How can Energy Star help both businesses and individuals to be more sustainable?

Part One: Energy
What is Energy Star?
How can Energy Star help both businesses and individuals to be more sustainable?
What is a “phantom load” or “vampire electricity?”
How many examples can you identify and list from your own home?
What solutions can you think of to rid your home of this phenomenon?
Where is the closest nuclear power plant to where you live?
What are your thoughts on the use of nuclear energy – do you support nuclear energy as an energy source? Why or why not?
What are the pros and cons of nuclear energy?
Part Two: Calculate your Carbon Footprint
For this part of the lab, you will calculate your personal “carbon footprint.”
Go to one of the many carbon footprint calculator Websites, such as
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx
http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/
https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/
What does the term Carbon Footprint mean?
What specifically does a carbon footprint measure?
What information do you need to have on hand in order to calculate your carbon footprint using one of these on-line calculators?
What site did you visit first?
What was your carbon footprint?
Now go to a different carbon footprint calculator website and re-calculate your carbon footprint. List the website that you used.
What was the result of your 2nd carbon footprint calculation?
Is the result from this 2nd calculation similar or different to the first calculation?
Why might the results turn out differently?
These simple carbon footprint calculators measure some of the direct impacts that our everyday activities have on carbon release into the atmosphere, but don’t begin to take into account all of the more indirect actions, circumstances, or materials usage in our lives that also contribute CO2 to the atmosphere. Provide an example of something in your life that would cause a release of CO2 into the atmosphere but was not taken into consideration in the carbon footprint calculator that you used.
Make a list of 10 things that you, personally, could do to lower your carbon footprint.
Why or how would these 10 things lower your carbon footprint?
How easy do you think it would be to actually incorporate the 10 changes listed above into your life?
How much would it alter your lifestyle?
Would you actually be willing to make any of these changes?

Last Completed Projects