NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
Ecological Footprint
Everyone has desire, and it will never get satisfied. Because of our desire, we use all the resources we can reach or find to produce better product and develop the technology to make our life better and easier. Ecologists have warned us so many times, every action has its consequences. One day all the resources on the planet will deplete, if we keep on using the resource like this and speed up every year. We all understand the consequences but majority of us refuse to take a step to stop or slow down what is happening just simply because most of us are selfish and don’t want to give up our good life to make the future generations have a better life.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
In order to understand that how our lifestyles can impact the environment differently. We can calculate our ecological footprint by looking at the result of our ecological footprint we can understand that which parts of our lifestyle should be change to help establish sustainable living.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
Ecological footprint accounts for the flows of energy and matter and from any defined economy and coverts these into the corresponding land/water area required for nature to support these flows. In other wards, the ecological footprint can estimate the amount of resources that necessary to support a human consumption. The ecological footprint can be allocated to different end-use categories (food, shelter, mobility, goods and services), and land types (forest, cropland, energy, fish and grazing land).
Different country, different city, different community, different family and different person has different ecological footprint, depends on people’s lifestyle. For examples, most of the students and salary man usually have meals at the restaurants or from take out and use drying machinery after washing their cloths since they have more busy life style. And the normal family might just go to the market to get some organic ingredients, cook their own meal in the house and sun dry their cloths after washing. Therefore, difference has appears. Since the family cook by themselves without driving to a restaurant and have people cook for them and dry their cloths in the sun without wasting more energy, they probably would have more sustainable living.
In the peer reviewed article, “Methodology for Determining the Ecological Footprint of the Construction of Residential Buildings in Andalusia (Spain)” written by Madelyn Marrero’s group, they says construction activity is now a major consumer of natural resources. As a general rule, resource consumption has been evaluated through methodologies related to Life Cycle Analysis. This research is proposed to integrate the Ecological Footprint indicator into the building sector: to observe the difficulties and the benefits it can generate relative to other indicators. In this case of study, they show us in figures and data in the researches. By adapted the knowledge of ecological footprint to the residential sector, analyzing the construction of buildings, and using a methodology applies the ecological footprint indicator to resources used and to waste generated in the construction of building, a type of building can be develop in Andalusia (Spain) with a final result 0.384 gha/year/m2, which is very low and good for a sustainable living.
To further understand the details of ecological footprint and how can I change my lifestyle to have more sustainable living, I calculate my own ecological footprint that I am currently contributing according to my lifestyle. My ecological footprint is 69.29 gha, which is lower than the country average (99.77gha). It is still bad because if everyone lived the same life style as me, unfortunately we would need 4.41 earths to supports us for a sustainable living. My carbon footprint is 21.91 gha, which is little bit more than half of the country average. My food footprint sadly is 30.96 gha, which is higher than the country average. This tells me that I should try to cook by myself instead of go to restaurant or ordering take out. My housing footprint is 3.62 gha, which is very low it’s almost ¼ of the country average. I think is because I live in dorm right now and I had good saving habits for energies. My good and services footprint is 12.8 gha, and its half of the country average again.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
Overall, according to the results of my ecological footprint. My lifestyle is still need some changes so I can improve and have a sustainable living. First, I can cook by myself or take turn with my friends instead of go to restaurants or ordering take out. Try to take public transportation’s instead
of carpool and try biking or skateboarding instead of busing. Second, I should try my clothes in sun if is possible and wash all my clothes until is full. Third, I should turn off my computer and unplug all the electronic devices when I am not using them.
However, base on my understanding of ecological footprint. It relates with a lots things, such as farming, food production, energy consumption, building construction, etc. Almost everything is related to the ecological footprint and that’s why everyone should calculate his/her own ecological footprint and make changes due to the results. So we can approach a sustainable living and slow down the speed how we using our resources and decrease the damage we do to the environment.
One question that troubles the world’s environment-sensitive populace is what is their ecological footprint is having on the environment. Awareness on how much the world’s population impacts on the environment remains minimal as over the years, humans have opted for processes that strain the planet’s resources. This has had tremendous negative implications to the environment. Pollution, depletion of fundamental natural resources and diminishing plant and animal biodiversity are all becoming more and more evident (Collins, et al, 2008). Consequently, I have come to question myself of how my presence especially as an ecological being impact on the environment. Two aspects of my life reveal a lot on my contribution towards an unsustainable environment. These aspects include consumption and profession.
Consumption is significantly pertinent to my ecological footprint as this is evident in my daily routines. The extent that I consume earth’s resources as an individual largely affects the environment around me. Most of my daily endeavors have a negative impact on the planet. For instance, I happen to purchase groceries which are packaged in plastic bags so often that I imagined what would happen if everyone packaged their groceries in paper bags as opposed to plastic bags. Ideally, the number of trees cut down would significantly reduce and this would in turn contribute towards sustaining the planet’s resources. Moreover, waste materials from of plastic bags are harmful to the environment on so many levels. Taking in to account the immense number of plastic bags used on a daily basis, a significant amount of waste from these plastic bags is created. The reality is this waste is usually disposed off in ways that harm the environment.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
My personal association with the environment is proof enough that human involvement towards global warming is certain. Global warming, a major concern in the modern world, is primarily induced my individual actions as much as it is stimulated by large scale parties such as factories and other production entities. For instance, being a woman, normal morning habits entail use of hairsprays, spraying of deodorants among other aerosols. Further, use of shaving cream and application of many other cleaning agents is common with many people. These habits have become not just part of my daily schedule but also part of many other peoples’ daily routine. These household products that are used on a daily basis were thought to be environmentally friendly in the 1930s as they were considered non-toxic therefore safe to the environment. On the contrary, recent studies conducted after the 1970s indicate that everyday actions entailing use of these items significantly affect the environment (Morris & Parry, 2011). For starters, aerosols have the potential of causing damage to the atmosphere. Atmospheric concentration caused by release of various gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and halocarbons act as trapping agents of thermal energy resulting to a green house effect.
Green house effect causes global warming and over the past few decades, human activities that entail release of the mentioned gases have been drastically increasing (Collins, et al, 2008). On a personal note, I would imagine the extent of damage I have caused to the earth’s surface as unimaginable leave alone that caused by many other people whose morning routines are somewhat similar across the globe. Despite the many changes that have been made on the contents of everyday products such as aerosols and hairsprays, going by my ecological understanding, my application of such items considerably result to extensive damage to the environment.
Professionally, as an environmental woman, I can deductively acknowledge that human-induced global warming is a reality. Most human activities are backed by a section of wealthy individuals are interested in processes that translate to profits rather than safeguarding the environment (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2004).NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
This group of people has managed to convince more and more people into believing that human activities are not attributable to environmental degradation. On the contrary, human have always influenced the climate and the environment. An example is illustrated in my profession as a social worker. My company deals with production of numerous print documents such as brochures as well as electronic messages which become obsolete within a short time. Additionally, most electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones used by the company workers are left on at most times even when not in use therefore leading to mass wastage of limited resources. On average, the amount of paper and electricity wasted by our firm only can overtime put a significant amount of strain on the few forests and inadequate water resources available. Essentially, my professional background and my consumption behavior somewhat inter-relate. Both largely influence the ecological footprint I have on the planet. Thanks to my profession, I am more aware of the hazardous nature of human consumption behaviors and its impact on the environment. As an ecological human, I am therefore capable of transitioning my behaviors to a more ecologically aware standing. For instance, I can now see the importance of using paper bags in place of plastic bags. Additionally, I can now understand why it is important to use environmentally friendly personal effects as even use of aerosols and the like at a personal level also impacts on earth’s planet. Moreover, I am more informed on which processes within the firm I work for can be changed to avoid wastage of resources while at the same time, save the company on costs that should not be incurred.
A significant role of sustaining both the climate and the ecosystem going into the future is played by humans. My profession as an environmentalist has predominantly helped sustain the planet. For example, I am more aware of the effects of human activities on the environment. I am no longer in denial that earth’s climate as well as environment is downgraded by human activities. Consequently, I have transitioned to become more susceptible towards the environment. In addition, I am a strong proponent of the war against adverse economic implications on the planet’s resources so as to leave a mark in the fight towards sustaining the planet’s environment.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
Human induced environmental degradation is evident and awareness of human implications on the environment is non-reassuring. Many people still remain skeptic on human involvement towards environmental deprivation. A lot of awareness needs to be performed so as to sensitize more people about the issue. According to a study by George Mason University (2009), the media more specifically television, plays a minimal role in increasing environmental awareness. According to the report, television was found to be the least media platform that impacted on viewers’ knowledge concerning the issue of global warming and environmental dilapidation. Surprisingly, less common media platforms such as the print media and the internet were found to be more influential as compared to television in informing people of the true impact of carbon emissions to the atmosphere and its implications on global warming (Concordia University, 2009). Most people who do not have first-hand understanding of global warming learn of the hazards of human activities through the internet and newspapers. Public interest in this sphere of influence is merely influenced by watching television. This reality is shocking as one would expect watching television to have more impact on sensitizing people about the effects of human activities on the environment.
On a daily basis, millions of people watch television. Therefore, it would be more sensible if these numbers of viewers gained some form of concern of the environment. If people would become sensitized about human involvement in environmental degradation through television and subsequently get enlightened on ways of reducing their contribution in the issue, tremendous steps towards sustaining the planet would be made.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay
In my opinion, televisions can be used to increase peoples’ perceived knowledge of environmental degradation. This could be achieved through ensuring contents displayed on this platform positively highlight the situation on the ground. For example, in addition to serving as an entertainment tool, television sets can be used to perform educational functions. Reforms should be made to increase the effectiveness of this unexploited source of information as this would increase awareness which would in turn convince populations across the world to become ecological.
Undoubtedly, efforts towards sustaining the environment can only be feasible when many people come together and work towards ensuring the planet is conserved.NASC 1001 week 5 Assignment Essay