I guess my footprint is pretty big...

Ecological Footprint Quiz Results

CATEGORY
ACRES
FOOD
6.9
MOBILITY
0.5
SHELTER
5.7
GOODS/SERVICES
5.7
TOTAL FOOTPRINT
19
IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.2 PLANETS.

It's clear to see that I use much more than my fair share of the world's resources. In fact, I use 14.5 more acres than should be equitably allotted to me. That means that I am cutting into productive acres and resources of many other people. I knew my living was wasteful and compared to the world, on the extravagant side, but I guess I didn't realize that my living was costing other people (people in poverty) some of the world's resources. And the problem is, its not just me. The rest of America lives just as wastefully, if not more, than I do. The average ecological footprint of people in America is 24 acres per person. Thats 19.5 more than we all deserve! Is it really fair that Americans use 5 times more than their fair share of the world's resources? Absolutely not! But the wasteful and carefree manner that most Americans are accustomed to living is so embedded in our culture and way of living that it is very hard for us to realize it and even harder for us to change it. But something really needs to be done. We are consuming the world's resources and damaging the environment in astronomical amounts at great rates. This creates a problem for the world that we aren't owning up to. Our lifestyles have consequences, and the amounts that we consume should definitely bring significant responsibility to our country to address these consequences. The amount of food we eat puts a lot of strain on productive farmland, the amount of CO2 we release has probably contributed significantly to Global Warming and the amount of "stuff" we consume uses up the world's resources at an unsustainable rate. Yet, instead of taking responsibility for its actions, the U.S. tends to try to back out of the responsibility. Unless we can come up with 3.2 more planets, America really needs to own up to its overconsumption, try to fix the problems it has created and begin to make adjustments in the way we treat our environment.

What did I REALLY eat today?

Food Log for Friday, March 28^th

 

What I Ate:

*1 bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and skim milk

*half a turkey sandwich on wheat bread, corn, carrot sticks, French fries, strawberries, water

*chicken fettuccini alfredo and bread with olive oil from Spageddies, water

*kit-kat bar

*iced vanilla mocha

*McDonald’s French fries and McFlurry

 

So, I ate a couple healthy meals and pretty much ruined a good day of eating with unhealthy late night snacks. I probably ate some food that was genetically modified- I ate corn for lunch and I also ate strawberries that were pretty big, so they were likely to have been GMO. Even the Honey Nut Cheerio cereal probably contained GMO products (it contains modified corn starch). It’s really pretty hard to tell exactly what you are eating or where it came from when you’re eating dining hall food all the time, and the same goes for when you go out to a restaurant. I’m not sure what the farthest distance a food had to travel to get to me, but the strawberries probably came from some place warm since I think they are out of season. The closest thing was probably the corn, because we all know that comes from Indiana! Yes, I did unfortunately eat fast food, which is not a usual habit, but sometimes it just sounds really good late at night! It’s kind of disturbing to think that you have absolutely no idea where the food you’re eating came from, what is in it and how it was made, when you are eating fast food. I also ate “slow food” on Friday night, at an Italian restaurant called Spageddies. I have a lot more faith in the quality of this food than fast food, but you still don’t know if the food contains GMOs or whatnot. 

Spring Break~

So, I guess my spring break wasn't really all that exciting this year. I didn't go anywhere-no Florida/Mexico/anywhere warm trips for me. Just good 'ole Indiana. haha. But you know what, going home wasn't that bad. Since I wasn't expecting or planning on going anywhere, it didn't really upset me that much that I wasn't on the beach. Yeah, it would have been nice to enjoy 80 degree weather instead of the "warm" 55 degree days in Indiana, but going home and relaxing still felt like a nice and much-needed break. Although, I am kind of upset that the rest of my family is going on a sweet vacation to Disney World without me on their spring break in two weeks! :( So, anyway, I pretty much just hung out with friends and my family, watched movies and did lots of shopping. The first night of spring break was really fun because I celebrated one of my really good friend's 18th birthday. :) Then I chilled at home for a few days, and then I drove up to South Bend in the middle of the week to visit one of my good friends from Purdue. This is when the low point of my week occurred- I got a speeding ticket on the way to visit my friend. :( I was driving North on 31, a long 3 hour drive, and trying to make good time, I was going 80 in a 60. It just so happened that there are a lot of cops on that road, unfortunetely. And this cop was a jerk! I have a perfect driving record (but not because of perfect drivng lol), I've never even been pulled over before, so you'd think he'd give me a warning or at least mark the ticket down a little, but no- he charged me with the full speed. (This is gonna cut into my bank account a little). So you would think that after getting charged with a $135 speeding ticket, I would be a little reluctant to spend money. On the contrary, I used shopping as therapy. :) We did some shopping up in the South Bend area, including an outlet mall where I got some amazing deals! :) Then, she came home with me, and we did some shopping in Indianapolis. So, overall, besides the ticket, it was a pretty good spring break.