My Ecological Footprint

I was born approximately 4 weeks premature and weighed in at a whopping 2 1/2 pounds. Despite this fact I have grown to be a GIANT... well that is what a detective would conclude if he found my ecological footprint at the scene of a crime. After recently taking an Ecological Footprint quiz it is clear that I need not only be careful when committing crimes; I have to focus on leaving as little of a trace as possible, crime scene or not.

If everyone lived as environmentally friendly as good ol' me:

• It would take 5 planet Earths to provide enough resources
• We would use 22 global acres of productive area
• Collectively produce 24 tons on carbon dioxide

My Ecological Footprint Breakdown went like this:

• Services 40%
• Mobility 21%
• Goods 16%
• Food 13%
• Shelter 9%

My mother tells me I am almost certain to end up homeless and eating out of dumpsters. If this happens I will no longer need to worry about the last two items on the list. However, until that time comes It will benefit both the Earth and myself if I focus on consuming less meat. This will also make some cows in California even happier; perhaps they will give me a spot in their next commercial!

Besides consuming less meat, here are some other things I will start doing to reduce my footprint:

1. Carpool to work with my good buddy Joel as often as our schedules allow (this will also save me the embarrassment of having to push-start my car at every 4th or 5th stop light).
2. Bring my own container for leftovers when going out to eat.
3. Buy products from companies and local businesses that are environmentally responsible (using the knowledge gained in this class to expand the number of companies and local businesses I support).
4. Replace the meat I remove from my diet with locally grown and/or organically grown fruits and veggies.

Recently I have been driving to my internship in Seattle at Bonsai Media Group that my friend, who is working there, hooked me up with. We are both in the MBA program at WWU and live in Bellingham. This gives us a great opportunity to save gas money, wear and tear on our autos, and reduce our Ecological Footprints.

I often go out to eat and I always feel guilty the next day when I am throwing the Styrofoam containers that housed my leftovers into the trash can. There are unused containers sitting in my cupboard that I will bring with me to restaurants.

I already try to buy local and organic foods when I have the option but I know I can do more as far as making sure I go to stores that have the most choices so that I am able to guy more local and organic foods. There is also room for improvement on the consistency in which I purchase locally grown produce. By going shopping when I am not in a hurry I should allow myself more time to search for the most Earth friendly items. In addition to this I also need to become better informed about where things come from and how they are produced so I am not misled by clever marketing (my goodness those marketers are evil!).

Other Thoughts

I will admit that I produce a lot of garbage and buy too much junk (stuff I really need). I like collecting and much of the stuff I collect is not new; a good portion of it is vintage and antique items. That being said, quite a few of the things I collect are new and much of it requires that trees be cut down, plastic be produced, and metals be taken from the ground. I know I am not going to stop collecting things that appeal to me but I can be more aware of how the things I collect affect our planet.

This thought popped into my minuscule brain the other day when I heard my friend complain that he had gone through 3 can openers in the last 6 months... To save money we often buy low price, low quality items such as a $10 can opener. I have a $30 can opener that belongs to my set of top quality Rosle kitchen utensils (that I collect). Mine may have cost 3 times the price but now that he is on his 4th one he has spent $10 more than I have and 4 can openers have been shipped from China instead of just 1. Just for the sake of laziness we will say that 3 times the energy has been used for production, 3 times the pollution has been produced, and 3 times the natural resources have been used as well. Now when he teases me about being a snob because I have a nice can opener I can state that at least I am caring for our planet.