This week I discovered my ecological footprint, and I have to say, it was pretty discouraging at first. According to the ecological footprint calculator, if everyone was like me, it would take 4.6 planets to provide enough resources. Also, on an individual basis, it’d take 10.58 acres to support myself with the needed resources. This calculation is based off of my apartment in Bellingham. I have always known that I am not the most environmentally conscious person, however, when I saw the exact number of acres it would take to support me, it did come as kind of a surprise on how much of an impact I have on the planet. It was also a little disappointing to know for a fact that I am significantly affecting the environment negatively. I am a marine …show more content…
A part of the reason for this disparity, could be due to the amount of electricity that we use to support all of our electronic devices. According the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. in 2013 used 4066 billion Kilowatt-hours, whereas, Thailand used 157 billion Kilowatt-hours (). This is probably due to how much electricity we use everyday to run our homes and our lives compared to Thailand and less developed countries who live more simply. Another reason for the disparity between countries could also be due to the amount of food we eat and throw away every day in the U.S. As Johnathan Bloom states, “As a nation, we grow and raise more than 590 billon pounds of food each year. And depending on whom you ask, we squander between a quarter and a half of all the food produced in the United States” (). In the U.S. we waste so much food that contributes to our landfills and also our ecological footprint. In less developed countries there is less to waste because there are less people, and often times because of the poverty, they grow their own food, whereas us in the U.S. we go to the nearest McDonald’s and eat half of our meal and throw it away. Society can significantly lower its ecological footprint by lowering energy use across the U.S. By paying attention to the appliances we buy as a society, and looking for energy star certified products this can significantly impact our ecological footprint. We also could invest more in solar power to power our homes and buildings. Another way on an individual level to decrease our societies ecological footprint is also to waste less food. By eating leftovers, and eating more local foods we can also reduce our ecological footprint and our landfills. Overall, everyone could change one thing about themselves to help decrease the U.S. ecological footprint, and by writing this