Ecological Footprint Quiz

After completing the ecological footprint quiz, I found out that it would take about four Earths in order to sustain the human population if everyone how I do. In addition, I heard others whose results were much worse than mine, but the thought the one world I live in isn’t capable of sustaining my standard of living is intimidating. Through trips, class conversation, and readings, I have been able to identify the different areas of sustainability and which of these I need to improve. This way my standard of living can be moved closer to the one Earth than four. The visits to the St. Isadore Catholic Worker farm and Convivium have opened up my eyes to a more sustainable way of living and encouraged me take actions in my daily life. My favorite

One habit I need to stop is that I leave the string lights, hung up in my dorm room, on when I go to class and nobody is in there. I enjoy opening up the door after a tough class and coming into a cozy, soft lit room, but it is unnecessary and wasteful to leave these lights on all day. Also, I have noticed that in the café there are more processed food options than freshly grown. One aspect I would like to improve is the amount of fresh produce I consume. As Aj mentioned too, eating fresh produce will not only positively affect my mental and physical health, but also the environment. It is much better for the sustainability of the environment to grow and distribute fresh produce than the energy-hogging processed foods. As a matter of fact, the day after visiting the Convivium, I went to the community garden on campus and picked kale, basil, and cherry tomatoes. Then I went to my room and had a salad that was essentially free. I would also like to continue visiting the garden, at least till it is too cold out and keep in mind how the foods I purchase at the store are produced or grown. Although it can be more expensive, I would like to purchase more freshly grown food when I go shopping so I can eat healthier, improve my mental and physical health, and lower my ecological