Earth Day 2021— Calculating our Carbon Footprints
By: UWCC
Happy Earth Day! Today, the UWCC team is calculating our own carbon footprint to hold ourselves accountable and discover the areas of our lives where there is room for improvement. If you want to complete the assessment, you can find it here.
Lucy
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my result because I had expected my number to be higher. I’ve made many changes throughout university (e.g. choosing to walk over driving, eating less meat, etc.) to try to be more sustainable and it’s nice to see that my effort has paid off. 😃 Although this number will probably increase after the pandemic, it will motivate me to continue my transition into a more sustainable lifestyle!
Fiona
I was pretty surprised by the results I got from the quiz. I wouldn’t consider myself a big spender or someone that own a lot of stuff, so seeing that score was pretty shocking. On top of that, with school being online and the pandemic in full swing, I was not expecting my score to remain that high. This indicates that it would’ve been much worse if everything was normal. 😮😮 As I’m reflecting on my behaviour, I’ve come to accept that there a some things that would be hard to change, such as the type of home I’m residing in (I’m living at home at the moment!), the amount of people I’m living with, and so on. BUT there are still some aspects of my lifestyle that I hope to change. This includes buying more locally, eating more meatless meals, and being conscious of the stuff I buy (ex: packaging). I hope that by implementing these techniques, I can reduce my footprint and live more sustainably! I totally recommend that everyone gives the quiz a go! 💕
Ariana
*Sigh*. I was expecting a much lower number 😿. I think it’s important to remember that sometimes, there are factors that you cannot control that will affect your carbon footprint. For example, if you live in a residence/apartment building, you can’t control if your electricity comes from a renewable energy source. However, there are a ton of other actions that you can take to reduce your footprint. Personally, I know I can do a whole lot more and I am constantly working on being more sustainable. Yay for continuous learning and improvement!
Redmond
I want to say I have a fairly good carbon footprint, but I also want to emphasize that it is something I have been working on for a long time now. And it is still something I struggle with at times. Over the years its taken a lot of exploration, experimentation, and education. And there’s still a lot for me to improve on. So if you have a higher carbon footprint than you would like, try not to get discouraged and instead use it as motivation. Sustainability is a playground with options galore. Find what works best for you and just keep trying!
Then hug a tree, cause it’s Earth Day 🌎 🙌🌳😝
