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Mile, Buenos Aires, Argentina, My Carbon Footprint
I was saddened, though not too surprised to see that 172 trees are needed to balance out my footprint of 12.07 tons. This number is quite above my country’s average footprint (8.4 tons) which I think may be because I travel a lot both by car and plane, my cars’ combined fuel economy is rather high (at least higher than the US average) and the house I live in is quite large too. I think it’s odd how, from what I have seen, the people who are more economically powerful are usually the ones who contribute the most to the problem but suffer the least, and probably many people don’t realize that which just worsens the situation. Apart from that, in Argentina, we are used to doing certain things which I realized are quite damaging to the planet like eating meat every day of the week. It’s actually a widespread tradition here to eat a bunch of smoked beef on Sundays usually getting together with our families as well. Calculating my carbon footprint and my family’s made me realize how bad this way of eating is for our planet. It also showed me how, even if I recycle and reuse stuff or do other eco-friendly activities, it will not help much if I don’t make more substantial changes in my way of living. There are many things in my life, my family’s, and my community’s life we can improve to reduce our carbon footprint and I look forward to finding out more ways to do that in this project.
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3 Comment(s)
Hi Milena,
I'm glad that you have decided to not only change yourself and your daily routine to help reduce your carbon but also your family's. I think this is a great approach to help reduce carbon where you are and I hope that others can follow is your footsteps and do the same.
- Hollie, Townsville, Australia
Have you implemented any strategies to reduce your carbon footprint? Maybe try new meatless meals to eat with family for a change? I completely agree with your comment about the wealthy contributing to carbon emissions the most but suffering the least, this is an issue that needs to be dealt with by individuals and as a society.
Hey, Tara!
I have reduced my own meat consumption by having meatless lunches during the week though I would like to extend this to the rest of my family as well. Thank you for your comment!
Hi Mile
The same thing happened to me, in my family we used to eat a lot of red and white meat, but since my school decided to implement a program called "Bandera Azul" we managed to reduce this consumption a lot. And you are right there is no use being super ecological in certain things and abuse others, we have to find a balance!!
-Sofia, Heredia, Costa Rica
Hi, Sofía
I really liked the idea of your "Bandera Azul" program and I'm glad to see it works. Thank you fr letting me know about it! Maybe doing something similar in my family could help us reduce our meat consumption too.
-Mile, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Hollie
Nov 18, 2020