After calculating my Carbon Footprint for the third consecutive year, my results weren’t that surprising for me. Because of COVID, it doesn’t relate so much to my reality right now but to how my life was before the pandemic, since transportation and food carbon emissions have been reduced because of quarantine. The fact that I am responsible for emitting 5.8 tons of CO2 and the fact that 2.6 earths would be needed to bear my  lifestyle is quite overwhelming and I know that there is more that I can do. After doing some research I discovered that some of my daily activities that affect my footprint the most are working out and eating meat, since running on a treadmill for 30 minutes three times a week will boost your carbon footprint by 0.07 metric tons per year, and eating 444 calories a day of red meat (the equivalent of about one 8-ounce steak sirloin), equals an annual meat-related carbon footprint of 0.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide. 

I believe that the carbon footprint calculator is the most eye-opening task. I truly think that everyone should do it at least once a year because it is about feedback and change. It is about awareness and recognizing the impact we can cause. In my case, there are some tangible changes to be made such as exercising outside and changing my diet.

I see now that my food choices are responsible for a huge part of my carbon footprint, which is the most difficult change for me to make. Due to cultural matters, meat is one of the bases of my diet , so making more eco-friendly meals becomes a much longer and complicated process. However, I believe I am on the right track. After doing the New York Times Quiz, in which you have to inform some of the meals you had the day before to know how your diet contributes to climate change, It says that it was low, so my diet does not impact a lot on climate change. But still, I know there is so much also I can do.

On another note, I believe that living in a city definitely affects one’s ability to have a smaller carbon footprint because of multiple factors, such as transport and eating habits. Living in São Paulo, for example, basically demands a car for locomotive activities since public transport is not distributed around the city. And when it comes to food, since everyone is always really busy, there is not enough time to home cook meals, which is another problem. 

With this being said, I believe that my school is already doing a lot when it comes to sustainability.One of our projects is to plant native trees from the Atlantic forest in a square next to our school in order to restore the trees that have been deforested. Another important project that we have is using solar panels to provide 35% of the electric energy that we use at school, with the goal that in 2 years time, 100% of the electric energy would come from solar panels. Also, something innovating we’ve been doing is the use of biodigesters, which is based on the idea of converting the energy that comes from organic products into a mix of methane gas and carbon dioxide called biogas, it being used to warm the water of the showers in the locker rooms. Additionally, Magno is a school that has students from a wide range of ages, some of them being toddlers. Taking up to 600 years to decompose, disposable diapers are considered to be villains. With this in mind, our school partnered with Boomera, a company which is  specialized in technology for waste disposal, assisting the bottom line to the recycling process of these diapers. Later, the plastic resin generated is transformed into pens, which were distributed at school at the beginning of this year .Lastly, another project that Magno has implemented is water reuse. Currently, almost 200 thousand liters of reuse water is used to clean the patios, being part of school´s irrigation system. The project is to create a mini power plant, with the purpose to extend the use of this water, so it can be used on toilets and sinks.

That is just to show the importance of enrolling in diversified environmental projects. Simple acts such as eating less meat and buying vegetables from small companies and farmers, using a bike or walking when doing your commute, bring positive aspects not only for the environment but for your health as well.

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