Environmental Question #40 [My Carbon Footprint]

Do you have a low carbon footprint yourself?

Courtesy of Reddit user u/KingRBPII


Q: Do you have a low carbon footprint yourself?

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A: My carbon footprint is enormous, just like every other person in the US. Most of a person's carbon footprint isn't due to the choices they make, it's due to where they live. I drink tap water that is pumped using electricity from a fossil fuel power plant, in my apartment that is heated by natural gas. These aren't choices I could avoid, because my area doesn't produce a significant amount of renewable energy and I don't own my home, so I can't install any solar panels myself. The carbon footprints of people in developing countries are much lower than for people in the US, because they just consume less. Their homes aren't as toasty warm as mine, they eat less rich food that hasn't been shipped from the other side of the world, and they don't have access to all of the luxury goods that I buy without a thought.

As for how my carbon footprint compares to other Americans, I'm not sure. I try to avoid buying plastic products when I can afford to, I eat a mostly vegetarian diet (not completely though, I still love a cheeseburger as a treat), I take public transit whenever I can. However, lots of my friends have gotten married over the past few years, so I've driven hundreds of miles and flown thousands of miles to attend those weddings. I know that the little things I do to reduce my carbon footprint barely make a dent in it, but it makes me feel better to try a little anyway.

The problem with our current system is that joyful experiences like keeping your home a comfortable temperature and traveling to see distant relatives inherently involve massive amounts of pollution, but they don't need to. If our society invested in renewable energy, electric public transit, and regenerative food systems, we would be able to live our lives just as comfortably without emitting any carbon at all. This isn't a problem that can be solved by small individual changes, it requires collective effort to make the big changes that really make a difference, and in the meantime I'm going to savor my occasional treat cheeseburger while clamoring as loud as I can to create a society that keeps us and our world healthy.