Footprint Update!

I reduced my ecological footprint by .3 earths!

And how did I do this you ask? Well, I first implemented my original goals of:

• Turning down my heat at night from around 68-70 degrees to about 62-64 degrees,
• Plugging my electronic devices into power strips and turning those off when they are not in use,
• and changing my eating/buying patterns to more organic, locally grown food and by dining out less.

Then implemented my new and revised goals of:

• Reducing my showers by 3 minutes, and
• Limiting the number of times I drive down to Seattle on the weekends (used to travel down south every other weekend, now I go maybe once a month)

*** New Goal for the rest of the quarter:

• Stop buying plastic water bottles and always remember to bring and use my re-fillable cup.

A Journey to Sustainability....Finally

Over the weekend, I read this article about how The North Face just now released their very first public sustainability report. It could be just me, but this came to a bit of a surprise because I just assumed that The North Face corporation had already implemented some sustainability practices in their company and with their products. The report they unveiled follows the GRI G3 Guidelines that we have mentioned in class and also mentions the areas in which they have fallen short, and lists their future goals in the upcoming years. 

It's a bit refreshing to see a sustainability report in progress that has actual quantified goals, after recently studying Walmart and their so-called eco-initiatives. For example, The North Face's use of recycled content garments increased 1% in the 2010-2011 period, but they plan to increase that number to total of 7% to 30% by 2015. 

A quote in the article that stood out for me was from the VP of Global Product. He states that, "Until this point it has been 'my sustainable is more sustainable than your sustainable'". He continues to say that it should be about conservation and the environment, and about deeply rooted corporate responsibility, not marketing positioning. I feel that a lot of companies and a good portion of people as well, believe that being "sustainable" and "going green" is the new trend right now and partake in that trend just to keep up with societies social conventions; as if they were associating how 'green' they are with their status. It's important to realize that our climate is changing and that it is measurable and we need to make our contributions to put our efforts together and change our behavior. 

The original article is shown below:
The North Face Unveils First Sustainability Report
The North Face 2011 Sustainability Report

One Dollar

I was reading up on some success stories from the Kiva foundation and other micro-finance organizations and was amazed at how these small loans can make such an astonishing impact on their struggling lives. These people aren't in poverty because of their lack of ambition or intelligence, but the deficiency of resources they have access to that myself takes for granted on a daily basis.  

Living on One is a documentary created by 2 college student buddies, along with their 2 filmmaker friends (Western Alumni's) who set off to to rural Guatemala and live on one dollar a day for two months. 

It amazes me how many people all over the world are sitting on stacks of money, with no value or purpose to them, when just a minuscule fraction of that can make such a difference in someones life. I read many success stories on how micro financing change these peoples' lives and how their business ventures lifted them out of poverty. 

When watching these videos, it made me really reflect on my life and solidified my thoughts on how lucky we are to have access to all the resources that we have. Shelter, water, food, electricity, and education are just a few resources I take advantage of daily. I think about how my life would be if I were to live on only $1 a day and I can't even picture it. I think it's time for me to start consuming less and live a more efficient lifestyle.