Are you Big Foot?

I’m a short girl and have always suffered from abnormally small feet. Out of curiosity I decided to go to safeclimate.net and measure my carbon footprint. I hate to admit it, but my carbon footprint isn’t so dainty. But, hey, knowing where I start allows me to set goals, and hopefully one day my carbon footprint will fit into my flip-flops.

For those of you whose footing with green jargon isn’t so hot, let me explain carbon footprints. A carbon footprint is the measurement of an individual’s impact on the environment through direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide. Practically everything we do contributes to our carbon footprint.

So why does size matter?

Our often excessive use of greenhouse gases is creating an environmental dilemma you may have heard of before — global warming. No matter what you believe, it’s fact that the Earth’s average temperature is increasing, and many scientists attribute this to me and you, and our giant footprints.

In the end, the decision is up to you. You can continue to stomp around with a giant footprint, or you can consider these simple and easy footprint reduction steps:

At home:
-Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). If you switch just two bulbs in your house you will save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide and $30 over its lifetime.
- Turn off lights when they are not in use.
-Move your thermostat 2 degrees cooler in winter and 2 degrees warmer in the summer.
-Lower you water heater thermostat to 120 degrees (you won’t notice a difference!).
-Set refrigerator temperature at 36-38 degrees and your freezer to 0-5 degrees.
- Start a compost heap.

At work:
-Reduce the amount of printing and copying you do
- When printing is necessary, print double-sided.
-Reuse office supplies such as binders, folders, paper clips etc.
-Recycle paper and printing cartridges

In commute:
-Bike, carpool or walk whenever possible.
-Take the shortest commuting routes.
- Run all errands during the same trip.
-Don’t idle for more than 30 seconds.
-Drive in non-peak hours to avoid waiting in traffic.
-Keep tires properly inflated.

Want to learn the size and impact of your carbon footprint?

Come by the Union plaza today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and learn all about it!

Want a new purse?

Today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. learn to crochet grocery bags into a beautiful purse.

Learn more about Wednesday activities at www.olemiss.edu/green.

Learn more about global warming at: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1011.