My Daily Contribution to Global Warming (2015)

My Daily Contribution to Global Warming (2015)

Installed for GreenHill’s “Self-Portraits by NC Artists” exhibition, this project shows my carbon footprint for 2014 as measured in balloons. Near the installation, users could calculate their own carbon footprint using a calculator I developed with information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the University of California, Berkeley.

According to my calculator, the following activities contributed to my 2014 carbon dioxide emissions:

  • 6.42 metric tons for consumption of electricity
  • 0.99 metric tons for driving 4,000 miles in a 1997 Honda Civic
  • 0.78 metric tons for taking one round-trip flight between Charlotte, NC and New York,
  • and 5.52 metric tons due to my lifestyle (what I buy, where I buy it from, and the waste I produce)

My total for the year is 11.44 metric tons, or 66.10 pounds per day, or the weight of the air inside 678 balloons.