I couldn't figure out how to post the visual of the results onto this blog so I'll just do a brief write up of the results. It would take 3.9 Earth's to support my lifestyle. The footprint was broken down to 15% food, 8% shelter, 13% mobility, 10% goods, and 51% services. It also takes 17.3 acres of Earth's productive area to support me.
At first, this really shocked me. I don't think that I live a very frivolous lifestyle. I'm a poor college student. Buy only what I'm going to eat or need. Only on occasion buy new clothes. I would like a little more information on what 'services' means and what that category includes.
After doing this once for my current lifestyle, I was curious what my eco footprint was when I lived in Panama for two weeks in a location with no running water and no electricity. I filled out the quiz with the information for this lifestyle for both a South American country and the United States with very different results which leads me to believe that here in the United States we have many more amenities and services that we do not consider and that this quiz factors in itself.
My goals for this quarter are to:
1) Take the stairs all quarter (no elevators),
2) Buy a few more locally grown or organic fruits and vegetables,
3) Cut back on how many quick trips to the store I take by either taking the bus or carpooling with friends
4) Be really conscience of what and how much packaging I'm throwing away every week and try to reduce the waste and recycle more.
The fourth goal will force me to maybe research a type of packaging that I didn't know I could recycle. I think my mobility is really an area for improvement but I do my best to drive minimally without someone else in the car. Since I live with two other people, I'm also hoping to educate them on some of these energy and waste reducing activities and encourage them to do the same! This class has also got me excited to learn about which companies have adopted sustainable business models. I know that I'm cynical when it comes to believing that companies want to be environmentally friendly, so I'm looking forward to learning about sustainable practices that business can adopt. As I am looking to the future for a job, it will be nice to have a list environmentally companies. One of the main problems with sustainability is ignorance. Most people do not know that their lifestyle is sustainable or how to change it. I am among these people so I'm hoping to learn about sustainable options for me or at least where I can go to learn more.
Lauren -- these look like reasonable goals, but could you please make them more specific and quantifiable, e.g., buy local/organic produce? And you are right, business school students (and faculty) just don't know about some of the issues that we should, given that we have had a significant effect on the environment thru our actions. 45/50 (no EF output)
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