What size is it? Why?
Well for starters lets just say I am astounded by how much of an impact I perticularly have on the earth. My ecological footprint on the earth is 4.87. Until any of the questions were brought to my attention i had no idea how many factors contribute to the impact on the environment. The largest reason why my footprint is so big is my food intake and habits with food. Unfortunatly I am one of those people who love meat and tend to eat it everyday. I also do not care much for vegtibles or alot of organic foods which in turn makes a big difference. However, in other aspects i try to be conservative with electricty such as turning off lights when i leave a room and using efficent electrity saver utilities. I have a commuting drive of an hour to and from school so my pollution contribution is not good and I tend to not carpool. I live, like we all do, above what i should and need to reduce my contribution in all factors.
What can i do to change it?
Starting with my food imprint i could start eating less meat per week and more of the other stuff. My consumption of meat is well over necessary and natural foods such as vegtibles and organic products are on the lower end of the scale. Shopping at more organic stores and buying foods that actually reproduce, that don't come out of a box, would be a big change in my lifestyle for he good. Secondly with as much driving as i do carpooling is essential to my change. I also tend to drive for no reason but to drive which im going to cut off immeditly. Along with those factors i have a big problem with shopping, buying, and spending on unecessary things i do not need. I have put a stop to it, especially during these hard times, because it was a huge problem in my life and now come to find it wasn't only hurting me. Now when I do need to purchase things i go to thrift stores so i can participate in reusing items and not be one of those overspenders. Im going to be more aware of my impact on the environment and work on reducing my footprint one thing at a time.
Do I even care?
I care ver much about what happens to our enviornment and the impact that i have made. Now that i am aware of what I do and how it impacts everything really draws my concern. Without being informed about these issues i would have gone on living without acknowledging anything. I have always cared about the environment and its spieces. For a long time now i have been a hard core recycler and a caretaker for unwanted animals. I know now that those things are small in comparison but everyone starts somewhere. After being informed I don't know how anyone could not care. I now find myself constantly observing how others live and see what a grave impact some people have on the world. I can only do what I can change in my life and by informing al family and friends.
What are the long term effects of people living with such a large eclogical footprint?
If people with a quiet large footprint keep living the way they do the environment will one day run out of supplies. The earth will eventually be unsustainable for life. Pollution will take over and create unfathimable air quality. Trees will stop produceing due to ground pollution or the harvesting of them to create huge homes for people with too much money. All natural resources that are able to reproduce now will no longer be. A large portion of animals will be extinct with no hope for reproduction. The whole world will eventually be extinct and the race of the human spieces will be gone. Well i am refering to hundreds of years from now or possibly sooner but when the resources are gone they are gone.
Is it fair for people in the united States to have such a large ecological footprint, while in other countries it is so small?
It is most certainly not fair in the least! However, if the world was fair then no one would be without food, and no children would ever die but it is life. If i could have it my way i would take all resources from every part of the world and distribute to everyone equally. No one would be living in poverty and everyone would be equal. Thats just a fantacy though and will never happen. Its not fair for those developing countries to have a small imprint simply becuase they do not have access to most resources or only a certain amount. The United States is living well above what we should but only each person can make a difference if they want to.
Will anything be left for people in other countries when were done? Should we care?
Unfortunatly I do not think so. We use up more then the necessary resoures then we should and at this rate they will be gone before there is time to figure out alternative solutions. However, if enough people wanted to change one thing in their life then yes it is possible for there to be enough resources left for all other countries that need it. By doing something as simple as recycleing, not littlering, using efficent electricty utilities, reusing glass bottles, or even something as simple as a change in diet can change your ecological footprint on the earth tremendiously. It all starts with one person and it may not seem that big of a difference in one person but as a whole can change the future as we know it. WE should all care what happens to others whether they are right next to you or half way across the world. Everyone can make a difference.
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Yea, consumption of food in particular can bump up the numbers on the ecological footprint, especially because some foods are shipped from other countries and just that process helps take away from our environment. I know one reason why my footprint is large is due to my family size. In my family I have four siblings. We are human and are consumers. We try to not to eat too much meat and purchase food locally grown, but with just the sheer amounts in my family, we consume a lot. However, I know that in my home, we use some fluorescent bulbs to help preserve energy, and I turn off lights when I leave the room, but sometimes I catch my siblings carelessly running electricity. Fortunately, the small things do add up, and help with the big picture. I think, a thing that I could do better is awareness. Letting others know of simple ways can contribute greatly, and it is not very hard. I talk to tons of people everyday about various topics. I could easily inform people. Its not like people will hate me for telling them of ways to help save their home, mother earth. Also, the internet is a great tool. People could send out trillions of emails, or instant message their friends to help support the act.
ReplyDeleteI was suprised as well when I saw the effect of consuming meats being a steak lover myself. As Americans with the oppurtunity to buy pretty much anything without having to see what it takes to make the product, we forget about the adverse effects of our consumption. I am as guilty as anyone, so I look forward to learning more about what we can do to help conserve for the future.
ReplyDeleteI also have a long commute and sometimes when I'm stuck in traffic its hard to notice but there is like a billion cars! And we are all contributing to this problem. But I feel help less because I have to get from point a to point b. I don't think that driving less would do much because no matter how much you don't drive there will still be everyone else driving...what we should do is all buy bikes and stop driving...but that's never going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI, myself was surprised when I saw the effects of eating meat. I tend to eat meat at least 2-3 times a day, usually lunch and dinner. We live in a country that gives us the opportunity to purchase whatever meat we choose, so it becomes very tempting. After caculating my egological footprint, I have made a deal with myself and said I can only eat meat once a day. So far it has been wonderful. I never realized how many options there are... good luck.
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