I have recently completed “The Happy Planet Index” survey, which is like no other survey that I have completed before. This survey appears to take into account several factors such as happiness, environmental impact, and overall well-being. I think that I scored pretty well overall, but the survey definitely made me think about how I can possibly reduce my impact and better myself as a person.
I actually found the survey to be quite interesting because it really intertwines with some of the topics that we have discussed in my natural resources and society class. In that class, we have talked about the amount of resources that people typically use, and I think that this survey reaffirmed some of the ideas we discussed. It confirmed the fact that people in “developed” countries definitely use more than those who live in “developing” countries. It was actually a pleasant surprise to realize that my ecological footprint is only 2.77 global hectares, or 1.54 planets. Now, I know you may say, “What do you mean, only 1.54 planets? We only have one you know?” The fact of the matter is that people in “developed” countries have a fairly large ecological footprint (the survey even says that people in the UK have an average ecological footprint of about 5.4 global hectares). The fact that my ecological footprint is almost half of the UK average is encouraging, and tells me that I am doing something correctly.
Okay, okay, enough of the gloating already. The whole purpose of this survey was to make me cognizant of my lifestyle, therefore making it easy to see how and where I can improve. I think that this survey was accurate in the aspect that it showed communication as one of my weaknesses. I am open to the fact that I should improve my communication skills, which I have evidenced in my goal logs (one of my goals is to be more open to others as well as comfortable with myself). I would have to say that in my opinion, college is probably the hardest environment in which to establish good lines of communication. This is because it seems as though friendships were extremely easy and seamless to make in grade school. College seems to present the other end of the spectrum, because everybody already has their identity and knows who they are, which seems to present more of a challenge when it comes to communicating with others. So when it comes to communication, I think that the survey was pretty accurate.
Overall, the survey made me think about my lifestyle, which was a good thing, because nobody thinks about their lifestyle as they go through their daily life. I think that I live a fairly sustainable lifestyle for the most part, but at the same time, I realize that there is always room for improvement. Due to discussions in my natural resources class, I’ve known that those in “developed” countries automatically have a larger ecological footprint than those in “developing” countries, regardless of their efforts to (for lack of a better phrase) reduce, reuse, recycle. So the fact that my ecological footprint was higher than that of someone who lives in a “developing” country doesn’t make me rethink my lifestyle one bit, because I know that I do the best I can, and that’s all I can do. It does really make me think of how Americans compare to the rest of the world, and furthers my belief that the world really needs to change, and change needs to start now.
Talking about ecological footprints so much has made me curious as to the ecological footprints of certain nations. I found a list (even though it’s on Wikipedia) that shows the ecological footprints by country. I think it makes for a quick, but interesting reference that goes right along with the theme of the Happy Planet Index.
No comments:
Post a Comment