My Ecological Footprint

Quiz Results
Above are my results from the ecological footprint quiz from the Center for Sustainable Economy's website. I was glad to see that I am below the national average for all sectors, but it still sickens me to see that if the entire population lived as I do we would need nearly four earths, especially since that number has increased since the last time I took this quiz. I do realize that there is a long list of assumptions and caveats that accompany this quiz; for instance, global population is steadily increasing, there are more people on the planet to accommodate every day. But much what contributes to my footprint is within my control, and I hope that by adopting three lifestyle changes I can reduce it at least a little bit, after all, every little bit counts!

Reduction Goals

1. One of my goals outside of this class is to convert my eating habits to be as local and seasonal as I can. I already buy non-GMO and organic foods whenever possible, but I plan to carry guides with me such as Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Guide and Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen and Avoiding GE food guides when I go to restaurants and grocery stores. By doing this I am going to try to shift my food to being seasonal and local whenever possible.
2. The largest consumption category from my quiz results is from my carbon usage. To reduce this I plan to unplug all the electrical devices from my room whenever I leave for more than an hour or two. I realize how much power (and money!) gets sucked when I leave my laptop charger plugged in 24/7, and I'd like to get in the habit of reducing that. Maybe I can encourage my roommates to do the same...
3. This is going to be a tough one, especially since it's winter, but I have a feeling that most of the increase in my footprint is due to my recent acquisition of a car. It's so easy to slip into the habit of driving, even when your destination is within a mile or two. Before I had a car I walked/biked/took the bus everywhere, and I like to start doing that again and relying on my car less. Even if I take one less car trip a week, it's a start, and the miles can add up. Update on 1/18! I'd like to quantify this goal by reducing one car trip per week (most likely to work). This sounds easy but I predict it will actually be my hardest goal; not having instant transportation like that means I'll have to plan ahead more carefully, but I'm going to try!