ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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A footprint can tell you a lot about a person... [Footprints in the sand]

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What shoe brand they prefer...

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…whether or not they just stepped on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... [Someone with a sandwich hanging off their shoe]

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…or whether or not they're a clown.

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And just like a regular footprint, a carbon footprint can tell you a lot about a person, too!

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And in the case of the carbon footprint, the smaller, the better. [A small car next to a big truck]

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Seriously, you should always strive to be the tip-toe-y ballerina of the carbon footprint world. [Ballerina dancing]

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In case you're a bit confused, we're not talking about an actual footprint here. [Girl looking puzzled]

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A carbon footprint is a way for each individual to measure how much greenhouse gas they make. [Smoke coming from factories]

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The bigger the footprint, the more you're contributing to global warming.

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So if you fly a private jet to school every day, then your carbon footprint is going to [Jet landing at school]

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be huge.

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Also, you'll probably really freak out the other people at school… [Other people running away]

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But even if you aren't flying high every day of the week, there's probably still a few

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ways you could reduce your carbon footprint, and help the Earth cool off a bit… [The Earth sweating next to the Sun]

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And no, none of them include giant water balloon fights. [Kid holding a water balloon]

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Sorry.

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So what do we have in mind?

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Well, instead of driving to school each day, you could ride a bike, take public transportation,

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walk, or even car pool. [Different methods of transport shown]

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Or, you could bring reusable bags to the store with you instead of using store supplied plastic bags. [Plastic bag with a cross over it]

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And instead of buying plastic water bottles, get a reusable one!

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And bonus: you can get some pretty cool designs on reusable bottles…nothing like a happy

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lil' turtle to encourage you to save the planet! [Bottle with a turtle on it]

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Hm, okay…what else, what else…

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Oh!

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If you're not using an electronic like a TV or computer, turn it off – and even unplug it. [Guy switching his TV off]

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Little known fact: most TVs still use electricity, even when they're off! [Guy holding the plug]

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You could also replace all the light-bulbs in your house with more energy-efficient ones

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– they'll last longer anyway. [Pictures of light bulbs]

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And if the weather is nice, why not skip the dryer and use the warm rays of the sun to

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dry your clothing? [Lots of clothes hung up]

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And speaking of seasons, it's much more eco-friendly to put on an extra sweater in the winter,

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rather than crank up the furnace. [Guy puts on his Christmas jumper]

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And in the summer, try and keep the air-conditioning to a minimum – may we suggest a giant water

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balloon fight?

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Ooh, speaking of water balloons, who do you think would win in this situation? [Kid with a lot of balloons]

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Someone with 20 water balloons, or someone with two thousand?

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Yup, our money's on the two thousand kid, too.

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Good thing they bought in bulk!

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And good for the planet, too––there's less packaging that way and it's usually cheaper.

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And always remember three R's.

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Red, Rabid, Rectangles—wait, never mind, those are from the geometry-themed horror [Scary looking rectangle]

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novel we're writing…sorry…

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We meant reduce, reuse and recycle!

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If everyone kept those R's in mind, the world would be a much better place. [Sunny field]

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…The recycling ones, not the evil rectangles. [Man being chased by the rectangle]

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Just to clarify.

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We know it sounds like a lot of work to reduce your carbon footprint, but it's really easy

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once you get used to it.

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Way easier than convincing a publisher to buy a book about evil rectangles. [Publisher looking unimpressed]

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