This is such an interesting question that I asked a few of my friends and nearly everyone said, well, obviously dogs! This is because many of us have close relationships with our pets and we can imagine what they might be thinking, based on how they behave.

But can we really know how other species experience the world? Scientists have conducted experiments with animals and found, for example, that an octopus experiences their world through each of their eight arms separately, as if each arm had its own, mini brain! In another experiment, scientists found that some zebra finches seemed to have dreams about singing!

While science can observe some of the different ways that species experience the world, we can’t ever really know for sure how other species might be feeling. But just because we don’t know for certain, doesn’t mean it’s not important. In indigenous cultures, knowledge about how the world works and how to live well, is based on experiences of living with other species and caring for their needs alongside our own. This knowledge has helped humans to live for thousands of years in ways that means the environment will be there for future generations.

Humans have a place within the environment, so just like we miss other species when they’re gone, we can assume that other species would miss us. Understanding how other species experience the world may help us to help us to adapt to changes like those brought about by climate change. It can also help us to see the world in a different way and inspire us to act in ways that look after others.

The answer to this question is not straightforward as the emissions from a school (or any other organisation) depend on the size, location, and resource use for each school, among other factors. For example, a small school is likely to have lower emissions than a large one, but a large school that produces its own electricity via solar panels would likely have lower emissions than a small school using electricity from the grid.

When calculating a carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released by an organisation or individual), it is important to include both direct and indirect emissions. For example, driving a car produces direct emissions from the use of fuel by the car, while using a computer produces indirect emissions from the use of electricity generated at a coal-fuelled power station. Similarly, a piece of paper has associated indirect emissions from the production and transport of the product.

More and more organisations, including schools, are measuring their emissions and developing plans to reduce these emissions. To provide an idea of the magnitude of emissions for a school, Corinda State High School in Queensland reported 1,075 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent(CO₂-e) for 2020 in their Public Disclosure Statement for their carbon neutral certification by the Commonwealth Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard. This is the equivalent of driving 488 fossil fuel burning cars for a year.

Carbon dioxide equivalent is a measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. For example, the global warming potential of methane (a greenhouse gas released by cattle or decomposing waste in landfills) is 25 times higher than carbon dioxide, therefore 1 tonne of methane would equal 25 tonnes of CO₂-e.