There is no denying that all of us have had an impact in the grave state of our environment; We might not realize it but we, unknowingly, release a great amount of pollution into our atmosphere. These days, the rate of greenhouse gas emissions being released in my country, the Philippines, have been increasing in an alarming state. By knowing our own carbon footprint, surely change will come soon. 

To know my own carbon footprint, I used the International Student Challenge Carbon Footprint Challenge to calculate and narrow down what I've been giving off to the environment. As you can see from the results, my footprint (5,990 kgs) was so much higher than the average amount for my own country and even worldwide. Seeing the results definitely shocked and made me feel bad about the habits and practices I have been doing that have been quite harmful to our environment. 

For the first category which is "Home", one can see that my footprint reached the thousands. I quite seem to understand the sum of this number for, admittedly, our household shelters 7 people and 5 pets. Considering the population in our house, I'd say that this number is quite comprehensible. Our house has a lot of lighting and appliances needed for everyday life. All of us have our own electronic devices which surely takes a lot of energy; I have a phone, a laptop, and a desktop that I mainly use for my school work and leisure activities almost everyday. Internet is certainly a necessity in our household; We have various different routers spread all over the house. I can admit that we do consume a large amount of energy but I do pride myself in trying my best to conserve: we turn off and unplug appliances that are not in use, we conserve water, we do segregate trash and other waste, and we do limit using air conditioners and other appliances in our household.

"Food"; My family consumes quite a lot of food; We get groceries almost every week. If you look at all of the categories included, this category has the highest number and rate with 2,431 kgs. Actually, I am not a vegetarian nor a vegan. Meat is definitely a usual part of a meal that I eat everyday. Filipino dishes always have a bit of meat, fish, beef, pork, or chicken in it. These days, I limit myself to a small amount or portion of meat in my meals to benefit my overall diet and also the environment. In fact, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is urging Filipinos to help fight climate change by switching to a plant-based diet, which has been shown to reduce the ecological footprint of human food consumption. 

"Purchases"; For this category, my footprint was small compared to the others but when compared to the average in my region, it's notably huge. Knowing me, I tend to shop for new clothes, shoes, and accessories at least twice a month. I am a person who enjoys shopping and ordering online, it is quite a guilty pleasure of mine. I purchase minimalistic and plain clothes that I can use in every event or occasion; I do make sure that my purchase is worth it for the money and the time.

"Transportation"; Lastly is the category of transportation. In this one, the rate of my footprint was also considerably high. When all was still normal, we used to have face-to-face classes before this pandemic. My mode of transportation whenever I go to my school in the morning is through a school service, also known as a "school bus:"; When I go home, I usually use a form of public transportation here in the Philippines, a "jeepney". Jeepneys were originally made from U.S. military jeeps left over from World War II and are now the most popular means of public transportation ubiquitous in my country. For a fact, jeepneys have become a widespread symbol of Philippine culture and art. Anyways, me and my family also travel a lot. One thing on my bucket list is to hopefully travel the whole world. Since I was a child, I have been on a plane at least once a year, may it be a local or an international flight; This is because my other familial relatives live in various places in the world.

Now, after knowing my own carbon footprint, the question is "what do I need to do to lessen this number?" In all honesty, I never really fully realize how harmful my actions are until the process of calculating my own carbon footprint. With this pandemic hindering and holding me back, I couldn't even imagine what number my footprint would reach if I were to base my answers in the past and previous years. Upon seeing the carbon footprint of a average resident of my country, I was quite surprised and taken aback that its number was a little bit lower and smaller than what I thought. Many perceive the Philippines as this tropical country full of beautiful and wonderful geological features yet I don't think they see its underlying conditions: our problem with poverty, pollution and overpopulation. All in all, this activity made me fully grasp the consequences of my actions. It turns out, all of us have been having such a grave and impactful effect in our environment that is now beginning to manifest into reality. Thinking about it, many solutions to these dangerous acts of ours have already been presented and engrained in our mindset yet why do we still choose to ignore these sustainable answers? One thing is for sure: we need to stand up for our only planet before it's too late!

 

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