year, which is below the U.S. national average. Lastly, my carbon footprint on http://www.bp.com is approximately 10.4 tonnes CO2 per year which is lower then the USA average of 23.9. The average of the three calculations came out to be 6.3 tonnes CO2 per year.

The result were completely different since each calculator used different techniques and tools to calculate our carbon contributions, I think the most useful ones were the last two the, http://www.nature.org, http://www.bp.com I believe they asked more useful questions more precise questions than the first one. The first one was really simple and only asked a few questions. I don’t know which one is the one that fits more into my carbon contribution but I know I need to start minimizing everything I use. Last week I started going to work with a co-worker and going to school with a classmate so we are saving in gas and trying to diminish the carbon in our planet.

Well there are a lot of things we can do to reach zero emissions. If each of us were to first of all do carpooling and get low efficiency cars that would help a lot. I would love to get a hybrid car, but right the economy is so bad I can get in a debt like getting almost new car. I’m going to start walking more, to the closest stores I have, I will try to eat more healthy food and organic food. I can start using energy start product, be more efficient on the use of water. I’m also going to try start riding the bike more. Another helpful thing I can start doing is get involve in those websites and get more informed, because I really need to start getting more involve in these issues. Finally, start opening he eyes of others so they can start contributing too.

For me personally, it is really, really important that we reach zero emissions not by the year 2015 but sooner. We are all becoming aware of how global warming is increasing and that we need to take action as soon as possible. I’m young and planning to have kids in a few years and would like them to grow in a better environment, healthier, cleaner and nicer. I hope that in the next couple of years all the cars in the market be hybrid cars. I also hope that the government become more involve in these issues and make some new laws in order for people to recycle or drive specific cars.

[Sondra Sampson]

Jackie,
I had low numbers like you did. I thought this was a very interesting project and I learned quite a bit about how CO2 is measured. I found each web site a bit different, probably because of the amount of detail the site did or did not have in thier questionaire. Going to work with a co-worker is a great start! Same thing with travel to school. I think all of that will add up and you willprobably save money on the gas too. You are right about the economy. I bought my car 1 1/2 years ago and wanted a hybrid. The cost was thousands of dollars more than the fuel driven car, so I had to take that one. The hybrid's were not even affordable, so I had to pass. I also would love ot have solar panels in my home, but the cost is too high. It's too bad they just don't make homes with them already installed! Educating everyone is really the key factor to conserving in every area. I think the more we teach others, and especially our children, then others may catch on and jion the cause. We are just running out of time to protect our planet. it's too bad we haven't been doing this all along, insted of waiting until the last minute to fix things.

[Hawa Mojaddidi]

I would also love to get a hybrid car but due to the horrible economy that not possible, but there are other things we can do to reach zero emissions.I agree with you that we need to act out sooner because the more we delay it the more the matter is getting worse. Personally I decided in order to reach zero emissions im going to start walking places close by not only does it save the earth but its also saving me gas money and keeping my health good. Another good thing as you stated is getting more informed.Before this class I knew some things regarding these issues but now I have a greater awareness and I can enlighten others and try and get them to also reach zero emissions.Anyways goodluck hopefully we can both reach our goals of reaching zero emissions soon!:)