The Plan

My Footprint
7.45

My Peers
7.9 – Ben
8.7 – Bana
7.45 – Justin Q
8.65 – Ronan
6.8 – Draedon

Identify a minimum of ten actions that currently increase the size of your footprint.

1. Owning 2 cars
2. Spending a lot of time behind a computer
3. Sometimes leaving lights on when I’m not using them
4. Owning unused land in Taleqan (a village in Iran)
5. The type of food that I eat
6. How often I buy things from vending machines
7. Leaving things like humidifiers on all day
8. Leaving the refrigerator door open for long periods, letting some of the cooling go to waste
9. Using my room heater a lot
10. Forgetting to turn certain things off when I’m finished using them, such as my computer mouse

Identify a minimum of five actions from those ten that you will try changing to reduce the size of your footprint and explain why you chose these.

• Spending a lot of time behind a computer: I want to work on this action since I feel like I could better use some of my time working on homework or doing extracurricular activities such as practising with my violin.
• Sometimes leaving lights on when I’m not using them: I want to work on this action since now I have a mindset to conserve more materials. I’m not exactly sure where this mindset came from, but I think it’s a good thing no matter, because it can help me save some money by working on this action, as well as the others.
• The type of food that I eat: I want to work on this action since I feel like not only can I be healthier with what I eat in general, but in turn, I will help make the world healthier by doing so, and I really like this idea since it’s a win-win deal.
• How often I buy things from vending machines: In my old schools, I used to frequently purchase snacks from the vending machines offered there, and I think that this is an unhealthy habit that will lead to unhealthy spending habits, spiralling into far worse situations. I want to change this, as I want myself (as all people should, themselves) to have a healthy future.
• Leaving things like humidifiers on all day: Like the “lights” action, I want to work on this action since I want to conserve more electricity for the house.

Describe specifically how you will try changing these five actions to work to reduce your footprint.

• Spending a lot of time behind a computer: I will work on this action by, obviously, spending less time behind a computer. To be specific, I will use my spare time from this on other activities, like practising my violin, working on my homework, taking a walk, spending time with friends (socially distanced, of course), and more.
• Sometimes leaving lights on when I’m not using them: To work on this action, I will think ahead before I leave a room to think whether or not I’ll be returning shortly and put that into account of whether or not I should turn the room light off or not. If there is someone else staying in that room, then I will leave the light on regardless of how I plan my time.
• The type of food that I eat: I will work on this habit by doing a bit of research on where the food I usually eat is sourced, as well as just thinking about how much I’ve had that type of food (meat, fruit, grains, dairy) that day.
• How often I buy things from vending machines: I will, of course, try to lower how much I buy items from vending machines and try to have food at home instead.
• Leaving things like humidifiers on all day: I’ll do the same process that I do with the “lights” action, but if nobody is going to be in the house, I’ll turn them off.

The Reflection

Describe some of the changes that were easy for you to make and why.
3 out of 5 of the changes were easy for me to make: The first one, the second one, and the last one. For the first one, the only real change that I had to make was to use less time on my computer. This wasn’t necessarily such a significant change for me, since I kept track of how much time that I used on my computer, and made sure that I spent at least an hour less then before (before, I was using my computer for a large amount of time daily). For the second and fifth one, all I really had to do was to think about how I’m going to be spending my time, and flip a switch.

Describe some of the changes that were difficult for you to make and why.
The remaining 2 actions were a bit more difficult for me to change for similar reasons. When someone gets into a food habit (although mine was very basic, it was common as well), it gets difficult to get out of. I will admit, I did purchase items from the vending machine less, and I did try to eat healthier, but not as well as I expected/wanted.

Describe some of the obstacles you encountered.
Some obstacles that I ran into while trying to work on these actions were, for the food-related actions, my own urge. I quickly understood that with the food-related actions, I cannot quickly jump off the train, but rather that I have to take my time and slowly work my way down the steps. I have made improvement though, and that can only mean good in the end.

Describe the steps you plan to take in the future.
I will continue doing the easy 3 actions, and I will work my way down the steps for the 2 difficult ones. For the difficult ones, I will slowly purchase less and less items from vending machines, and eat more and more healthy/local food at home. There may be a period of time where in the “computer” goal, my progression has stopped, and this may be in part to my, at least for now, interest in computer science (I am considering taking it for post-secondary learning), but that does not mean I can’t keep working on it! I will do my best to become an overall healthier person.