Carbon’s name is from  the Latin carbo, meaning charcoal. Carbon is the most essential element for life on our planet as carbon atoms link up forming long chains to which other elements attach forming DNA. Our lives literally depend on carbon but our choices of how we use the carbon found in coal and other fossil fuels will also impact the lives of generations to come. I decided to represent that individual responsibility by tracing the feet of my immediate family, including our newest grandson, Koen James Jolstad, born on April 11, 2010. Suggestions for making big and small steps for reducing our carbon foot prints were machine stitched throughout the piece.