Reflection two: Carbon Footprint

What is carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint.

I learnt that:
The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf. Some of the ways to reduce carbon footprint are:

• Turn off lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer etc when not in use
• Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load
• Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need
• Do your weekly shopping in a single trip
• Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it
• Fit energy saving light bulbs
• Use a fridge with energy efficiency rating of "A"
• Use the bus or a train rather than your car
• For short journeys either walk or cycle
• Don't buy over packaged products
• Recycle as much as possible

My reflection:

After learning ways to reduce carbon footprint, i will apply them and share them with my family members and friends.If everyone also help to reduce carbon footprint, the amount of carbon dioxide will be reduce.I learnt an important message too, the message is the more we buy the more they manufacture.

Links:
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbonfootprint.html