Hurumanu- Carbon Footprint

Today in science, we have been doing an activity about Carbon footprint. So what is Carbon footprint?

Carbon footprint is a mark you leave on your planet, not with your shoes but every action that releases Carbons. Carbon is a harmful gas such as CO2 which are formed by burning fossil fuels like oil and gas, the more fuel you use the bigger your footprint will be. So using fuel comes from a long way by taking oil out from the ground, shipping it which contains carbon, operating the oil by factories which produce carbon to trucking it to a petrol station which also contains carbon.

So basically everything we own has a carbon footprint like computers, phones, furniture and etc. The book you read is a carbon footprint because it uses energy to be created by factories and trucks or ships transport it. Even something so basic like an apple could be transported by a plane which produces more carbon polluting the air which is hard to get rid of, then it is delivered to supermarkets.

It is clearly impossible to leave your carbon footprint behind as long as you make the right choice like using more transport or biking to work, growing your own fruits and veggies and other local food that are not transported. That's what a Carbon Footprint is and I hope you learned something from it.

Carbon Footprint explained-This is a video explaining what Carbon footprint is.

Carbon Footprint- This was printed and handed out to all students doing Science.

You will need:

1. 2 different colouring pencils
2. The Carbon Footprint Handout.

We will look at our Carbon Footprint under the following headings.

• Dwelling
• Water
• Recreation
• Heating and cooling
• Electricity
• Transportation
• Food
• Waste
• Air Travel
• Consumption

Orange: For actions, I am already doing 

Blue: For actions that I pledge to undertake in the future

List 5 of the actions you pledge to undertake in the future.

1.   Check labels and try to buy local foods
2.   Recycle everything as much as I can
3.   Conserve more water
4.   Hang out with my friends more and do activities that don't involve Carbon Footprint 
5.   Use less power

Ecological Footprint explained film

Ecological Handprint 

You will need:

1. 2 different colouring pencils
2. The Ecological Footprint Handout.

The Ecological handprint builds on the concepts from the Carbon Footprint. We will look at the positive actions you can take with:

1. Transportation
2. Community
3. Consumption
4. Water
5. Food
6. Home
7. Waste

1 Colour: For each action you are already doing 

2 Colour: For each action you would like to do in the future

List 7 of the actions you pledge to do in the future.

2.   I look at labels and try to buy the local foods
3.   I conserve energy every chance i get 
4.   I use energy efficient light bulbs and turn things off every chance i get.
5.   I try to walk or bike every chance i get.
6.   I compost and recycle 
7.   I live in a 1 or 2 bedroom house 
8.   I conserve but still need to shower everyday.