"If everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle, we would need 4.96 earths". Previously my ecological footprint was 5.02 earths.

The 1st graph is my new ecological footprint. The 2nd is my old one. I was disappointed that there was only minimal improvements to my footprint but I know why its not lower. There was some major 'guesstamations' with the traveling miles and the food footprint is very subjective and changes from week to week. It bothered me that the things that I did change in my daily activities are not weighted specifically with the test even if they were suggested on the "Reduce your Footprint" page. Therefore, the test does not show that I am improving very much...Discouraging!

First of all, as of this year I am traveling to California a lot more that I would normally because my boyfriend now goes to school there.

I have also not been focused on how I am eating because I have been so busy.

From the looks of the two graphs, it appears that I have improved on everything but my food and goods and services Footprints.

I think the best part about this test is that it makes me more aware of how I am impacting the planet. I can safely say that I think a lot more about what I'm purchasing and I try and share this knowledge with others too!

Over the course of this quarter I did achieve eating less meat and buying less stuff. I definitely had a hard time taking shorter showers, and driving less. I decided to buy re-useable bags for the grocery store and that so far has worked out well because I have used them every time I've been shopping. The plus to bringing your own bags is that you can fit more in each bag and they are way easier to carry. This is a big plus because I live on the top floor of our apartment building which makes grocery shopping a huge inconvenience.

I'm definitely attepmting to continue to reduce my footprint as well as my close friends' and familys'. I think that people are un-educated and thats a big reason why there are so many issue with the planet.

http://www.myfootprint.org/en/your_results/?id=777099

OLD TV's

Remember when your cable provider told you that your TV's would no longer work unless you switched to a digital one?

What your cable company didn't tell you was that about half of those TV's would still work; all you needed was a little box converter.


In England, "This year, the council has recycled 50,000 analogue TVs thrown away by households, of which 30,000 could have been upgraded to receive digital TV signals with a simple £20 set-top box."


They aren't doing a good enough job getting the word out that people are not being forced to buy new televisions when their's work just fine. The cost of getting a new tv and dumping that perfectly functional older TV is quite a bit higher than if you were to spend the $20 on a "set-top" box.

I still have my old television that I bought about 5 years ago for less than $100 and I got the little box hook-up and my TV works better than it did before! Overall, I don't believe that many companies are letting their customers know that they are able to keep their old ones with little to no cost to themselves and the environment!

Here is the Link if your interested in the full article:


http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/the-digital-tv-switch-causes-70-rise-in-electronic-trash.php

Green Travels

So this past weekend, I flew down to California to visit my boyfriend that transferred down to Redlands University because he wanted to continue to play football. Since this change in my relationship I know that I will be flying more than I ever have. The flew on Southwest Airlines which are always cheap flights but I was curious what the industry is doing to become more green. When searching the Sierra Club Green Life website, I came across a piece about Southwest!

I was happy to see that they are in the process of building a "green airplane". It's a Boeing 737-700 that features a 100 percent recyclable, carbon-neutral carpet, recycled seat covers, and lighter seat components.

There is even talk of reducing the carbon footprint more because the the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it would approve biofuels for commercial flights by 2010.

This is great news for those that are tired of the "staycations" (staying at home to relax and reduce their footprint)!

Here's the article if you're interested! Click on the links inside the article to learn more!

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/2009/10/southwests-green-plane.html

current event for 11/5

I came across this video when I was looking on the National Geographic Daily News website.





We have talked about purchasing renewable energy in class and for the most part it doesn't seem to have an immediate benefit which is what people are looking for. PSE offers a renewable energy option but that does not mean that you will be actually using that renewable energy as well as paying extra for something that should be cheaper to produce. Purchasing a wind turbine for those areas that can produce cheaper energy for others is a great alternative! If I owned a house that was in an area with lots of wind, I would definitely spend the couple thousand in order to produce my own energy! In the end, my ecological footprint would be greatly reduced without significantly changing my everyday habits.

I was looking on the Sierra Club, Green Home site and came across the picture to the left with an article attached to it titled, "Side effect of plastic: Aggressive Kids" This got my attention because I have a refillable water bottle that I purchased from REI that has that label on it.





Looking further into the article it talks about how studies have been done that show Bisphenol-A (BPA) as being extremely harmful; causing cancer, has been shown to alter the endocrine system causing early sexual development, changes in fetal development, sperm production, and malfunctioning hormones are also results of BPA ingestion. The article also talked about how some bottles companies that are claiming to be BPA free, actually containing BPA because of the lining they use. As a consumer, this made me really worried about the bottle that I had purchased but the article offered some alternatives.

Here are some alternatives.
-Stainless steel- Unbreakable, portable, and safe, stainless steel bottles are one of the best reusable bottles to own
-BPA-free plastics: Look for plastic beverage containers made from high-density polyethylene (#2 HDPE), low density polyethylene (#4 LDPE), or polypropylene (#5 PP).
-Aluminum bottles– There are manufacturers out there that offer true BPA-free aluminum bottles, just be shopping-savvy
-Glass
-Ceramic mugs

The problem I had with these alternatives is that they don't offer specific alternatives. The article said that some claiming to be BPA free aren't so which BPA-free plastics are acceptable? I would like to know!

The link to the article:
http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/featured/side-effect-of-plastic-aggressive-kids/

Re-Evaluate EF

My EF has been going well so far. My first set of reduction goals were:

• Walk, bike, or take public transit whenever possible.
• Eat lower on the food chain-going meatless for at least one meal a week.
• Take shorter, less frequent showers
• Buy less! Replace items only when you really need to.

So far, I'm satisfied with the fact that I am now always more aware of the potential impacts that my actions have on the environment but my first set of goals need a little fine tuning.

• Taking 12 minute showers at most. I want to gradually work my way down in time so it's not such a shock to the norm but still a relaxing time.
• Take the bus still when its after 5pm or the weekends. I still drive to intramural volleyball, which is early enough were I can take the bus. I have been driving to my home town less which cuts down my overall driving because it is a 120 mile (2 hr.) drive, which saves me gas $ too!
• Continue to eat less red meat. I usually make one big family size dish with red meat and the left overs will last me the week or substitute for PB & J/turkey sandwiches.
• I definitely stay away from the mall and Fred Meyer's as much as possible because I get sucked into deals or just see something that would be really cool to have even though later I think about it and decide that I really don't need it.

So I want to work on my first goals more and add a couple more:

• Remembering to take the reusable grocery bags that I bought in the store with me and
• unplugging electronics to save energy when I am not using them.

All of these goals are manageable because there are easy means of doing them, it is just remembering and being conscious of my decisions.

Current Event

In the New York times today, there was an article called, "Energy Star Appliances May Not Be Efficient, Audit Finds". It says, "The Energy Department concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers that give thier appliances and Energy Star label have met the required specs for energy efficiency". We were talking about this Energy Star just this last week and this article says that no one is regulating the claims of being energy efficient. This is exactly the problem with many marketing claims of products. Consumers used to not think anything of a claim on a box that said "all natural" or "energy efficient" but now because these claims are hollow, consumers are reluctant to believe real claims, making it that much more difficult for companies doing well to be recognized. On Sept. 30, the Energy Department and E.P.A. signed a memo of understanding that seeks to address some of the shortcomings detailed in the report. The report committed both agencies to having all of their products evaluated by certified independent labs. This is a good step in the right direction although there have been no dates set to achieve these goals. For now, consumers need to be aware that Energy Star doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot.