Reevaluating My Ecological Footprint

Good news! In just four short weeks, I managed to reduce my ecological footprint drastically.

This last week, I visited the Global Footprint Network site to retake the quiz. I was very surprised by my results, as I was able to reduce my ecological footprint by one whole Earth. One of my biggest changes was in my "Food" consumption category. While I was very happy to see these results, I wasn't too thrilled to see that my "Mobility" category did not decrease as much as I would have liked.

If you remember from my previous results, my ecological footprint was 5.2 and my carbon footprint was 8.2. This means that I have been doing well at accomplishing my goals.

One of my goals was to start educating myself for at least an hour every Sunday on healthy food choices. I have learned a lot! Specifically, I have learned how to look for cage-free, grass-fed, and organic produce at my local grocery store. I would like to further this goal by shopping at the farmer's markets in the area, but there aren't many in the town I live in. So for now, I am going to buy a lot of my produce at the farm itself. I have also taken it upon myself to buy foods that are good for me, rather than being lazy and buying processed, easy to grab snacks.

Another goal I had was to use the power in communication to plan around my family members' schedules. This way we can avoid unnecessary trips to town. I work at the bank inside our go-to grocery store so in the past four weeks, my mom has sent me to work with a shopping list so I can grab everything we need while I am there. I have also been carpooling with friends to the gym, store or other errands we need to run. This has reduced our combined carbon footprint greatly.

My last goal was to help the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement group plant trees on April 21st. And guess what? I definitely did that and learned so much in the process. This got me thinking, I wish the ecological footprint quiz offered by the Global Footprint Network asked about what kind of things you are doing to give back to society, such as planting trees, rather than just what you take away from society. I am going to continue to look for more volunteering opportunities and stay up to date on what the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group has planned.

To end this blog update, I would also like to talk about a new goal I have. While spending time on Sundays learning about how to pick out healthier, better quality produce, I came across a new goal. I have already started working toward this goal, but I still have a ways to go. I would like to build a compost bin in my backyard. According to the Drawdown EcoChallenge, "nearly half of the solid waste produced globally is organic or biodegradable." It really isn't all that hard to start composting. As of right now, I am learning about what waste is biodegradable so I can make sure I am accurately achieving my new goal. I don't have specific measures to add to this goal, however, I plan to compost all the waste I can. My next step is to shop for the materials needed in the next couple weeks so I can build this compost in my backyard.

Stay tuned to see pictures of my new compost bin!

McKenzie T.