Skip to main content

Four years in and still figuring things out


Initially I was drawn into this world of sustainable living based on posts I had seen on social media. These ranged from very simple changes to reduce plastic consumption all the way to people that did not use toilet paper because it was too wasteful. (Americans use more toilet paper than anywhere else on earth.) This wide spectrum was incredibly daunting at first. How far was far enough? On the other hand, at what point would I become a social outcast for the ideas people were suggesting?
            Then the real questions started popping up in my head. Were these people on social media even remotely correct in the assertions they were making? I did not have the foggiest clue. This is the point where I started to do actual research. I realized fact checking was going to be incredibly important in accepting this lifestyle change and convincing others that it is a worthwhile cause.
            I decided I needed to assess my life before making drastic changes. There are several websites that will measure your carbon footprint based on a few basic factors such as diet, energy consumption and transportation usage. To be completely fair, these websites are only giving you a general approximation of your carbon footprint. Nearly every detail of your life would have to be included in the calculations and would truly discourage anyone from completing the assessment.
            It has been four, maybe five, years since I calculated my carbon footprint for the first time, but I still remember that it was not good. Two of the biggest contributors were my car and my home energy consumption.  Turning the thermostat down a couple of degrees was an easy fix that really has a significant impact on how much electricity your home uses. Last August I was able to reduce my A/C use to almost never. (Only August because I was interning in another city and did not have control over the shared A/C in the place I was living. My usage in August was maybe an hour at night or every other night just to cut the humidity to prohibit mold growth in the basement.)
T-shirt into rags for plastic free cleaning. Image source. 

            The next I did was to focus on something the carbon footprint calculator does not even consider, my waste output. It was recommended by some online article or YouTube video (I have no idea which one at this point) that I “audit” my trash before sending it to the curb. Personally, I found it to be a very enlightening exercise, even if a little gross. Half of my trash was plastic bags and glass bottles. Both were recyclable but believe it or not, I had never recycled before. One crash course on recycling later and I started making some serious changes.


Popular posts from this blog

There are two sides to every story

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, there are plenty of people that will push back against my choices. One such push back came in a GEG class quite unexpectedly. It was simply an off handed comment by my professor. I do not believe he intended as a slight against me in any way, but it really made me think about how people view my choices in protecting the environment.             I believe were talking about the impacts of disposable diapers and my professor said, “just wait until you have kids, things will change.” It really struck me in that moment that people see environmentalism as a trend. Something to be put on hold or given up when life gets in the way. To be clear, I was in no way offended by his comment, quite the opposite in fact. I took his comment to mean that I have work to do. Maybe I should give more credit to advocating for changes in the law. That would provide more legitimacy to the changes I ...
Read more

Not for the love of animals, but for sustainability

I do not necessarily subscribe to a specific diet. I do not claim to be vegetarian or vegan even if most of my meals meet those requirements. I guess you could call my diet plastic free. It sounds strange but that is the goal when I go shopping for food.             I was really inspired after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. His book really focused on being in touch with the food we consume. So much of what we eat today is highly processed with added sugars, emulsifiers and stabilizers. Our great-grandparents probably would not recognize most of what America is eating today as food. Pollan’s advice for a healthy diet is, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Image source.              It is well understood that the meat industry in the US is a major environmental problem.   Beef production requires a significant amount of na...
Read more