Maya, Calgary, Canada: Carbon Footprint Blog Post

Environment   Oct 20, 2020 by Maya Omary

Calculating my Carbon Footprint is always a wake-up call because it's easy to forget the impact that I have on our planet. Sometimes I feel like a small insignificant person, but the truth is, my actions impact the planet whether I want them to, or not. 

Through calculating my Carbon Footprint, I discovered that my house takes up the most of my carbon usage (in comparison to the other categories that were calculated). This doesn't really come as a surprise to me because I live in Canada, and the winter requires my family and I to heat the house constantly to stay warm. That being said, there are definitely some things I can do to lower how much my house contributes to my carbon footprint. These might include, taking shorter showers, turning the lights off when I leave a room, shutting down and unplugging my laptop when it's not in use, etc..

The second biggest contributor to my carbon footprint is the category of "food"; but in comparison to others in my region the number is actually quite low. I think this may be because I always compost my leftovers and often eat vegetarian for breakfast and lunch (and only really have meat a few times a week for dinner). In addition, I primarily drink almond milk and rarely have cheese, which means that I don't consume many cow-products (which are known to emit a lot of carbon during production). Despite it being low, I can still do things to reduce my carbon footprint (in terms of food). These might include, buying locally sourced produce, eating organically, etc. 

The third highest contributor to my carbon footprint is transportation, and the number is actually a lot lower than I originally expected. I think this is because of  the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fact that I haven't travelled this year (like I usually do), and have tried to stay inside as much as possible. In addition, I live quite close to my school so even though I get driven everyday (and sometimes take the bus), it's for a short period of time so not much carbon is emitted. Although I can't walk to school everyday (because it's very cold outside for most of the school year), I can lower the carbon I use during transportation by taking the bus more often and/or carpooling with a friend. 

The lowest contributor to my carbon footprint is the "purchases" category, which doesn't really surprise me too much. Although I like buying new things, as does anyone, I don't shop very regularly. In addition, I don't have a job, so I don't have very much money to spend anyway. That being said, whenever I do shop I try to support brands that are somewhat environmentally-friendly - but I can definitely do a better job with this. In addition, whenever I go grocery shopping with my parents, we always bring reusable bags which is great for the environment as we aren't supporting plastic bag use. That being said, I think I can still be more mindful when it comes to the packaging of the products that I buy as I don't think about this very often.

In conclusion, while some numbers were lower than I expected, there's still tons I can do to make my carbon footprint smaller in all aspects of my life. 

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