Footprint evaluation: final take!

It is time to review the goals I had decided to achieve during the quarter. Here's the list again:

1. walk to and from class everyday

2. eat more locally grown food

3. unplug electric devices I don't use

4. switch off useless lights

5. stop using the dryer for my clothes

1. As i mentioned earlier in the quarter, I gave up the part 'walking to class' pretty early, because I just could not be on time in class. I feel like I haven't done too bad on the 'walking home' part though, I'd say I walked home at least 70% of the time. The weather has not really helped motivation, thanks Bellingham spring!

2. I have intentionnally bought a lot of local food and been to the Famer's Market almost every saturday. I eat a lot of vegetables and generally cook at least once a day, so it was nice to eat fresh food!! Although it probably hurt my wallet a little bit more than expected, I guess it was worth the investment.

3. I also unplugged my devices most of the time, but since I do not really know how much money I spent on power every month, the improvement probably does not really reflect in my ecological footprint.

4. I tried really hard to switch off lights in my apartment when no one was in the rooms, but my 3 roommates did not really try to do it although i did talk to them a few times about it

5. Not using the dryer was pretty easy, since I have been doing it in the beginning, because I was scared all my clothes would shrink haha I definitely stopped using the dryer! Although I have no idea how it reflects on my

I started out with 3.3 planets, which was already small compared to other people in the class. I think that most of it was due to the fact that I flew a lot here and that I also accounted for my flights to come here and get home. As I did my reevaluation I ended up with 3 planets. I guess the plane trips did it all, as well as me not really knowing how much I spend on gas and electricity, since I live in Birnam Wood and do not directly pay the bills.

This is it, the end of the journey towards a more sustainable life. I must say it has been rather challenging. Some of my goals I have achieved, some others I had to review because they were impossible for me to realize. I have tried very hard to not take the easy way and consciously be more sustainable. I think that the measures I decided to take are not really easy to reflect on the footprint, and the plane has been the main reason why my footprint has not really decreased. I think I will keep most of the resolution for the next years, although the entire system is different in Switzerland, where most of the buses for example are powered with electricity and not power.