Blogs
What part of your ecological footprint most surprised you? I was surprised how quickly we could use up the earth and how little time it takes to harm the earth so much. I did not realize how harmful my way of life is. Many of the questions asked for information I didn’t have and I realized how I inconsiderate I was of how I was living and how it affected the Earth.
How did your footprint compare to your city’s average and your country’s average? I could not find this information.
What parts of your footprint do you feel is possible to reduce? What parts don’t? I think it is possible to reduce the amount of gas the cars I ride in to school emmit as I could do more carpooling and less driving alone. I now carpool to soccer with a few of my friends who are also on the soccer team. I think that it would be hard to eat in ways that would benefit the amount of emissions being produced while staying healthy and fit. Because humans have basic necessities when it comes to eating, and it is so much harder to receive these necessities when eating on a diet that lowers your carbon footprint, I think it would be difficult to lower this part of my footprint.
What strategy did you take in Climate Challenge? Was it effective in reducing emissions? In Climate Challenge, I tried to make the best use of the cards by picking the ones that benefitted the emissions and had the most support of the public. This was effective at the beginning, and brought low amounts of emissions and public support with it, but towards the end, I had to make harder decisions and my popularity quickly decreased, until I was voted out of office. This strategy was very effective to reduce emissions, however it wasn’t very popular with the public. This led to problems, and I think that next time, I should balance out my priorities better, and I feel that would lead to success.
What did you think of how the strategy cards represented resources? Do you think some of the strategies/policies would have different impacts than the ones shown in the game? I think that the strategy cards were a great idea because when using each card, you were able to experience the benefits and the cause and effects of each card, which were mostly realistic. This provided a helpful experience as it showed you the pros and the cons of each policy.
How did you approach international negotiations? Was it better to lead by example, or attempt to encourage other nations by investing in their green economies? I led by example and eventually, all the nations agreed to take action on climate change. From the second to last international meeting it was unanimous that climate change needed to be dealt with, and the other nations agreed to reduce emissions. I think this method worked really well when attempting to get others to support your actions.
Were you surprised by how much water you consumed? I didn’t realize I used so much water. It is amazing to see how much water you consume without knowing it. There is water in almost everything we eat, and we require water to stay alive and perform everyday tasks. However, I have never thought of how much water I use thoroughly. I thought, we drink water and we use it to cleanse ourselves. I never realized we used it so often. When we eat beef, for example, the cattle has drank much water in it’s lifetime and still keeps the water in its meat when it is preserved. That means we are consuming water as we eat meat. I never thought about this before, but now that I have, it makes sense.
How did your footprint compare to your country’s and the world's average? (You will need to research this.) I used much more water than the Global Average, and at first I was confused, but then I realized why. I know that many countries have limited access to water while here in America we always have water to use at our disposal. Even when California was in a drought, we still had plenty of water to use. I also think that America is very industrialized and that since we are constantly creating and recreating things and raising crops and livestock, that America overall uses much more water than other countries.
What parts of your footprint do you feel is possible to reduce? What parts don’t? I think I could reduce how much water I use at home by trying to take shorter showers, use less water when brushing my teeth and washing my hands. I can also try to not wash paints or other pollutants down the sink that would contaminate the water and waste water that could be reused. I can also try to reuse water. I could use water that has come through the treatment plants to water the lawn and the plants. I don’t think it is possible to reduce the water I am receiving through the food I am eating, because I need to eat food and eat enough food to keep me healthy and alive. The nutrients I receive through the food I am currently eating would be harder to get when eating food that has less water in it.
