1. Go to earthday.net and calculate your ecological footprint.
Results: If everyone lived like me, there would need to be 3.3 Earths to provide enough resources.
2. What do you think?
About 60% of my energy usage came from "Services" like farmers, bike mechanics, electricians, and garbage men. I image it is good to have Services as a major contributer of an ecological footprint, because it means that you're helping contribute directly to workers' economic growth.
I didn't like how quick and generalized the survey was. I have taken various ecological footprint surveys in the past and I have found that the one's that go into more detail in their questioning give more accurate results and provide better feedback for possible changes in behavior. I feel like this survey involved a lot of assumptions.
3. Were you surprised?
Yes, I was surprised because I feel like I'm making an effort to live a low-impact life and I was still consuming over my share of resources. I think that this is due to me living within the American system. For example, When I come to school, the toilets dump 3 gallons of water per flush (sometimes more, depending). But in some European countries that understand the importance of conservation, their toilets use much less. This is a similar situation to private transportation. For a long time within the United States it has simply not been a priority to make fuel efficient cars.
4. Could you reduce the size of your ecological footprint? How? Should you? Why or why not? Yes, I should reduce the size of my ecological footprint because it is not fair that my demand on the ecosystem be larger than what it can sustainable produce for the rest of the planet's population. One way that I plan on reducing my footprint is through my food source. This Spring and Summer, I will be starting a backyard garden and expanding my rooftop garden. I'd also like to help various neighborhoods utilize small plots of land within the city limits to grow food, so that Louisville can become more self-reliant and resilient.
5. How, if at all, did changing variables change things? Why? Even if I became vegan, reduced my waste by not buying packages things, and stopped flying airplanes, I still would need 3 planet Earth's to support my lifestyle. Even when I selected all of the least-impact options (no electricity, all local food, no car, no bus, no plane, tiny apartment complex, the results were still unmanageable (3.1 planets).
I took the quiz over, but said that I lived in Switzerland and my results were drastically different. The site said that if everyone lived like me, we would only need 1.5 Earths. It also stated that the average person living in Switzerland needs 2.4 planet Earths. And I thought it was odd that it didn't tell me the size of the average American's footprint.
Thermostat Temp
7am-11am: 66 degrees
11am-6pm: 62 degrees
6pm-10pm: 66 degrees
10pm-7am: 62 degrees
Metered kwh usage for February: 5419
February bill: $396.48
2,000 sq ft apartment with 5 housemates.
How many lights do you typically have on?
In apartment, there are always 5 lights on, 14W each. My dearest Jeffery assures me that we need these lights to be on all of the time for safety reasons. If you make your house look occupied, people will be less likely to break in.
How long are your showers? about 6 minutes.
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