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What is your personal impact on the environment? »

Posted by: jcolman 2 years, 2 months ago

This simple carbon calculator shows you how your daily lifestyle and behaviors affect climate change. It uses real science, it's easy to use, and it helps you make better decisions about how to reduce the impacts from global warming. I got a 32 -- what's your score?

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jcolman

For more than a decade, Jonathon D. Colman has designed, developed, and promoted web sites for large companies and nonprofits, including The Nature Conservancy, Conservation ...

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Comments: 159
  • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)Dharma
    Dharma
    April 26, 2007, 10:32 p.m.

    I got a 22 for the family and 7.4 as an individual. Again most of it in food......apparently that is the real kicker for me.

    • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)lfergie812
      lfergie812
      April 26, 2007, 10:51 p.m.

      I got 21 for family and 10.5 for me. What did me in was the vehicle even though I only drive 1200 miles a year. Bummer. Of course if there were more in my family beside the 2 of use, it might have been less.

      • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)natashas
        natashas
        April 26, 2007, 11:18 p.m.

        I got 14 for me and 18 for family.

        • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)NoWayMan
          NoWayMan
          April 26, 2007, 11:36 p.m.

          8.2 for me

          18 for the house

          my household obviously has to start wasting more, leaving lights on, letting the car idle, etc if we're going to catch up with the rest of america.

          • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)jordan11
            jordan11
            April 26, 2007, 11:40 p.m.

            I did better on this 'test' than the last one I took, & am below the national average. The flying kills it for a really good score, but there's no way I can fix that.

            • Avg rating: (+1/-0 1)tehranchik
              tehranchik
              April 27, 2007, 12:08 a.m.

              5.4 and 27 for a 1 person household.

              • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)ETproductions
                ETproductions
                April 27, 2007, 1:35 a.m.

                We did pretty well. 22 for a family of 3. That's a bit behind the rest of the world at 17, but not bad for a bunch of energy hungry Americans. Flying did us in, and my son is required to do that. College internships and ROTC.

                • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)puffin
                  puffin
                  April 27, 2007, 1:40 a.m.

                  I didn't take this test because I don't live in the States and it wouldn't give me any other options.

                  • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)puffin
                    puffin
                    April 27, 2007, 1:51 a.m.

                    Okay, I took the test, but used the closest state - 3.2. was my personal score. I'm not gonna even try & calculate for the others I live with - they all think I'm an eco-spazz. Lol

                    • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)jdhatl
                      jdhatl
                      April 27, 2007, 3:03 a.m.

                      You are throwing your money away. Why is it patriotic to squander resources? It's because your "patriotism" is loyalty to anything liberals hate. That makes you a REACTIONARY. Since you think it's the lack of Jesus in people's lives that cause them to get raped, you are a Christian Supremacist. You are an extreme partisan who puts your political affiliation above the lives of innocent people. You are a conspiracy theorist because everything you find a way to blame on liberals. You repeat the war propaganda regarding Muslims, which makes you a racist. If you think Rush Limbaugh "makes sense" and that "people should listen to him", then you are a FASCIST. Just remember, no matter how much you love Bush & Co, they have nothing but contempt for you. Loyalty gets you nowhere.

                      • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)CaptainShev
                        CaptainShev
                        April 27, 2007, 5:51 a.m.

                        Dude, why you boasting about this? It just kinda makes you sound like a bit of a ******. It's not terribly patriotic to deliberately speed up processes that will eventually change the face of the earth as we know it, making the whole planet less viable for life. That will include America, you know. And lets not forget all the environmental refugees that will be flocking to you soon enough.

                        6.5 was my footprint - not too bad, but could do better....

                        • Avg rating: (+16/-1 15)Natureboy
                          Natureboy
                          April 27, 2007, 8:56 a.m.

                          A man who boasts of his unwise use of resources is someone who has no more sense than to cr@p where he eats.

                          • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)Charlson
                            Charlson
                            April 27, 2007, 8:59 a.m.

                            Spoken by someone from the ME generation. And probably a neocon.

                            • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)GWHayduke
                              GWHayduke
                              April 27, 2007, 9:39 a.m.

                              Libs - although I hesitate to respond and confirm your idiocy, its too difficult not to.

                              What you continue to demonstrate is exactly what you claim to despise. That is the concept of entitlement - you feel that you can consume and waste any amount of resource just because you can. The repugnancy of that behavior is exactly what has made this country loathed by the rest of the world.

                              Please keep your boorish behavior to yourself.

                              • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)schillinfl1
                                schillinfl1
                                April 27, 2007, 10:24 a.m.

                                To everyone reponding to this thread...you just got trolled.

                                • Avg rating: (+8/-1 7)samsara15
                                  samsara15
                                  April 27, 2007, 12:17 p.m.

                                  I don't do well, 63, but we do the best we can and don't think environmental concerns are crap at all.Our biggest score comes from owning a large detached home. We keep our home at 68 in the winter and 74 in the summer and drive a Toyota Camry. The world needs more tree huggers.

                                  • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)lvrofwolves
                                    lvrofwolves
                                    April 27, 2007, 7:53 a.m.

                                    23 family 5.5 myself but I can do better, I think we all can if we want. I don't get why some people don't understand all the benefits, for a healthier environment, your health will be better, and you will save $ too!

                                    • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)Star_Poet
                                      Star_Poet
                                      April 27, 2007, 8:13 a.m.

                                      I asked 437 liberals what they thought about recycling.

                                      Amazingly, only .07% of them said that it made a difference.

                                      Conclusion: Recycling must not be an individual effort. Instead it "must" take place at the municipal level for sure.

                                      • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)Amazing1
                                        Amazing1
                                        April 27, 2007, 8:18 a.m.

                                        I got 13 for myself. Biggest factor was the number of bedrooms, I think. We live on a farm in an older home that has 5 bedrooms. It's just my husband and I. Maybe we should demolish part of the house.

                                        • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)ecotourusa
                                          ecotourusa
                                          April 27, 2007, 8:41 a.m.

                                          Grow Your Own Food!

                                          I met Bob Marley's mother at her home in Miami. she walked me around the Marley property. That experience had such an impact on me. I learned that we do not need ornamental plants in our yards to decorate with. All you need are fruit trees, vegetable plants and herb shrubs. Everywhere on her property was food growing. And, it was beautiful---because it was not the usual, waste of resources, ornamental landscaping. I live in an apartment and grow tomatoes, herbs, peppers, etc. in pots. Grow your own food if it's at all possible.

                                          • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)queenb727
                                            queenb727
                                            April 27, 2007, 8:42 a.m.

                                            I got a 19 for me.

                                            • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)Natureboy
                                              Natureboy
                                              April 27, 2007, 8:43 a.m.

                                              Well, it's an interesting test. Doesn't capture everything. For example, it asked about how fuel-efficient our vehicles are and how far we drive, but I run one of our cars on biodiesel from waste veggie oil, and there was nothing about THAT. Nor about what we are doing with our green spaces. We are planting almost all of our land in fruit trees, edible plants and culinary and medicinal herbs in the "Food not Lawns" tradition. Using greywater to irrigate them, although most are selected for drought resistance anyway.

                                              But beyond that, the quiz perpetuates the myth that this is all the responsibility of the consumer. Can General Motors take a quiz? Howabout all of the supermarkets that have their produced shipped from Mexico rather than buying locally? Can they take a quiz?

                                              • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)perkonis
                                                perkonis
                                                April 27, 2007, 8:44 a.m.

                                                Wow. Got 100 for a family of 5. Then I wondered what would happen if I changed the state from Indiana, which I noticed was the second highest, to one of the lower impact states. Apparently I can cut my CO2 in half just by moving to Washington.

                                                Methinks we should try to burn a bit less coal around here.

                                                • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)buckncindykill
                                                  buckncindykill
                                                  April 27, 2007, 9:18 a.m.

                                                  Actually, the Chinese should be the one's taking this test.............

                                                  • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)Nowalive
                                                    Nowalive
                                                    April 27, 2007, 9:38 a.m.

                                                    I got a 7.1 for me, but I must be getting hit for energy because of living in an apartment. My biggest was energy use. 63.7% of my footprint was from energy use.

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