Week 1 Reflection
Before this week, I didn’t spend too much time throughout the day thinking about my carbon footprint. After watching Peter Kalmus’ video, I was a bit scared and worried. I was worried that I wasn’t clearly aware of the environmental impacts that my lifestyle had. I was scared that I may have to make drastic changes to my lifestyle as I attempt to be more carbon neutral. Some of the habits that I took for granted included: Showering twice a day, drinking canned beverages, traveling, and eating. I started to create these connections between some of my lifestyle habits and the impact it has on the environment. While I am still a little doubtful that in 10 years I will be living like Peter Kalmus, I am trying to change some small habits that I can easily control.
Saul Griffith’s talk was a bit different in that it focused more on some of the collective efforts we can take as a society; such as increasing the longevity of consumer products. This got me more thinking of big initiatives/projects that governments, companies, and society as a whole could pursue. For instance, I remembered the Cape Town Water Crisis where a collective effort was able to save the area from completely running out of water. While the effort was successful due to the fact that people were making changes in their individual lifestyles, it was also possible because the community and the government worked together towards a common goal. This got me thinking of the relationship between individual efforts and societal changes, but also whether either one was better than the other.
The conclusion I ended up with is that it is vital for people to be aware of their impacts at the individual level. This helps shape a mindset that is more sensitive to the daily habits that we take for granted. As more and more people become aware of these menial actions, it will also be easier for society as a whole to execute a collective effort. Furthermore, I believe that the government and corporations need to be more invested in creating policies and technologies that will help bring significant reductions to our carbon footprint. For instance, it is hard for some people to give up traveling by plane. This is something that companies can help by providing alternative methods of travel or more environmentally friendly planes. All in all, I believe that this system of compromise between individuals and institutions is the most effective and the most realistic method of tackling this challenge.
