Sustainability; in its simplest terms, means the “well being for all, within the means of nature”. This is achieved by the use of global resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration, and minimises damage to the environment. In essence, it is the usage of resources in a manner which will ensure the prolonging and longevity of earth and the human race. The main factors that we as a human race need to look at are re-examining policies on protection of the environment, our responsibility as a society and the practice of our economics. Through the conservation and responsible use of non renewable resources such as coal and fossil fuels, that take millions of years to form into what we know and use them as today, there will be enough to provide for the future generations. Our ecological footprint is a measure to recognise how much we take away from nature; it takes into account how much agricultural, grazing, forest land and sea area it takes to provide for us based on the resources we consume. Through a more sustainable way of living, our ecological footprints can be reduced; with the amount of resources that we consume being consumed at a much lesser rate where there is time for it regenerate, the amount of natural area needed to sustain us will decrease as well. Since our ecological footprint is based on the amount of land it takes to provide for our resource intake, by taking in a more steady and conservative amount of resources we are reducing the amount of land we need.

The best part of this project was working with teammates that I did not usually work with before. It was nice to get to know how other people work, and to strengthen the friendships that I already had with them through this project. During this project I have learned that our world is in a lot more danger than I thought it was, and I am contributing to this danger in more ways I could have imagined. It is nice to be aware of suggestions now, so I can implement them into my own life as well. The most challenging thing for me was to work with new people, even though it was the best part, as I did not know how they worked in a group dynamic so I had to adjust and adapt accordingly. In the end, it was a good experience and we worked well together too.

Before starting the project, my group and I recognised that on the information sheet, the thing the client was looking to get out of this project was reducing his carbon footprint. He believed travelling was a large cause of his carbon footprint level. Therefore, we decided that transport and travel would be the sector we would focus on primarily, finding sustainable alternatives for Mr. Alchin in terms of local, regional and global travel.

Based on an estimate of the information our client gave us, we filled out an ecological footprint test to summarise our findings to him. We found that 67% of his ecological footprint is caused by his carbon footprint. Transport and mobility was the biggest sector that contributed to his carbon footprint. I think that we are going to recommend using public transport more often on weekends and holidays, since the client driving to school is non-negotiable.