MY CARBON FOOTPRINT

I was very surprised by my result.  I’m usually fairly good when it comes to not eating processed food, driving an excessive amount, and running up the electricity bill. In my opinion the most mind boggling stat was that if everyone were to live like me, we’d need 4.5 planets to provide enough resources - 4.5!  

I agree with the results.  It seems a bit unfathomable that if everyone lived like me, we would need four and a half planets to provide enough resources, but when you think about it roughly half of the worlds population doesn’t have electricity and don’t live a normal American lifestyle.  When things are put into perspective it can really change ones mindset. 

According to the pie chart my highest category is services at 44%.  Second is food at 22%, third is goods at 13%, and lastly are shelter and mobility at 11%.  I found it interesting that the food was the second leading contributor to my carbon footprint.   In the future I will be sure to take into account the services that contribute to the carbon footprint. 

I also found it interesting that to support my lifestyle, it takes 20.2 global acres of the Earth’s productive area.  This equates to 21.7 tons of carbon dioxide.  The leader for acreage is the land needed for energy.  A global acre is the unit we use to measure the productivity of an average acre of land.  More specifically, it represents an aggregate, world-average productivity for all biologically productive land and water in a given year (Global Footprint Calculator Network).

Pie chart numerical values (top right): Services 44%, Food 22%, Shelter 11%, Mobility 11%, Goods 13%

GREENING THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM

The two potential solutions (both being complicated) to “greening the economic system” are to change the makeup of the system or find creative ways to adjust existing incentives and constraints towards encouraging environmental protection.  From my carbon footprint, I found that the two largest sectors were services (44%) and food (22%).  Food and services go hand in hand because growing, farming, processing, transporting, storing, cooking, and disposing of the food that you eat produce greenhouse gas emissions everyday.  66% of my carbon footprint are related to services and food, so what are some creative ways to green the economic system?

Kroger (grocery stores) could receive incentives from the city if they only use paper/mesh bag when bagging groceries.  Grocery stores getting incentives to use paper/mesh vs. plastic would be better because the process of making plastic bags comes from a non-renewable resource.   Local farmer markets receive a monthly income from state governments to promote organic foods.  Organic farming methods for both animals and crops have a lower impact on the environment than normal methods.  Not only is organic food better for the environment, but healthy too!  Lastly, recycling and reusing items around the household is beneficial.  Glass jars and plastic containers make great storage options.  All three of these ideas would help to reduce the overall carbon footprint.