Footprint Calculation
Water subtotal: 125
Clothing subtotal: 110
Stuff subtotal: 30
Shelter subtotal: -40
Transportation subtotal: 140
Fun subtotal: 140
Food subtotal: 405
Total: 910
910/100 = 9.1
The Plan
My ecological footprint is 9.1 hectares, which is approximately the size of 18 NFL football fields. Compared to the Canadian average of 8.28* hectares, mine is a little high. I asked a few other TALONS learners what their ecological footprint was and here are the answers I got.
- 12.16
- 8.35
- 10.8
- 7.45
- 11.05
- 9.15
My footprint is about average compared to my peers. The biggest contributors to my score were food, transportation, and fun.
10 actions that currently increase my footprint:
- My showers often take loner than 10 minutes
- The amount of garbage I produce per day would fit into a basket
- I wash my clothes after I wear them once
- I eat quite a bit of meat
- Usually I spend over an hour on a computer and/or watching TV per day
- Not always turning off all electrical appliances when leaving a room
- Consuming a lot of eggs and dairy
- At home we don’t compost
- My family doesn’t usually buy and eat organic food
- We water the garden and wash the cars every other week
5 actions that I will change to reduce my ecological footprint and why I chose them:
| Action | Why? |
| Having shorter showers | Taking showers shorter than 10 minutes would decrease my ecological footprint from 9.1 to 8.3. It is a simple change that would greatly decrease my footprint. |
| Turning off lights | For the most part I am pretty good at remembering to turn off the lights, but I want to make it a habit. |
| Wearing clothes more than once | If I wear clothes more than once I will have to do less loads of laundry. Which means I will have time to focus on other things like homework and spending time with my family. |
| Reducing the amount of garbage I produce | Until doing this assignment I never payed close attention to the amount of garbage I produce. I believe this will be a great opportunity to try and reduce the amount of trash I produce. |
| Eating less meat | I am going to try and eat less meat because it is a change I can make without having to do too much work. This will also encourage me to eat more fruits and vegetables. |
How I will change these actions:
| Action | How? |
| Having shorter showers | I will have 3-6 minute showers by setting a timer for 4 minutes to remind myself to hurry up. If I focus on getting in and out of the shower, I will be done a lot quicker. |
| Turning off lights | Turning off the lights isn’t a big task. It only takes a few extra seconds to flip a couple switches and unplug a few things. Sometimes I don’t turn off the lights because I forget. I need to be more mindful and turn the lights off. |
| Wearing clothes more than once | At the end of the day if my clothes are stained or dirty then I’ll wash them. If not, I will put my clothes in a neat pile so I can wear them again. |
| Reducing the amount of garbage I produce | I can reduce the amount of garbage I produce by eating more fresh food and less processed and prepackaged things. Maximizing paper would be another great way to reduce the amount of waste I produce. |
| Eating less meat | To make sure I eat less meat I will follow the Canadian food guide, and only fill a quarter of my plate with meat. |
The Reflection
Describe some of the changes that were easy to make and why:
Some of the easier changes to implement into my life were wearing clothes form the previous day, eating less meat, and turning off the lights. The easiest change for me to make was wearing clothes from the previous day. All I had to do was choose a pair of pants or a t-shirt that I wore recently and used it to pick an outfit for the next day. Turning off the lights was another little change that was easy to make. Sometimes I would forget, so I made myself run back upstairs to turn them off. Eventually it was not a big deal and I remembered to turn them off. Eating less meat wasn’t to hard either. I would put meat on my plate last and used a smaller plate so there was less space for meat.
Describe some changes that were difficult to make and why:
The two more difficult changes to make were having shorter showers and reducing that amount of garbage I produce. With both of these goals I was more motivated in the beginning. I took 4-5 minute showers and ate less processed food. As time went on, I started to lose sight of my goals. Having shorter showers was a hard habit to break. When I am in the shower, I lose track of time. Getting a shower timer in the future would help me keep track of time and focus on showering as quickly. Producing less waste was also challenging. At first I felt good about not throwing out as much, but just like my other goal I got sidetracked. Having a system to track of my progress would have motivated me and made this a lot more fun. I could have downsized my garbage can until it could fit into a cup.
Describe some of the obstacles you encountered:
One of the biggest challenges I faced during this prosses was in the beginning. The first couple of days were harder then expected. Everyday I would forget the changes I set out to make. So I wrote out a list and I kept it at the front of my binder where I would see it everyday. That list reminded me of the actions I was going to implement to reduce my ecological footprint.
Describe the steps you plan to take in the future:
Now that I understand a lot more about my ecological footprint. I can educate my family about what we can do to reduce our ecological footprint. In the future I want to keep challenging myself to reduce my ecological footprint. I will try to continue the actions I have implemented in my life for the past two weeks. Who knows, maybe I’ll take on a few more actions.