To calculate my carbon footprint, I used the  International Student Challenge Carbon Footprint Challenge. While I was doing this, it really occurred to me that there were a lot of things to consider when it comes to my effects on the environment. I thought that I would be more on the average side since I do try my best to use environmentally products and recycle whenever I can. I even do a lot of things Little did I know that I'm still not doing enough and there's still room for progress! 

Now, I have more or less expected that I would actually exceed the carbon consumption average inside houses. We're a family of seven. Each one of us owns one gadget at the very least. They even multiplied since we needed them for online classes that can't be done without energy consumption. We also have different appliances that do not help in this situation. Take for example our electric fans, we have six of them in just one house! It gets really hot in the summer that's why we have one for each room in our humble abode. One room also has an air conditioning system to further retaliate with the heat. Furthermore, with no choice but to spend time quarantined one of the top things that'll kill your boredom would electronic devices. However, I and my siblings were all raised to always turn off all unused appliances and save energy whenever we can so that it would not be wasted. 

The food category was definitely the least of what I was worried about at first. Our family has our own customs regarding meals. It is an unsaid rule. Usually, what my parents eat, we eat. They've been cutting off unhealthy food and we adapted to that too. Salads are a thing in the house, pork and beef are very seldom. That's why it's very shocking for me to get the results higher than the average. I thought that I'd somehow get the same because I usually eat less compared to other members of the family and to some of my friends but then again, the results do not lie.

For purchases, I believe that I have a decent amount of carbon usage. I'm not that type of person who likes to shop until they drop but I do still have my needs. It has lessened since the pandemic but on a normal basis, when I shop I don't bring my own eco-bag and just settle for what the cashiers have which would be most of the time plastics. After purchasing, I still reuse the bag whenever I can. On a more family level, we reuse all the grocery plastic bags as containers of our garbage so that it served a double purpose. 

The last category is one that I'm very proud of. I don't really travel with friends a lot, especially on long-distance trips. Since we're still all stuck at home here in the Philippines, I can't go outside at all so I guess this also helped me reduce carbon footprints. Even with face to face classes, I usually carpool with my siblings in order to go to school in the morning so we do save energy, money, and lessen carbon consumption. Due to undetermined hours of what time I went home because of after school activities or hangouts, I go home by jeepneys that according to Anmar Frangoul in CNBC generates about 40kg carbon a day. 

Overall, this got me thinking if we all compile all the amount of carbon footprints in the country, we'd get a large sum. However along with this mindset, if the countrymen actually took it seriously then we could all lessen it little by little. We could still hope for a better world. That's why as a COP26 delegate, I'd like to know how much more I can make an impact in convincing others that climate change and carbon emissions are a real problem. 

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