Calculating Your Carbon Footprint

The article Improving your Carbon Footprint by Andy Fusco & Passaic N.J, claims that the online carbon dioxide calculator is an important step in educating and raising awareness to the public about how big their carbon footprint is and what they can do to make it smaller. I disagree with this claim. Yes, it can help raise a little awareness about the issue, but there are much more powerful ways to do so.
Although some people might search the internet to figure out how big their carbon footprint is, not many take this route. Many of the people that do search the internet for a carbon footprint calculator end up using one of the many popular, inaccurate ones, and end up with a false sense of how big their carbon footprint is.
Anyone who goes to school, or watches TV, or listens to the radio, or reads the newspaper, or has conversations with someone that does, knows what is good and bad for the environment. The information is everywhere! People that drive big SUVs or trucks know that they are polluting the environment. Most people know that fluorescent light bulbs are better for the environment than regular ones. Most people know that plants are good for the environment. Just because they know what they are doing is bad, doesn’t mean that they are going to change their habits.
Of people that use an accurate CO2 footprint calculator, many may find the size of their carbon footprint to be enlightening, and it may change their lifestyle. Most people don’t take the time to find and use an accurate CO2 footprint calculator, because they already have some idea of how big their carbon footprint is or could care less about what the carbon footprint calculator says. In conclusion, the online carbon calculator can be an important step in educating and raising awareness for some people, but to most people it is not.