Parents

Overview

The Concord Conserves carbon calculator is designed to help your student(s) understand how heating their home and transportation effects the earth and the balance of the gases in the atmosphere. The goal is also to encourage small actions to reduce their own carbon footprint. Your student cannot change the heating bill, or decide to use the AC less, that responsibility falls to you, but encourage your student to take the little steps. Shut off the lights, start recycling, embrace their suggestions of shopping at a local farm stand or watching less TV.

How it works

Help your student answer the questions about your home and travel so they can calculate their footprint, and better yet, calculate your own footprint! The calculator is a tool that can be used in many different ways, talk to your student about how your family is trying to live a more sustainable life.

1. Assist your student to register with ConcordConserves’ Carbon Calculator. Create an easily remembered username and password. Ask your students' teacher if there is a certain username and password you should use.
2. Provide your student with the past year’s electric and gas bills. There they will find your total expenditure. Let your student fill in the answers to the questions as best they can. Make sure they are not entering the monthly consumption, or their footprint will not be accurate.
3. Take a look at their footprint, compare with their peers, and with the town of Concord. Is it higher or lower? Why do you think that is?
4. Take action and suggest they reduce their footprint by choosing the steps to lead a more environmentally friendly life style, and watch as their footprint goes down! Return at regular intervals to see the extent of their actions at work.

If you have any questions or would like to offer suggestions please e-mail us or give us a call at 978.369.2472.