This is the time of year where many people travel to see their loved ones. However as you may know your family may not be in walking distance. So people all around go near and far to see their family for the holidays; but every time someone gets on an airplane or in the car for that long journey, you should know that your carbon footprint gets bigger.
What, might you ask, is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the measure of the amount of carbon dioxide — the major man-made global warming greenhouse gas — that goes into the atmosphere as you go about your daily life. Almost everything you do affects it: turning on a coffee maker, driving a car, buying food, or getting into that airplane to visit family.
Air travel accounts for about 3.5 percent of the human contribution to global warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The good news is you can offset — if not eliminate — your carbon footprint by making choices that can even save you money.
Making choices the right choices has become a growing trend among people who want to reduce the size of their carbon footprints. At the same time, they must grapple with the question of whether their actions really make any difference.
Many people have employed a number of low-tech ideas that all play a small part in reducing their footprints: reusing canvas shopping bags, taking shorter showers, using energy efficient light bulbs; turning off lights when not in the room and walking or riding a bicycle for short trips around town.
Increasingly, many have turned to Web sites that offer carbon calculators, which add up how much carbon dioxide gas their lifestyle puts into the atmosphere. You increase your carbon footprint by driving a sport utility vehicle, for example, or reduce it by driving a hybrid. That is just one of the ways Sokolis contributes to reducing our carbon footprint.
There are many web sites that have carbon calculators that offer dozens of suggestions for cutting emissions around your office or home. For example, moving a thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two degrees in summer will save 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and $98 a year. Check out to see what Sokolis has done to go green. https://sokolis.com