1 Preserve Forests Trees take in a lot of CO 2 from the atmosphere and store it as carbon in their leaves, branches, roots, and trunks. According to a 2006 report from the United Nations, forests store about 312 billion tons of carbon as part of living trees. If you add the carbon in dead wood and leaves on the forest floor and in the soil, the amount of carbon stored in forests increases to about 1.1 trillion tons! The United Nations report also said that destruction of forests worldwide adds almost 2.2 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year. That s as much CO 2 added to the atmosphere as the United States gives off through human activities each year. Many climate experts believe that protecting and replanting forests offers one of the least expensive and best ways to fight against climate change because trees take in and store so much CO 2 from the atmosphere. Trees take in CO 2 from the atmosphere. Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use.
Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use. 2 Recycle and Use Less Paper You can reduce your carbon footprint by recycling paper and using less of it. Paper is made from trees. Like all plants, trees photosynthesize, and like all photosynthesizing organisms, trees take CO 2 out of the atmosphere. Trees are large plants that take large amounts of CO 2 from the atmosphere. With every tree we chop down to make paper, we are stopping that tree from taking CO 2 out of the atmosphere. Think about all the places we use paper from schoolbooks to packaging to toilet paper. Different types of paper are made using different numbers of trees. Used paper can be recycled to make new paper and the more recycled paper that is used, the fewer trees will be chopped down to make new paper. Recycling paper reduces your carbon footprint in two ways: It saves trees from being used to make paper, so those trees are left to take in more CO 2. It keeps paper out of landfills. When paper decomposes in landfills, it releases CH 4 (methane) into the atmosphere. Methane is a heat-trapping gas. Type of Office Paper Paper without recycled content Paper containing 30% recycled content Paper containing 50% recycled content Many cites and towns collect paper for recycling. Number of Trees It Takes to Make 1 Ton of Paper 24 trees 17 trees 12 trees
3 Turn Lights Off Turning lights off does not mean sitting in the dark. It means to switch off the light when there is no one in a room. Lights use electricity, and most of the electricity in the United States is made from burning fossil fuels, such as coal. Burning (combusting) fossil fuels produces energy, but it also releases CO 2 into the atmosphere. When we switch lights on we are actually adding CO 2 to the atmosphere. The more lights we can turn off, the less electricity we will be using, and so the less CO 2 we will be putting into the atmosphere. Most electricity that powers lights comes from burning fossil fuels. Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use.
Adjust Your Thermostat When the weather outside is cold, most people turn on the heat in their homes, work, and schools. If it s hot, we turn on the air conditioning. We set the thermostat to a temperature that we think is comfortable. But if we adjusted the thermostat so it didn t require as much heat or air conditioning, and put on warmer clothes in winter or wore looser, lighter clothes in summer, we could reduce our carbon footprint. Heating and air conditioning usually require electricity or natural gas. Most of the electricity in the United States is made from burning fossil fuels, such as coal. Natural gas is another kind of fossil fuel that gets burned. Burning fossil fuels releases CO2, so using less heat or air conditioning can lower the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. When we adjust the thermostat by a few degrees, we decrease the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use. 4 A thermostat controls when a heating or air-conditioning system turns on in a building.
Planting trees or gardens can help reduce your carbon footprint. All plants photosynthesize, and when they do, they take in CO2 from the atmosphere and store the carbon. Every plant you grow takes some carbon out of the atmosphere. A large plant, like a tree, will take in more CO2 than a smaller plant. If you plant a garden for growing your own fruit, vegetables, and herbs, then you not only might save a trip to the supermarket (which burns fossil fuels if you use a car to go shopping), but you will also have a supply of fresh, locally-grown, low-cost, organic, and healthy food. Kids all over the world have started tree-planting campaigns. Some cities, such as New York City and Los Angeles, have started big tree planting projects and are trying to plant at least one million new trees by around 2020. Michelle Obama, with the help of local fifth-grade students, planted the largest garden ever at the White House. Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use. Plant a Tree or Garden Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California 5
Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use. 6 Walk or Roll to School Walking or riding a bike to school or work instead of riding in a car reduces our carbon footprint. Cars burn fossil fuels to make them go. Burning fossil fuels releases CO 2 into the atmosphere. Fourteen percent of the CO 2 released into the atmosphere in the United States comes from transportation. Some schools have begun organizing Walk-or-Roll-to-School programs, where students are encouraged to walk or ride a bike to school. International Walk to School Month takes place around the world in October. Whether you participate in these programs for just one day, a week, or all year long, you are helping to reduce the number of cars on the road. Sometimes bikes are even faster than cars that can get stuck in traffic in busy cities. If you don t have bike lanes where you live, you can write to your local government and ask them to create more bike lanes to make the roads safer and to encourage more people to start biking. No fossil fuels are burned if you walk or ride a bike.
7 Recycle Plastic Recycling plastic can reduce your carbon footprint. Plastic is made from crude oil, which is a fossil fuel. About 6 percent of the world s crude oil is used to make plastic, and that amount is increasing every year. For every pound of plastic that is made, about 6 pounds of CO 2 are released into the atmosphere. Using recycled plastic to make things releases only about half as much CO 2 into the atmosphere as making things from new plastic. There are companies that make shoelaces, sleeping bags, and jackets from recycled plastic. Most types of plastic can be recycled, but you have to find the right place to recycle them. Many plastics can be recycled through curbside recycling, grocery store drop bins (for plastic bags), or recycling centers. A triangle with a number inside on the bottom of most plastic containers tells you what type of plastic it is. You need to find out about which plastics are recyclable in your community because different locations have different rules. Contact your county s Department of Public Works or recycling center. They will tell you what type of plastic they can recycle and where to take it. You can also call 1-800-CLEANUP for state recycling information. above left: Symbols like these tell what type of plastic something is made of. above right: PETE bottles ready for recycling into fabric, other containers, tape, or even building materials. Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use.
Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use. 8 Buy in Bulk (or less packaging) Buying things with less plastic and paper packaging can reduce your carbon footprint. Plastic packaging: Plastic is made from crude oil, which is a fossil fuel. About 6 percent of the world s crude oil is used to make plastic, and that amount is increasing every year. For every pound of plastic that is made, about 6 pounds of CO 2 are released into the atmosphere. Paper packaging: It takes energy to make paper from trees. Each tree that is cut down is also one less tree to take in CO 2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. When you go to the store, you often have many kinds of products to choose from. Some have a lot of packaging, and some have much less. For example, you can choose to buy products in large containers or in smaller, individual packages. Buying one large container of yogurt rather than many small containers can save a lot of plastic packaging. Buying beans or pasta in large amounts instead of in small cardboard boxes with plastic bags inside can also help reduce your carbon footprint. Some grocery stores sell food in bulk with no packaging.
9 Bring a Shopping Bag You can reduce your carbon footprint by bringing a bag with you to the store instead of using a new bag. San Jose, California, is just one city in the United States that has passed a law banning single-use plastic bags in stores. Starting in 2012, stores are no longer allowed to provide single-use plastic bags to shoppers, and paper bags must contain recycled paper. Customers will have to pay for any paper bags they use. High school students were among a large number of concerned citizens who helped pass this law. This kind of law encourages people to buy reusable cloth bags or reuse paper and plastic bags from past shopping trips. Plastic bags: Plastic is made from crude oil, which is a fossil fuel. About 6 percent of the world s crude oil is used to make plastic, and that amount is increasing every year. For every pound of plastic that is made, about 6 pounds of CO 2 are released into the atmosphere. Paper bags: It takes even more energy to make paper bags than it does to make plastic bags. Most of that energy comes from burning of fossil fuels, which releases CO 2 into the atmosphere. Each tree that is cut down is also one less tree to take in CO 2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. You can bring a reusable bag to carry your groceries. Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use.
Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use. 10 Use Rechargeable Batteries You can reduce your carbon footprint by using rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones. Disposable batteries release 28 times more heat-trapping gases than rechargeable batteries because people need to buy so many of them to get the same amount of energy. Every new battery you buy had to be made and moved to the store where you bought it. The making and moving of batteries releases a lot of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Rechargeable batteries last a lot longer, so they do not need to be replaced very often. Rechargeable batteries come in all different sizes, so you can get them to power almost anything in your house that takes batteries. All you need is a battery charger to get them charged up when they get low on energy. Rechargeable batteries last much longer than other batteries.
11 Eat Less Meat You can reduce your carbon footprint by eating less meat. Raising cows and other animals releases about 18 percent of all human-produced, heat-trapping gases that are released worldwide. Livestock give off CH 4 (methane) and other heat-trapping gases through manure, flatulence, and belching. Another way to think about it is that producing the meat for one large hamburger patty releases as much heat-trapping gas into the atmosphere as driving an average American car about 10 miles. As the world population grows, more meat is used, and more land needs to be turned into pastureland or used to grow crops that feed livestock. To do this, forests are usually cut down and burned. This is a problem because those forests would have removed some of the CO 2 from the atmosphere. Right now, livestock take up about 30 percent of the land on the planet that isn t covered with ice. If people eat less meat, stores will sell less meat, and then ranchers will raise fewer livestock. This means that smaller amounts of heat-trapping gases will be released, and fewer forests cut down. Animals, such as cows, which are raised for meat, release heat-trapping gases. Ocean Sciences Sequence 2014 The Regents of the University of California Permission granted to purchaser to photocopy for classroom use.