To me, sustainability is responsibly using the Earth’s natural resources to maintain an eco-friendly environment. As a measure, people created the ecological footprint. It takes into consideration the lifestyle a person has and uses this information to give an estimate of the type and amount of natural resources the person uses, and how fast the Earth can take in the waste created and reproduce the resources. The size of your ecological footprint depends on how sustainable you are. The bigger the footprint, the less sustainable your lifestyle is. I took the test and my results are shown below:
(http://www.footprintcalculator.org/)
I found that I ‘use’ a total of 4.7 Earths, showing that I live a very unsustainable lifestyle! The test also showed me what type of resources I use and what type of waste I create. Through this, I found that both my carbon and cropland footprint had the largest impact.
My carbon footprint mostly comes from transportation. On weekdays, I use the school bus before and after school, and on the weekends, my parents and I go to the mall 2-3 times using our car. If I hang out with friends, I take a cab. I rarely use public transportation. However, this is a major contributor to global warming, especially cars. According to the article “Facts of Car Pollution”, each year, cars emit 333 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air! Carbon dioxide is a type of greenhouse gas which forms into energy, and this energy goes on the Earth’s surface, making it warm. This is called the ‘greenhouse effect’. Although this has been a good thing to keep the Earth from getting too cold, there has been a rapid increase in greenhouse gases, creating the issue we know today: global warming. Below is a graph showing the increase in atmospheric concentration of CO2 in the world.
(https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions)
If this continues, it will cause strokes, dehydration, dead crops, the spread of diseases, organ problems, and much more. The animals will be severely harmed as well, their habitat threatened by changing sea levels and melting ice caps.
With this in mind, it made me think of ways I can change. Although public transport is better for the environment because there are more people in one transportation device, so we emit fewer gases into the environment, it’s a little far from where I live. So, a great alternative could be taking a walk to a food court close by, or even the mall which is a 20-minute walk away. Also, if I had to take a cab somewhere far, I could get a grabshare. This will not only reduce the amount of gas emitted, but will also save some cash.
Another area I’d like to improve on is my cropland footprint, or in other words, my food intake. I have no dietary restrictions, eating meat around 4-5 days per week, and other animal products every day. After researching, I found how unsustainable this is! A big part of this is the huge water consumption to produce meats. According to “the water we eat”, on average, one person uses a total of 3496 liters of water per day just because of our diets! This could lead to huge water shortages, and without water, crops will die, hygiene will be threatened, animals will die, and much more. Basically, we can’t survive without it. Cows contribute a lot to this issue as they consume a lot. Below is a table of some typical foods and the amount of water used to produce each one:
(*Bovine meat is beef)
Cows also emit carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. According to Peta, “Producing a little more than 2 pounds of beef causes more greenhouse-gas emissions than driving a car for three hours and uses up more energy than leaving your house lights on for the same period of time.”
To help, I will need to decrease my meat intake, especially beef. This would decrease the use of water used to produce the food I eat, as crops do not need as much food or water.
In conclusion, this assignment was quite shocking and eye-opening to see how the actions I take every day has made such a huge impact on the Earth. It made me realize that I need to make a change in my lifestyle. If I could only choose one solution to implement, it would be transportation. This is because not only is carbon the biggest part of my footprint, but also taking a walk is a healthier alternative and calling a grabshare will save money.
Works Cited
https://www.livestrong.com/article/156537-facts-of-car-pollution/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/climate-change/how-to-live-with-it/health.html