Persuasive Essay On Carbon Footprint

Words: 805
Pages: 4

My estimated carbon foot print is 8.44 metric tons of CO2, well above the world target. The average carbon footprint for Americans is 20.40 metric tons. The world average is about 4 metric tons of CO2. The largest sources of my carbon foot print are coming from household usage and secondary lifestyle. In general I thought my behavior was pretty good for the environment. Furthermore, I thought I was doing well when I bought organic foods, however, I never thought about how the wrapping and processing of that food, even if organic, was affecting the earth. Moreover, that is why I believe that buying packaged foods is one of the biggest contributors of CO2 in my secondary lifestyle category. In addition, Buying new clothes and new appliances …show more content…
In particular electricity and natural gas. Living in a state with harsh winters my usage electricity and gas is extensive. However, I do believe that sometimes the heater doesn’t have to be on all the time there are more efficient ways, which I have hope to take part in, such as using old blankets around the house or wearing multiple layers of clothing when it’s not so cold. In addition, being a student in today’s technological age I use a lot of electricity to charge multiple gadgets and like perhaps many other students I forget to unplug …show more content…
The average American emits around 21 metric tons of CO2, while my results shows about 8 metric tons that is a 13 metric ton difference. As an American I am doing quite better than average I believe this is mainly due to my sources of transportation (commuting/foot), my food consumption (vegetarian), and perhaps my low yearly travel (once or no travel per year.) The average American eats more beef per year leading to livestock farm pollution. Moreover, the average American perhaps travels more and owns at least one vehicle. My average carbon foot print of 8 metric tons is about twice as big as the world average of4 tons. I found this to be shocking. This result made me reflect on American lifestyles, what choices are we making as individuals in America that lead to such huge numbers in comparison to the world? Is it a matter of culture, policy, availability of products? I am not sure. However, it is most provable that Americans simply consume and import many products and don’t reuse them and discard them in greater numbers than for say poorer or greener countries. Furthermore, the mass amount of CO2 consumption by Americans can lead to some serious issues and pressure from other countries that aren’t emitting as much CO2 as