Do you know how much is your carbon footprint impact the environment? Let’s discover five critical carbon footprint facts for kids.
Your carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air because of your actions. When you eat food, wear clothing, and use transportation and electricity, you release carbon dioxide into the air. The choices you make everyday impact the size of your carbon footprint. The bigger your carbon footprint means the more carbon dioxide you release into the atmosphere.
You can measure your own carbon footprint, a business’s carbon footprint or a country’s carbon footprint. Richer and well developed countries, such as the UK and Ireland have a much higher carbon footprint than underdeveloped countries. This is because wealthier countries use more electricity, have more clothes and more people go on foreign holidays.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that the largest carbon footprints are caused due to electricity. You may not think that your actions can make a difference, but when everyone thinks this and everyone begins to reduce their usage a huge difference can be made. Simple changes can make a big impact. Do not leave your phone plugged in at night to be charged, instead once your phone is charged plug out the charger. Turn off lights, TVs, computers, tablets and gaming stations such as Nintenoi, Xbox, PlayStation when you are not using them. These are steps you can take not just at home but also at school.
Recycling is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and it is easy to do. There are many informational sources on the internet that tell you what can and cannot be recycled and many products also have logos to show if they are recycled. You can recycle paper, aluminum cans, cardboard, food cans, plastic, glass, newspapers, magazines and much much more. Recycled products can be remade into other products using less energy than making products from raw materials.
Eating food that is grown locally can save a lot more energy than eating food imported from another country. It takes a lot less energy to transport locally produced food than it does food from other countries. You may not think so, but by just eating one vegetarian meal a week, you could reduce your carbon footprint. Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is by swapping out certain meats for others meat. For example, eating chicken instead of beef, which has a high carbon footprint.
Today most people use cars to get to school, football training, dance classes and other activities. Why not switch up the way you travel to reduce your carbon footprint. This can be done in many ways. Take public transport such as a train or a bus instead of the car. Or why not stretch your legs and walk or cycle to your destination if possible. Not only are you helping the environment but you are also improving your health. Carpooling is another great way to reduce your carbon footprint.Carpooling is when a few people travel in the one car instead of taking separate ones. Take part in a bit of carpool karaoke and have fun on your way to school.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about carbon footprint as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic the environment is, you can move on to learn about other STEM articles like: Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems.
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