My Carbon Footprint

My Carbon Footprint – Homework 9 According to the results of the carbon footprint calculator, I contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions. My behavior breakdown pie chart illustrates that my home energy contributes 44.8%, my driving and flying contributes 39.4%, my recycling and waste contribute 2.2%, and my food and diet contribute 13.6% to the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change and other environmental problems. My estimated greenhouse gas emissions are 43 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year, which is above the U.S. national average. There are many simple ways to reduce the size of my carbon footprint, but I will state three ways that I can take action to help shrink my carbon production now. Leaving electronics plugged in when there is no need releases carbon. I could unplug my phone charger, television set, hair straightener, hair dryer and clip-on fan when I am not using it. Appliances consume a significant amount of electricity even when they are switched off. Same rule should apply to lights; all of my lights should be switched off as soon as I leave my room. Lights should not be on if there’s enough natural light in the room. Paper use emits carbon. I enjoy reading the newspaper every day, but the tree use gives off carbon which only adds up with each newspaper that gets printed. Also, when I print out an assignment or copy a page out of a book I can make sure to print and copy on both sides. This can also apply in class when I am taking notes in my three-ringed notebook. I should write on both sides of the paper before proceeding to write on a new sheet of paper. I also shouldn’t doodle so much, as that takes up more space on the page that I could be saving for important notes. (Then maybe I could pay more attention in class, too, ). The food I eat leaves behind a carbon footprint. I can opt to eat one less serving of meat and more cheese and dairy free alternatives each week. Cheese is an animal product and has the