Reduce my ecological footprint

Last I checked I was at “if everyone lived like you we’d need 1 planet” which is sweet, but I’ve slacked off a little with recycling since then… although I consume less packaged food & more local produce, so… Need to check where I’m at & improve from there… getting down to half a planet would be nifty! Ha.

I can reduce it by recycling, reducing and reusing

My current footprint according to WWF is 1.87 planets (18% food, 16% travel, 28% home, 38% stuff). My carbon footprint is 7.24 tons.
My goal is to get it down to less than 1 planet and less than 4 tons by:

- Being sure to buy locally grown food more of the time (I try to, but I need to start going to farmers markets again)
- Moving (I’m moving anyway) to somewhere within walking distance of my JC (I’m currently an hour’s drive away, ack!)
- Avoiding over-packaging
- Buying electronics with Energy Star ratings
- Eating meat only once a week or less, and limiting myself mostly to fish and chicken (less beef and lamb, I already eat nearly no pork because I don’t like it)
- Turn off lights and heating when I don’t need it
- Remembering to reuse my dishes when I can to save water on dishwashing (I’m really bad about this one!)

Hopefully that’ll help.

iGoogle told me my carbon footprint is: 0.51 tonnes
Some other site told me it’s: 4.35 tonnes
But the most detailed of these calculators, WWF, scarily informed me that my carbon footprint is: 10.59 tonnes!!!

All of these sites have offered tips to reduce my footprint… which is good because I’m pretty much disgusted at myself!!

So I guess now the next part of this goal is to follow the tips and lower this!! :)
x xx

I’m using recycled cloth bags almost every time that I go shopping or I just don’t accept the plastic store bags. I also have plastic bins that I use whenever I go grocery shopping. I love using them. They’re actually more convient to use than plastic bags that rip, and tear as soon as you walk out of the store.

I try to group together my outings so that I don’t use too much gas.

I can’t believe how much I recycle now. I’m always amazed on garbage day just how much I’m able to recycle. Anything that has a recycle sign on it goes into my recycle bag. Now there is more recyclable stuff than garbage. In fact, my garbage bag is mostly organic materials. The city accepts organic matter because it gets mixed together at the dump.

I’ve switched to eco-friendly detergents, and I’m using a HE washer, and dryer. There are a few more things that I would like to work on in the future, but this is my progress so far.

This summer is the first one where I’ve made a real effort to use the clothesline more.

I’ve also been washing my laundry in cold water. The hot water pipe on the washing machine didn’t really “break”, I just disconnected it. Please don’t tell the tenant upstairs.

Before getting the container, I turned in cans and bottles for $$$. Found a center closer to home. Wednesday is the day for the recycling truck to come by. Yay!

I’ve chosen a new goal in its place; “stop being a consumer”. By fulfilling that goal, I can indirectly fulfill this one. :)

I think people are going about this the wrong way. Recycling and reducing electricity use and driving less are all fine and good, but I think a lot of people are overlooking all the products and consumer goods that are made and which use up tremendous amounts of natural resources and create a lot of pollution during their creation, that we actually do not need to survive. Such as, just about everything you’d find at a dollar-store or about half the stuff in a Wal-Mart. Why do we need to buy this stuff? Or another example, hybrid cars are awesome, but what sort of energy is used in the manufacturers? What materials are used in the engine parts, upholdstery, all the other parts? Are these cars truly that environmentally friendly? How about solar panels? They harvest solar energy, but what are they made out of? What are the storage batteries made out of? How much diesel is used in the garbage truck that collects all that recycling?

Know what I’m saying?

lord siva