leave it to the kids: getting to zero footprint
Because the future of the planet is in their hands, and it is no exaggeration to say that concern for the environment manifests itself as involvement in our children’s education.
Now, the folks at ZeroFootprint wanna be as helpful as possible to you when it comes to answering the kids’ questions.
So, they’ve launched the ZeroFootprint KidsCalculator.
The idea behind the calculator is that all of our decisions and patterns of behaviour add up to a “footprint,” which is just a way of measuring people’s demands on nature. The more we consume, the bigger our footprint is. Indeed, our footprint is global.
Much of our food, our goods, our fuel, our resources, come from somewhere else. And much of our waste, particularly our greenhouse gas emissions, is spread around the planet as well.
Says ZeroFootprint, “if everyone on the planet consumed resources and goods at the same rate that we do, we would need roughly four planets like ours to provide the basic materials and to absorb our waste.”
That’s just another way of saying that something’s got to give.
The KidsCalculator accounts for the things we buy and discard, the way we get around, the way we live and the places we live.
OK, so we are among the most wasteful people on Earth, yet there is a great deal we can do.
Investment in efficient appliances and home insulation, using paper more efficiently, and looking for recycled paper, turning off the tap while brushing our teeth. Stuff ladat.
The questions in the KidsCalculator provide direction in figuring out how to do this by offering answers to questions like “How did you get to school today?â€
The questions themselves contain lessons, and the ZeroFootprint folks have provided a couple of points for you to have at your disposal when each question comes up.
For example, when the question comes up about whether the child is driven to school, you will know that driving accounts for approximately one third of a family’s carbon footprint, which means 7.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year (for a family of three). That’s enough to fill 147,500 birthday balloons.
This will help make sense of things as the kids go along, so that the figures at the end of the process are something more than numbers on a page. You’ll find those lessons and facts attached.
Says ZeroFootprint:
“Solving these global problems is going to mean an exciting new world, and an environment of intellectual ferment and creativity. We, and the kids who use this calculator, will be inventing the world anew. There’s no reason that shouldn’t be fun.”
RU down for this?
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