Ecological Lifestyle: Carbon Footprint

End:
I reduced my footprint by 1.2 and ended up with 3.7 Planet Earths.

In order to reduce my carbon footprint, I ate solely healthy and naturally grown food, like veggies and sandwiches. I also recycled some paper and plastic bottles and reduced my input of electricity by turning off the lights more frequently, instead of just keeping them on all the time. I also did not travel on any form of transportation, besides walking. Though, my carbon footprint reduced by a whole planet earth, I do believe that it ended up being more cost effective, in some ways. I have heard and read by various sources that it takes more energy to recycle objects, than it does just by using throwing things away without recycling. So because of this, I believe that not much is done to help our carbon footprint by just recycling. I do agree with eating more of a vegetarian diet because not only is it healthier, if you know how to treat yourself on a proper diet, but it also allows for a minimized amount of chemicals and gases produced by factories and restaurants making inorganic or unhealthy and fatty foods. Also, by not traveling as much, you are hence saving gasoline and in turn preventing from damaging the ozone layer and causing more problems with global warming. Basically, it's not always too easy to reduce your carbon footprint in today's society, seeing as, everything has become fast-moving. For example: rush hour, fast food, people on the run. Thus, it's not too easy to just try to create a better environment, if there are things that simply cannot be done without increasing your carbon footprint or even being influenced by others who simply do not care about the environment.

Ecological Lifestyle

Start:
Current Ecological Footprint: 4.9 Planet Earths

My no-communication-technology day!

3AM-2PM: Sleeping
2PM-5PM: Doing Chemistry homework
5PM-6:15PM: Eating at Argos with my friends
6:15-6:20: Walking back to my dorm
6:25-10PM: My friend and I studied for our Chemistry Test
10PM- 12AM: We walked around campus, climbed trees, did things of the reckless sort
12AM-12:45AM: Went to Taco Bell and helped fill up my friends' tire with air
12:55AM-1:40AM: Hung out with my friend in our dorm just chatting and not watching television, even though she tried to make me watch it.
1:45AM- 2AM- Got ready for bed
2AM-3AM: Played my guitar until my 24 hours of Amish Day was over so, I could blog about it.


By not utilizing technology at all, for 24 hours, my day seemed really hard to get through. For example, instead of just calling up my friends, to see if they wanted to hang out and eat with me, I had to go to their dorms and ask or hope that they would see me around campus, so I could ask them. The really weird thing about my day was that, even though I told many of my friends that I couldn't speak with them today on the phone, many of them still bothered to call me up and see if I would answer. I actually got more missed calls today, then I do on most other days. Some experiences that I've had without these forms of communication technology, such as my cellphone, are numerous. For example, in middle school, I didn't have a cellphone and my mom would come to my school to pick me up. However, many times, she forgot the time that she would have to go to school, to pick me up or she would have errands to run that took a great deal of her time. So, I would stay at school, till either her errands were over, or till she remembered to pick me up. With technology, the world seems a whole lot easier, especially because people are always either on the rush or are just really busy. Thus, the only way to communicate with them is either by using the computer or calling them up. Just going to a person's house does not really work as well too much, because you never know if they'll be there at that time.

whew!

ENDING MY DAY WITHOUT USING ANY FORM OF COMMUNICATION USING TECHNOLOGY.

but only for a day.

STARTING MY LIFE WITHOUT ANY FORM OF COMMUNICATION USING TECHNOLOGY.

One Challenge

Global Warming is a very eminent environmental issue on the rise. The icebergs, from up north, are rapidly melting and creating a rise in the sea levels, due to the increase in the Earth's temperature. There has even been studies showing a decline in the polar bear population, since the global warming crisis came to be known. Not only has this crisis been affecting the animals, but it is also affecting us. Floridians, can especially feel the change that global warming has caused to our weather. The increase in sea levels has created hotter temperatures in our climate and in turn more hurricanes. It was actually about five years ago when Florida was hit by three hurricanes in a row. These hardships and changes have been felt worldwide, seeing as people have created committees to try to recuperate the Earth's health. Many companies have tried creating more eco-friendly cleaning supplies for people to use and so as not to hurt the ozone layer as much anymore. This is an environmental injustice because it is our fault that this crisis was created, but we're not doing much to alleviate the problems that we have caused, especially the United States. The US was actually the largest per capita emitter of carbon dioxide in fossil fuels in 2005. We haven't even ratified the Kyoto Protocol which is supposed to help the United Nations work together to improve our environment. However, despite not agreeing or withdrawing from this treaty, America has decided to create more energy smart appliances that reduces the amount of energy used in households on a daily basis. As citizens, we could try to persuade our government -and other fellow citizens who don't believe that global warming is a major crisis- to become more environmental friendly and become more active in aiding the planet before it gets out of hand.