Hello,
My name is Marko. I live in a small town named Kutjevo,Croatia.
When I was told that I have the opportunity to take part in a international project ,the first of its kind in Croatia, I was really excited.At first I saw it just as a new and fun way to interact with other people from different parts of the world. Then I took the Carbon Footprint test, thinking that I’m going to get a low percentage compared to an average person because I live in a really small town.The result shocked me,my footprint was way over the average carbon use in my country.Now I am more conscious and aware of the things I need to do to reduce my carbon emission and help our home,the Earth.

I also analysed my results and most of the sections were just a little above average, while the transportation section was almost tripled in comparison to the average carbon use.Sadly, that is the only section I can’t influence. I live about 20 km from school and have to take the bus everyday, so each day I drive about 40 km.The carbon emissions are huge.

I advise everyone to take the Carbon Footprint test and find out in which ways you are harming the Earth and learn how you can help.

:)

Hello.My name is Alexandra and I am from Romania.I have just calculated my carbon footprint.It is 8715.

I see many posts on here that say reducing our usage of technology would greatly help lower our carbon footprint. But have you really stopped and thought about it?

With technology nowadays, we are able to send information, pictures, and files wirelessly. With wireless, we use less paper! Using less paper reduces the amount of trees being cut down. And when we send things by mail, the mail truck that is transporting it emits alot of pollution and carbon into the atmosphere. The things we throw away could fill up in a landfill and who knows how long it will take for these items to decompose when we could have sent it wirelessly? Using this is also way more efficient.
Though they can harm the environment in some way, technology does help greatly. We just have to use it to the environment’s advantage.

Here’s a video link that discusses the affect of wireless technology on the environment.

Understanding the forces of Competitiveness

What is Competitiveness

What is “green.” People usually link being green to “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.” But there’s also a way to help the environment AND help others. There are many recycling centers where you can bring your recyclable items and they’ll give you an amount of money depending on how much items you recycled. You could use this money to donate to charities.
Those old clothes you’re about to throw away? Based on the clothing’s material, it takes from 5 months to 10 years to decompose in a landfill. Can you imagine all the carbon emissions that will enter the atmosphere? It’s a better option to donate your clothes. You’ll help those less fortunate and help the environment as well.

Another interesting topic I would like to mention and ask for your opinion is the glass-plastic issue in recycling.As we all know plastic bottles are very cheap to produce and are easily replaceable but on the other side production of plastic is not very environmentally friendly and its recycling isn’t very cheap either.Glass bottles,however,are more expensive and durable.Their manufacturing doesn’t have a big impact on the ecology and if returned to indicated places they don’t even need to be recycled and thus saving money,time and energy.So what is better - glass or plastic bottles?It’s up to you.

For a sustainable city, some key features need to be more eco-friendly waste management and public transportation. Recycling and reusing is key. My neighborhood recycles, but there are many homes and even schools that don’t. Throughout my childhood I’ve been hearing the problems surrounding landfills and too much trash. From the day my family started recycling, our amount trash thrown away has pretty much been cut in half. According to http://recyclingfacts.org/, ‘disposal of waste to landfills has decreased from 89% in 1980 to 54% in 2007’. So, for a city to be greener, I believe recycling should be mandatory of all households. Along with mandatory recycling, bike lanes and safer bike travel would be necessary. Imagine how many cars off the street if everyone biked when they were going to that nearby store or market! Not having a car, I would definitely bike everywhere if it was safer, and there were more designated bike lanes. Not to mention the money saved from not paying for gas.

Each year, more and more people are opting for an Arctic adventure and the island of Spitsbergen is where I went! It’s home to 2,500 inhabitants, who are outnumbered by 3,000 polar bears. Halfway between Norway and the North Pole, Spitsbergen is in the archipelago of Svalbard, and was originally a base for whalers in the 17th and 18th centuries. It home to one of the most dramatic landscapes I’ve ever seen. Enjoy the clip :)

Africa Mobile Market Now Second Only to Asia. Some facts from this newly published research:

>Africa now has 620 million mobile connections, passing Latin America
>Regional penetration has risen from 2% in 2000, to 57% this year
>Mobile provides 3.5% of African GDP
>96% is pre-paid with voice services currently dominating, however data is increasing rapidly.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/11/africa-mobile-market-now-secon.php