You can do it too.

As editor for the CatScan, an online eco-magazine run by senior journalism students at the University of Arizona, I come across a lot of interesting story ideas. Last week I heard about an online carbon footprint calculator. Some of the reporters plan to use the calculator to measure their footprints for an upcoming story and semi-experiment. I decided to see what my carbon footprint was like.

After entering the Web site I found the calculator hiding at the bottom of the page. With a few clicks and drop down menus I quickly determined my 'secondary' carbon footprint in less than 8 minutes. 5.528 tonnes. First of all, I dont know what a "tonne" is. Secondly, what am I supossed to do with that? Well, the Web site provides a link at the bottom of the results page that give you ways to reduce your carbon footprint based on your responses to the questions above.

As a poor college student I can hardly afford to feed myself let alone spend a lot of money to offset my carbon output. Being that I couldn't really answer all of the questions related to the regular carbon footprint, I answered the secondary footprint questions. It would cost me $84.74 to the Clean Energy Fund to offset JUST my secondary footprint. Unfortunately that's a little pricey for me. And the prices only go up from there. I could pay $114.45 towards reforestation in Kenya or $192.12 towards tree planting in the UK.

Feeling more guilty by the click I decided to just try to buy locally grown foods with less packaging, reduce the amount of driving and focus on encouraging others to do the same. That way I can maintain my routine without sending money halfway around the world. Maybe I'll plant my own tree.

Check it out!




The UK seems to be doing a lot to encourage its residents to reduce their carbon footprints.