I'm taking a sustainable business practices class this semester. This is a class to actively engage in thinking of ways that businesses can become more economically sustainable while being economically profitable. For example, if a company were to redesign its packaging to reduce material waste and decrease the size of the package, it would allow for more products to be shipped in the same area with less material usage. This saves costs by reducing material usage and shipping costs.
On the first day of class my professor informed us that we would need to keep a personal journal of our own efforts to actively reduce our impact on the earth. My professor wants us to not only think of what we can do but actually walk the walk to reduce our own carbon footprints. He recommended the following websites for help calculating our current footprints on the earth. Most of these websites offer helpful tips to get you started right away. I've listed them here because they are interesting.
http://www.ecologicalfootprint.org/ www.globalcool.org/myco2/
Buy Less Crap http://www.buylesscrap.org/
The PB&J Campaign http://www.pbjcampaign.org/
We Are What We Do www.wearewhatwedo.org/index.php; this site has an action tracker that you can participate in
personal footprint calculator at the New American Dream Website, www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=calculator
carbon footprint calculator at conservation international, www.conservation.org/act/live_green/carboncalc/Pages/default.aspx?gclid=COS7uKrOi5QCFQZinAodUFc3Wg
setting up a nag, (like good old mother earth : ) http://www.thenag.net/
My results using http://www.ecologicalfootprint.org/:
Really? 3.92 Earths to sustain my current lifestyle.
I took this class because I knew it was going to stretch me and get me out of my comfort zone. I'm not a "green" thinker. I hardly recycle and after the first day of class, I realized that I do waste a ton of things and I could reduce my impact greatly. This journal has already gotten me to actively look at areas of my life where I am wasting more and not reducing enough. My mindset now is more of that of a backpacker leaving a campsite. There is the old adage: "Leave a campsite better than they way you found it." I will approach this journal project in the same way. How can I leave the areas I impact better than how I found it?
1 comment:
Hey Steve,
Great post. In the day to day routine, it's hard to step back and actually realize how our action affect the world around us. You don't have to be a "green" person to help. Ithink every bit from every one helps. so kudos to you for realizing you can do something and taking action.
I tought you might be interested in a TripAdvisor campaign to give a million dollars to organization like conservation international. If you like the work that they do please got to http://www.tripadvisor.com/Causes-CI?m=11504 and vote for them so they can get some cash. Please free to spread the word.
Post a Comment