APES- Earth Day Network Footprint Calculator

http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.html

Name: Galilea Patricio

Prediction: How many planets (Earth) does it take to support your lifestyle?
Answer: 3-4 planets

Directions:

1) Make an Avatar of yourself

2) Answer using DETAILED answers to each lifestyle question

Questions:

1) How often do you eat animal based products?
I eat animal based products about twice a week.

Why do you think this affects your footprint? Explain.
I think that my consumption of animal based products affects my carbon footprint
because of the resourses used to grow or capture as well as transport the product to stores. For
example, cows are raised in large areas and are slaughtered in slaughterhouses which operate
on energy such as burning fossil fuel. Once the production is completed, the product need to
be transported by trucks to different locations.

2) How much of your food is processed, packaged and not locally grown?
About on third of the food I consume is processed or packaged.

Why do you think this affects your footprint? Explain.
The factories where food is processed and/or packaged requires copious amounts of
energy to power their machines. The transportation for these products also contributes to my
carbon footprint.

3) How much trash do you generate?
I generate less than the average because my packaged products are minimal and I use
items that are able to be used again.

What affects does this have on your footprint? Why?
The amount of trach I generate contributes to my carbon footprint because garbage is
taken to landfills or incinerated. If it is incinerated all the fumes of the garbage are released
into the atmoshpere.

4) Which housing type best describes your home?
The housing type that best decribes my home is a duplex.

Why would this make a difference in your impact?
The housing type determines the amount of space needed to build it and how much
material is going to be needed to make the housing. The bigger the space then more materials
need to be produced to make that house.

5) Do you have electricity in your home?
Yes, I do have eletricity in my home.

What are the environmental impacts of electricity? Explain.
The production of electricity can contribute to the pollution of our environment. The
consumption of electricity within a household contributes to its production which can be in
power plants.

6) How many people are in your home?
Including myself there are three people in total living in my household.


7) What is your house made of?
The whole structure of my house is made with concrete blocks and the inside has some
walls made of wood.

Which building material is the most energy efficient? Explain.
The most energy efficient builiding materials are those that are aquired locally can
require minimal production.

8) Does anyone of your homes electricity come from renewable sources? (SDGE= no)
No, my homes receives electricity from SDGE so it does not come from any renewable
sources.

9) How far do you travel by car each week?
I travel approximately less than 20 miles per week in a car.

Do you carpool or do anything to reduce your impact?
I take the school bus every morning and afternoon instead of being driven to school.

10) Do you ride a motorcycle?
No, I do not ride a motorcycle.

11) What is the gas mileage in your car/motorbike?
The gass mileage in my dads car, which is what we use as tronsportation has
approximately 15-20 miles per gallon..

12) How often do you drive with someone else?
I frequently drive with someone else.

13) How far do you travel by bus/train each week?
I travel approximately 35-40 miles on the school bus each week and 10-15 miles on
public transportation.

14) How many hours do you fly each year?
When I do fly, it is pproximately 2-4 hours of flight per year.
Fill in the following things below:

How many planets (Earth) are needed to
provide enough resources to support people
if everyone lived like you? Draw the Earths
Draw your ecological footprint breakdown:
(Color coordinate your graph)
It would take about 4.9 planets to provide
enough resources in order to support people
if everyone lived like me.

How many global acres would take to
support your lifestyle? Draw the diagram
below.
Go back and edit your footprint, and
explore scenarios to reduce your footprint
It would take about 21.8 global acres to
support my lifestyle.







EDI T your Footprint by making CHANGES to your lifestyle. List the changes you have
made to your lifestyle below and the impact it had on your ecological footprint. Show your
new results.


Changes Made:

1) I reduced the amount of packaged and processed products to more locally grown food.


2) I reduced my consumption of animal based products.


3) I reduced the amount of miles I drive per week and vacation in local places.



4) I reduced my consumption of paper products and purchase recycled items as much as I
can.


5) My energy sources derive from renewable energy.



I mpact on my Ecological Footprint: (Draw out NEW results based on changes made)




REFLECT on what you learned by doing this activity:
This activity gave me an idea of how much I am leaving behind as my carbon footprint. It
also gives me options as to what I can do to minimize my carbon footprint.