Carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) we produce from our daily activities. What activities do you think create a carbon footprint? You’re going to read a blog entry by Mandy, ’Come on, go green.’ What do you think she’ll say about these things? Write down your ideas. Reading 17 a Mandy lives in Sydney, Australia. She wants to reduce her carbon footprint and writes about it in her blog, called greener Aussies. b Read the blog entry. Were your ideas correct? c http://greeneraussies.blog.com/Come-on-go-green.html Come on, go green To celebrate World Environment Day this year, I wanted to find out what a teenager like me can do to improve the environment. Here are some of the ideas which helped me to reduce my carbon footprint and to save money. Our biggest problem is that people just say “What difference can a single person make?” If everyone thought like that, we would never change anything. If we all lived a greener life, our world would soon be cleaner and greener too. D o you keep your computer and hi-fi on standby? Does your fridge need to be quite so cold? Is your dishwasher or washing machine only half full? It all wastes energy. C ycle or walk to school or work if possible. Or take public transport rather than asking your parents to drive you. If you do need to take the car, organise a carpool scheme in your neighbourhood. I f your tap water is drinkable, don’t drink bottled water. It just increases the amount of plastic in the environment. T ry and buy local products like fruit and vegetables with a low carbon footprint. You’ll support your local economy at the same time. Y ou could grow your own food even if you live in an apartment. Your window, balcony or rooftop and some containers are enough to grow vegetables. T ake showers instead of having a bath. It takes less time and uses up less water. Have you already installed a low flow shower head? G et your parents to think about installing solar panels on the roof of your house. You can get your entire hot water supply that way. T urn off the lights in rooms you don’t use. Why leave the light on when nobody is around? It’s just plain waste. T ry to do without air conditioning and heating. Wear appropriate clothes instead. A void chemical cleaning products. You could use natural alternatives like vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. R educe your consumption of plastic products. Use cloth bags for shopping; use newspapers, magazines or old towels for packing stuff. T ake your old phones and computers to electronic recycling collection points. They contain precious raw materials that can be reused. Language skills Extras Explore 7 Your environment 85 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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