I initially struggled to accurately complete the ecological footprint evaluation. As a college student, my lifestyle changes significantly every year, if not every semester. To represent sustainable habits and routines, I filled out the evaluation for my lifestyle in my childhood home. I was expecting to see a much larger footprint than my results showed. I think part of my misleading results have to do with the differentiation between actions that address the causes of climate change and actions that address the symptoms. Actions that address the root cause of an issue (e.g., reducing energy usage) often require individuals to change their habits or behaviors. Band aid solutions only address the symptoms of an issue (e.g., paying for carbon offsets) and often allow individuals to continue their typical routines. There are several ways that my household uses band aid solutions to reduce our ecological footprint. For example, my parents pay extra to purchase energy from renewable sources. This reduces our energy footprint but does not indicate we use less energy. Actions that address only symptoms are helpful to reduce one’s ecological footprint but don’t promote ecologically conscious actions and behaviors.
The evaluation did indicate a few areas where I can change my actions to reduce my personal ecological footprint. The results indicated that my biggest area for reduction is my carbon footprint related to travel. Most of my travel footprint comes from air travel. I live a 4–5-hours from my family by air. I also love to travel and often fly when going on longer trips. One way I can reduce this impact is by carpooling with other students who drive from the East Coast out to Colorado for winter and summer breaks. I could also try to plan vacations that are closer to home. If I want to go on trip that requires a flight, I could try to extend the trip so that I maximize my traveling plans. Being more conscious of water and energy usage would be another way to adapt my lifestyle. To reduce water usage, I could use a bowl of soapy water to clean dishes and only use the tap to rinse. I can unplug all outlets when I am not actively using them to reduce my energy consumption. These actions could be classified as mitigation strategies, as they attempt to directly reduce the rate of climate change.
There are other strategies I could adopt to reduce my ecological footprint without having to change my behaviors or habits. Instead of reducing the number of flights I take, I could purchase carbon offsets for each flight. Some airlines, including United Airlines and American Airlines, allow passengers to purchase carbon offsets for the flights they book. There are numerous independent flight calculators that do a similar thing. Some airlines, such as Jet Blue, already include the price of carbon offsets in every ticket they sell. Another strategy I could adopt would be to purchase more carbon offsets for actions such as driving or using non-renewable energy sources. All these actions could be classified as adaptive strategies because they help people live in the context of climate change.
Adaptation actions indicate that individuals are conscious of their ecological impact. Mitigation strategies go even further and require individuals to consider actions that could directly slow climate change. The most impactful actions are classified as resilience strategies. These actions look to the future and prepare for impacts of climate change. One individual resilience strategy would be to invest in nonprofits and carbon offset companies that are actively working to make the world more resilient to climate change.
The ecological footprint evaluation highlighted that my biggest area of improvement is in my travel. I felt that there are other important areas of my life that I could be more ecologically conscious that were not included in the evaluation. One area for improvement that stands out is my activity as a consumer. I could be more conscious of how ethical my purchases are. First, I could try to purchase more fair trade and local items. I could also reduce my online shopping habits and try to run multiple errands at once to reduce how much I drive. Even though the evaluation was not as wholistic as it could have been, it is important to identify how I can improve my routines and behaviors to reduce my ecological footprint.