Monday, February 13, 2012

Comparison


I calculated my ecological footprint in different websites to compare how the different results vary. By far the most detailed calculation was from the website www.footprintnetwork.org., which results I presented in my previous post. The survey in order to calculate my footprint went in debt to describe my accurate lifestyle. It did not however provide the amount of CO2 I produce; it just calculated the amount of planets necessary to provide enough resources to support my current lifestyle. On the other end, the most general website calculator was www.nativeenergy.com/ followed by www.climatecrisis.net. These websites asked about 5-8 very general questions not really characterizing my lifestyle. Native Energy in particular calculated my CO2 as 21 tons per year with only four questions from which only two were relevant to me (how many houses I own and how many cars I own). In comparison, Climate crisis calculated my CO2 to be 1.35 tons per year, not nearly close or relevant to Native Energy Results.
Lastly, I also calculated my carbon foot print from www.carbonfootprint.com. This site along with Foot Print Network I believe to be the most accurate projections of my lifestyle. Not only have they begun with general question they also had many sub questions to detail what my lifestyle consists of. The main downside of this was that it was hard to answer some questions. For example: How many miles of public transportation you go through every year? Questions like that even though they are good details to be more accurate, they are also hard to think of an exact answer.
Carbon Foot Print calculated my yearly CO2 consumption as 8.71 metric tons. The average footprint for people in the United States is 20 tons, this leads me to believe that while I still may be under the average, I don’t think my real CO2 consumption is that low. Therefore, my improvement throughout this semester will be mainly based of my initial results from Foot Print Network. I believe this calculation to be the most accurate and therefore a better benchmark. 

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