My Carbon Footprint

        After completing the Carbon Footprint calculator, I discovered that since my move to UBC I have significantly reduced my carbon footprint. This is both as a result of my circumstances and personal choices. At home I had to drive a car in order to get to school and work as there were no other transportation options except biking, which was not very practical considering that it would take hours to get from location to location. I also had no choice over where I lived or the type of energy we used, however I was always conscious of my uses (ex: turning down the heat when possible, not using air conditioning, turning off lights, unplugging electronics when not in use). 

         Now that I am at UBC I have no need for a car. Taking transit and carpooling for ski trips has significantly reduced my carbon footprint. My residence doesn’t provide me with options for energy used in the building as a whole, but I do choose to reduce my personal uses. Compared to Canada’s average carbon footprint, mine is a mere fifth of the value and also slightly less than the average worldwide value. Compared to the world target, however, my footprint is still almost double the ideal amount. 

         I have noticed that the greatest area in my carbon footprint is secondary impacts. This includes my food choices, choices for recreation, products I buy, and where my waste goes. Currently I do not have many choices for food as I eat at the residence cafeteria, but I do make a conscious effort to eat very little red meat, no dairy, and more local foods that I can find. I do some grocery shopping for my room for which I buy from the organic health foods store, trying to find local produce as much as possible. 

         One of my greatest carbon impacts comes from waste and the packaging of products I buy. I do attempt to buy items with less packaging, particularly in plastics, but often this is not factored into my decisions when it is things I need to buy or cannot easily find other options for. The greatest challenge is accessible and affordable alternatives to items with packaging. Another obstacle is my own willingness to make conscious changes to avoid buying packaged products that I don’t need but want (ex. chocolate bars). Although I recycle and compost what I can, there are inevitably great amounts of materials I use that end up as waste. 

         Some ways I can address these challenges lie in our society itself and the move towards better ways of manufacturing and packaging materials. If the options are there and are easy, not only me, but many other people as well, are going to be more likely to choose more environmentally friendly alternatives.  Personally, I can target my own willingness, with or without more options available to me. I could move towards avoiding packaged products that I don’t need, use less beauty products, buy only used clothes unless absolutely necessary to buy an item new, and I could switch to a vegan diet.  Although these changes are difficult, like any change of habit, they are still possible. I believe with dedication and support from others I can slowly move towards accomplishing these goals and in turn promote others to do the same. 

         Globally thinking, the more people who choose to move away from a consumerism lifestyle, the less waste there will be, and the healthier the planet will be. Fewer products will need to be manufactured, reducing GHG emissions from transport and factory buildings, as well as other waste products that result from the production process. These reductions would decrease the waste that is filling up our land and our oceans, polluting our resources and harming ecosystems. This will in turn increase the health of people worldwide, as less garbage will mean less contamination of water and soil. We need to consider how much our choices affect health worldwide. Sustainable living is not just a personal choice; it is a responsibility. 

         I think the carbon-footprint calculator is a useful tool only for giving basic estimations, and for giving a comparison between carbon-producing areas. The quantitative amounts are not very useful to the average person who has nothing to compare this to, and therefore no understanding of what the numbers really mean. I also feel that it is most effective in influencing people who already have a goal for more sustainable actions and are wishing to see where specifically they could improve.  It will not do much on its own to change behaviour.

Peer Feedback (Prior to revision) 

·   Writing was clear and easy to follow

·   Included plan to reduce emissions and a collective action

·   Missing global health suggestion

·   Quality writing

·   Individual action included

·   Suggestion: use less beauty products

·   Nice example in first paragraph