Abbye Schomer

Edwin Sabuhoro

RPTM 220

November 29, 2022

Impact Reflection

After calculating my ecological footprint, I was very surprised to see my results. It does

not occur to me how much my everyday needs and the things I use impact the Earth. While using

the calculator, I was shocked with the various questions it asked. I never really thought about

how much meat I eat or what food I eat is locally grown, how much I use transportation, what

my house is like, etc. I just rely on these things and never consider the bigger picture. My results

showed that my ecological footprint was 6.3 gha, 11.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, and 63

was the % total of my ecological footprint. These results are not the greatest and there are

definitely things that I can do to reduce my footprint.

In order to reduce my footprint in the future, I would probably work on shelter, mobility,

and goods, as these were the highest consumption categories for me. For shelter and goods

together, I would not change the house I was in, but I could limit the amount of energy used by

not having as many electronics plugged in and limiting use of things that require a lot of energy. I

could also try to use solar power to run things that require electricity. Buying more energy

efficient appliances could help as well. I feel like this would be more challenging because I live

with my family and we all have lots of devices and appliances that we need to use on a daily

basis. Something that would be a little simpler though would be limiting trash and reusing

containers. It’s not hard to reuse plastic bottles or containers for other items. When it comes to
mobility, I could limit driving around to places I don’t need to go. I should just focus on the

necessary places and not just drive around for fun. I could also offer to drive others or ask them

for a ride. Personally, this would be a little difficult because I often meet up with people and

since I live off campus, I can’t just walk to meet up with friends or to go downtown. For other

categories that weren’t as high such as food and services, I will likely keep doing what I’m doing

because they weren’t super impactful to my imprint. I’m sure that I could still work on watching

where I get my food and what services I’m using to ensure I don’t increase those areas, but

overall I’m not as concerned with them.