Reflection: Weeks 3 & 4

Woah the time really flys once school gets into swing again, it's already almost the middle of October.  It is has been an interesting last couple weeks of class. We took a look at a documentary I have seen several times, An Inconvenient Truth. Everytime I see it, I feel like my eyes get opened up to a new aspect of what it going on, really powerful stuff.  There was also a new project introduced, one I like very much.  The eco-chic lifestyle change allows you to make a healthly lifestyle change that maybe you have been wanting to chnage for some time, but never have a reason or any motivation. 

I have learned several new things about blogging over the weeks. I have learned how to maintain a blog with all of the followers, new posts, and commenting.  I learned things really happen fast in the viral world and I've seen you can do some neat things with advanced gadgets feature.  I have also learned about Google reader.  Before I signed up for it, I had never heard of it before. At first it seemed really confusing and messy. But now as people are commenting on posts, it is a super easy way to follow all of the comments and different posts in one place.  Finally, I learned that one person really can make a difference in the environment, all it takes is a simple lifestyle change.

Eco-chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART goal

I thought long and hard about what my SMART goal should be.  I kept going back and forth if I should do only using a re-useable water bater but I decided on something different.  I live fairly close to school and my work so I decided for my SMART goal to be I am going to walk to school and work at least 5 times a week for the next 10 weeks. I only have school 3 days a week and work 2 or 3 days a week.

This lifestlye change is eco-chic for several reasons.  Since I will be walking a lot more, I will be driving my car considerably less. This will result in me putting less car emissions into the environment by driving less.  That is something the environment would benefit greatly from if everyone tried to do. I will also be getting some exercise just on the way to school and work, and you can't complain about that.

I chose this particular behavior because I have been meaning to make this change for months now. Since I live close to work and school I have thought that I should walk both ways for a while now but never stuck with it. It will help to get some exercise on my way to work on really busy days when I don't have time to work out. This lifestyle change will be beneficial to me since I will be driving less, I will be saving money on gas. That will help me because I am trying to save money for a spring break trip and anything extra helps. I am excited to begin my lifestyle change today!

Eye Opener - Ecological Footprint

I was pretty unaware what an ecological footprint was befor this assignment.  Now I know it is a measure of human deman on Earth's ecosystems.  Most of what I have learned about ecological footprints, I have gathered from Wikipedia.

Within the last decade, quizzes have been developed to show individual's own ecological footprint. I took some of these quizzes found at Ecological Footprint Calculator.  The particular quiz I took calculated the number of planets it takes to support my lifestyle.  Most of the questions consisted of what kind of food I eat and where it comes from. There were also questions about my home and what kinds of transportation I use. The results were kind of surprising. It said that if everyone lived like me we would need 4.3 planets to provide enough resources. I am very shocked by the high number, I thought I was living a little more eco-friendly.

There are a number of things I can try to do to bring down the results from the quiz.  First of all, I could try to buy mostly locally grown non-processed food.  Also, I could try to drive my car less, and when I do drive I try to carpool.  Or instead of driving all together I can start to use some public transportation.