CALCULATE YOUR SCHOOL'S CARBON FOOTPRINT
WHAT IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT?
Everyone has a Carbon Footprint. Your carbon footprint is the amount (in pounds or tons) of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that you are responsible for creating through your daily activities. When it comes to the size of your Carbon Footprint, bigger isn’t better, because CO2 contributes to global warming!
Driving a car, using electricity to light and heat your home, throwing away garbage, and other activities like growing food and raising livestock all use energy. If you are an average American, most of your daily activities use energy from fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, and gas), which release CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fewer carbon emissions you produce through your daily actions, the smaller your Carbon Footprint is.
CALCULATE YOUR INDIVIDUAL CARBON FOOTPRINT AT:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/calculator/ind_calculator.html
Schools, households, businesses, and the government also have carbon footprints. These are typically quite a bit larger than individual footprints.
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Cool Schools Action: CALCULATE YOUR SCHOOL’S CARBON FOOTPRINT |
The SchoolNeutral Carbon Calculator is a school-specific carbon calculator. It was created by an Irvington High School student with help from DriveNeutral (www.driveneutral.org). Calculating your school’s Carbon Footprint will give you a sense of how much energy your school uses and how much emissions it produces. This in turn will help you understand how your school contributes to global warming. You’ll need to collect information about electricity and gas usage at your school. You'll also need to determine how students get to school. Read the online SchoolNeutral User’s Manual for instructions and then use the SchoolNeutral Carbon Calculator by visiting the links below. |
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