My Final Footprint Calculations

Today’s blog is regarding the end of my sustainability class and comparing my final footprints to my initial footprints at the beginning of the quarter. These calculations have been made as accurate as possible, but there are still minor errors that affects the accuracy. I have already done a mid-quarter recalculation so if you are interested in reading that before click here.

Initial Goals

Here is a recap on my initial goals:

1. Reduce the amount of meat I consume. When taking the ecological quiz, food was my top consumed category, but more specifically it was the amount of meat I consume. I eat meat 1-2 times a day which is a lot! There are many alternatives available that are just as delicious and significantly healthier. While I will not be cutting meat out of my diet, I want to reduce the amount of meat I consume to 4 days per week. This will drastically reduce my ecological footprint.
2. Reduce plastic use. Although I did not feature my results in this blog, I did take a plastic footprint quiz that showed me I use about 39.8 pounds per year. I always use reusable water bottles and bags for shopping, however, I primarily shop at Trader Joe’s which is notorious for overusing plastic. Now that I am aware of my consumption of plastic I will aim to purchase products that limit plastic use and aim for a goal of 20 pounds of plastic used each year.
3. Be more aware of where my products come from and aim to purchase from brands that are sustainable and ethically compile materials. Seeing that I have a total of 40 “slaves” was honestly heartbreaking. I aim to reduce that number in half by the end of the quarter. There are many companies that purchase from ethical suppliers and are sustainable. I want to give my money to those companies because I truly care about the well-being of everyone.

Additionally in my mid-quarter report I added a new attainable goal which was to reduce the amount of water I use. I decided to tackle this issue by becoming more aware of my water usage when I shower, brush my teeth, and when doing the dishes. I, also, pushed myself to take cooler showers rather than the typical burning hot shower I normally would take. By taking a cooler shower it would encourage me to take quicker showers which is how the temperature correlates with water usage.

Ecological Footprint Update

 This goal was surprisingly way more attainable than I thought! When the quarter began I had a very high ecological footprint, specifically with food. My initial goal was to reduce my meat consumption to 4 days a week. Not only have I been able to achieve this goal, but the amount of meat I consume in a meal has drastically reduced and other proteins, such as beans, have been an amazing alternative to receive the protein my body needs. At the beginning of the quarter my ecological footprint was 6.2 and carbon footprint was 44, by the middle of the quarter I reduced these calculations to having an ecological footprint of 2.8 and increased my carbon footprint of 50 due to purchasing low quality food. My ecological footprint end results for the quarter have slightly decreased by 0.2, while my carbon footprint has increased due to the inefficient home I am renting. The shelter portion is out of my control, but the areas I can control were significantly better than my initial results. One improvement I naturally had, due to my awareness of my ecological footprint, was I nearly eliminated the consumption of dairy products! I did not think that I would ever be the type of person to go completely dairy free, but I’ve learned of amazing alternatives, like oat milk, that are just as delicious as normal dairy products but also have a lower footprint.

Plastic Footprint Update

My next goal was to reduce my plastic use because my initial plastic footprint was approximately 39.8 pounds per year. By the middle of the quarter I was able to slightly decrease this calculation to approximately 36 pounds per year. I achieved this by eliminating my use of Ziploc bags, purchasing a sustainable bar shampoo, and using reusable produce bags. This transition was definitely easier than I anticipated, but plastic is everywhere and we have to be fully aware of how much plastic we dispose of. Because of today’s circumstances, my purchasing habits have drastically reduced which has helped put into perspective how much plastic waste I was disposing. With that, I have become avid in purchasing sustainably sourced products. For example, I have since purchased bar conditioner and chew able teeth whiteners, but plan on finding sustainable detergents soon because that is where I generate the most amount of plastic. Additionally, the produce I buy from Trader Joe’s using a lot of plastic! Since then I have done research on local farmers markets that offers the same produce, but generate no plastic waste. With that, my final plastic footprint calculation totals out to 18 pounds and I am ecstatic about this improvement!

Slavery Footprint Update

My third goal was to be more aware of where my products come from and aim to purchase from brands that are sustainable. My initial footprint calculation was 40 slaves, which really stood out to me. Due to COVID-19, my purchasing habits have drastically decreased resulting with my slavery footprint to go from 40 to 28 slaves. However, that number is still too high. But unfortunately there was no improvement between mid-quarter results and today’s calculation. As a matter of fact my results went up one slave. The reason being for no improvement is I have not done enough research to determine which products I purchase are ethically and sustainably sourced. With that, in the future I will need to purchase less, but continue focusing on products that are produced ethically. Additionally, rather than disposing of clothes or other products I do not use anymore I will push myself to donate more to achieve a circular economy. I will continue these practices while doing further research so I know how I can minimize my slavery footprint.

Water Footprint

 My last goal was to reduce the amount of water I consume and waste. At the beginning of the quarter I calculated that my total water footprint was approximately 1,443 gallons per day. Since setting my goal I have shortened the duration of my showers and decreased the temperature as well. Additionally, I play music while showering so it gives me an estimate of how long the shower has lasted. Furthermore, I only run the faucets when I need to use water. It was hard at first, but now I only use the faucet on a low pressure and minimize the time it runs while I clean dishes. These simple adjustments have made a huge impact on my water footprint. I have reduced my water usage by approximately 200 gallons per day. Now that I am aware of how simple adjustments can make large changes in my consumption habits, I am more than ever motivated to learn other sustainable ways to reduce my water footprint.

I am so glad I was exposed to the quizzes and shown the reality of my life habits. Even after this quarter I will continue to make improvements and occasionally recalculate my footprints to hold me accountable. We only have one Earth and if adjusting my habits to reduce my footprints will help save the planet then I will do anything to continue improving. Thank you for joining me on my journey to learning and implementing sustainability into my life, I hope it gave you the information and drive to do the same.