I recently calculated my personal carbon footrpint and found that I put out enough carbon emissions a year to be 6.2 people. And the sad thing is that this is much smaller the the United States average. The reason our earth is deteriorating so rapidly is that along with a growing population each person on average in the world is releasing enough carbon for four people a year and the average for the United States is 20.4 tons!!! (Carbon Footprint Calculator) In attempts to combat world emissions the goal is for each person to reduce their footprint to 2. Even then we are simulating a doubling in our population.
Along with the questions about travel such as how many cars I own or how often I fly they also asked many questions such as if we buy our groceries locally or do our best to reduce the products we purchase that come in packaging. These are simple things that if we make a conscience effort we can greatly reduce the size of our carbon footprint. They also give suggestions to offset your footprint by investing in cleaner energy for your homes or contributing to tree planting projects. "In general, the biggest contributors to the carbon footprints of individuals in industrialized nations are transportation and household electricity use. An individual's secondary carbon footprint is dominated by their diet, clothes, and personal products." (Encyclopedia of Earth)