Today I followed the chapter critical thinking exercise and compared the results of two carbon footprint calculators.
The first calculator results can be seen here.
The results of my second, below.
I found that both calculators asked for the same types of questions, but differed in the depth of each question. The first calculator gave testers the option to answer the question specifically or generally, and had very precise, but accurate, answer choices throughout. The second test I took was not nearly as detailed, and I feel gave me a good score because it gave a very general numbers for general answers.
For example, in the food section I got zero emissions for all of my answers because I do not eat any meat and eat organic "most of the time". I know for a fact, after seeing the first test, that there are many more questions to be asked because even if I am eating organic "most of the time" there is still some times when I do not which would have more than a zero impact. A good question that they could have asked would be, "Do you buy from local farmers, if not what countries does your produce come from?". I feel as though that question would be precise enough that it could calculate miles traveled, and from there the amount of emissions released. I find that this question is very relevant to calculating anyone's carbon footprint, because food is such a vital part of our daily activities that the way we purchase and eat contributes greatly to our footprints.
As for my results in the second calculator, although my results look decent a mere 8.5 compared to the 27 of the average U.S. citizen. However, even though I am a vegan and do not own a car or motorized bike, I am still 3 points above the world average per person. That means that although I live a greatly different (as in cleaner) life compared to my peers and fellow citizens, there is great room for improvement in my own life. This also tells us how much we as a culture NEED to change. I am not perfect and although I make an effort, I recognize that there are plenty of areas in my life that need improvement. But, if a vegan without a car in the U.S. is still 3 points above the world average, citizens eating grass-fed meat and driving a hybrid car have a significant amount to change, let alone those eating factory farmed meat and SUVs!
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