The Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) crunches the numbers to determine environmental actions with the greatest impact. Since 2001, our annually updated collection of Sustainability Factsheets curates information from reputable sources across 34 topical areas. Our recently launched trivia game brings these facts to life, providing an engaging format to translate our research and combat common misperceptions about sustainability action. Want to know what your sustainability IQ is? Take our quiz to find out. For more trivia, visit this page.
1. In a typical U.S. household, what consumes the most energy?
A. Heating
B. Cooling
C. Lighting
D. Hot water
2. For the average American, what action will result in the greatest improvement in climate emissions?
A. Eliminating one 25-mile round trip in a car
B. Giving up disposable plastic water bottles for an entire year
3. Coffee aisles offer dozens of choices. What contributes the most to the environmental impact of coffee?
A. Packaging
B. Transportation from its country of origin
C. Growing and roasting coffee beans
4. Reducing air travel by one round-trip from LAX to JFK would improve your carbon footprint by 1.4 metric tons of CO₂. What is that about the same as?
A. 30,000 burgers
B. 3,000 burgers
C. 300 burgers
D. 30 burgers
5. The global average carbon footprint is about 4.5 tonnes of CO₂ per year. What is the carbon footprint of the average American?
A. 4.5 tonnes of CO₂ per year
B. 8 tonnes of CO₂ per year
C. 12 tonnes of CO₂ per year
D. 15 tonnes of CO₂ per year
Answers
1. Heating
In a typical U.S. home, heating represents 43% of energy consumption. In chilly Michigan, 60% of our energy use goes to heating. Hot water comes in second, at 18% of energy use nationally, followed by cooling at 10%. Lighting is typically 3% of home energy budgets.
2. Eliminating the car trip
Fifty miles spent in a car is the greenhouse gas emissions’ equivalent of more than two years’ worth of plastic bottles. Reducing our driving emissions is one of the most environmentally impactful things we can do.
3. Growing and roasting beans
Whether it is coffee beans or green beans, growing food is more environmentally intensive than either its packaging or transportation.
4. 300 burgers
Flying is one of the most environmentally intensive activities, equivalent to eating just under one burger per day for a year.
5. 15 tonnes of CO₂ per year
Our carbon footprints have decreased in the past few decades, largely due to a shift away from coal in the electricity sector. At 14-15 tonnes per year, our carbon footprints are still triple the global average—including France, which averages 4.1 tonnes of CO₂ per person per year.
