Lately the kids and I have been talking about our carbon footprint and what our environmental responsibility is and exactly how we should help protect and care for the earth. So this morning I decided that I would sit down and calculate exactly what impact our family was having on the environment...
Our household of 9 people has a carbon footprint of 60 which means that we produce about 60 tons of carbon dioxide. The specific definition that makes this a little more easily understood it this:
The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Therefore, our carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide), which were induced by your activities in a given time frame. Which in this case a carbon footprint is calculated for the time period of a year.The world's average for a family of 9 is apx. 50 tons of carbon dioxide and the average for our great land is 240 tons of carbon dioxide gas per year! We aren't doing too bad with our average being 75% lower than the National average! Although I am happy to know we are doing some things right I am sure that we could do more...and I am even more sure that my children will tell me what that is...especially Sam and Claire!
