Our Carbon Footprint
By: Victoria Martinez
What does the term "Carbon Footprint" mean?
What can you do to decrease your carbon footprint?
1. Carpool. Ask a worker or friend to ride with them if y'all are going to the same place.
2. Ride a bike to work/school. Don't pull out your car when you can ride your bike, and get a bonus extra exercise in!
3. Open your windows. There's no need to put your AC on when it's a beautiful day outside. Let fresh air into your house!
4. Turn off lights when you are not in the room. Everyone is guilty of doing this very often. When you leave a room TURN THE LIGHT OFF!! You can save so much more money just by turning one simple light off.
5. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. So many people leave the faucet running while they are brushing their teeth, but why? TURN IT OFF, SAVE MONEY!!
6. Unplug plugs while they are no in use. Just by doing this you can save so much money.
7. Don't buy bottled water. PLASTIC, PLASTIC, PLASTIC.. Bad for the environment. It ALWAYS gets littered and those poor little animals are getting hurt by it.
8. Plant a tree. So many trees are getting knocked down, and we are losing our oxygen.
9. RECYCLE AND REUSE!!!
10. Take shorter showers. There's no need to spend 40 minutes in the shower!
How much electricity do we use daily?
- Coffee Maker= $72 per month
- Microwave= $54 per month
- Toaster= $57.60 per month
- Dishwasher= $86.40 per month
- Dryer= $129.60 per month
- Ceiling fan= $4.68 per month
- Laptop= $3.60 per month
- Television= $12.24 per month
- Iron= $7.20 per month
- Hair dryer= $86.40 per month
- Refrigerator= $21.60 per month
When we ride in our cars, how much carbon dioxide is released into the air?
Effects
- Effects on health: Causes an increase in respiratory problems. (Asthma and allergies have increased)
- Effects on wildlife: Extinction, animals wont be able to adapt to climate change.
Greenhouse gases come from everyday activities, such as electricity, driving cars, etc. Nature Conservancy says, one quarter of the Earth's species will be going towards extinction in 40 years, due to our climate changing.
How does our carbon footprint affect the climate?
- More heat is getting produced into the air and it's creating global warming (making the Earth Warmer)
- Carbon dioxide is the main gas that is emitted from the greenhouse gas
- The greenhouse gases come from our everyday activities, and some stay in the air longer than the others such as thousands of years.
- When we drive our cars, use electricity, burn fossil fuels we are creating carbon dioxide into the air.
- People are burning fossil fuels and creating carbon dioxide in the air faster than we are getting rid of it . Which is creating more carbon dioxide into the air which then is a cause for global warming.
- There is about 30% more carbon dioxide into the air today then there was 150 years ago.
Carbon Cycle
2. Carbon dioxide is then absorbed by the producers
3. Animals feed on plants which transfers carbon
4. Dead organisms then get decomposed
Works Cited
"How Does Your Carbon Footprint Impact Climate Change?" Healthy Green Living, Fitness & Sustainability. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 May 2016.
"Time for Change." What Is a Carbon Footprint. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 May 2016.
"Carbon Footprint Ltd - Carbon Footprint Reduction." Carbon Footprint Ltd - Carbon Footprint Reduction. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 May 2016.
"Reduce - Carbonfund.org." Carbonfund.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 May 2016.
"Estimating Electricity Usage." How to Calculate Your Electricity Usage. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 May 2016.