Carbon Footprint Assignment

Gabrielle Fernandez
November 11, 2022

The carbon footprint exercise was an enlightening experience not necessarily from the
results, but in the reflection on the amounts used in each category. Utilizing the carbon footprint
calculator to understand the amount of energy used per year, I reflected on usage in the
categories of home, flights, car, motorbike, bus & rail, and secondary from a household
perspective. It is important to note that I am confident in the case of this exercise I
underestimated usage in some categories, and I also could not put in as many entries as needed. I
believe as a household we use more energy than reported, but when split between my husband
and I the total would come out to be about average.
When I look at this exercise, I believe there are a few areas that are inaccurate. First is
our footprint from airfare. This is the category that I maxed out in entries as there was a limit of
3. In the content of food, I do think the grocery estimate was somewhat accurate, but the eating
out number felt a bit off mainly because when we go out to eat, we tend to indulge in a pricier
fair than normal but more infrequently. I’m not sure how this averages out from eating out at a
lower cost but more often. When it came to cost on our car this was also a bit tricky to figure out
because we have spent a bit of time in cars when traveling, but that wasn’t accounted for. Lastly,
I’m not entirely sure our energy usage when it came to purchases on items that are delivered.
With such a large shift towards buying online, we have a lot delivered by Amazon which I’m
sure only inflates our energy usage when it comes to purchasing habits.
Reflecting on the exercise I realized that our travel contributes greatly to our carbon
footprint, but also not as much as I expected. Counting the number of flights my husband and I
took this year, we totaled to 22 which was shocking to reflect on. Our total in this category was
almost equal to the amount we consumed in food. In some ways, I thought this could potentially
be more, but as a reflect on what it takes to get food to the table, there are many steps along the
way. Another area that was shocking from a result standpoint was the clothing and textile
category. I did not realize the carbon footprint clothes has and that was another category that
almost matched our food usage.
Looking towards the future and I want to be realistic about our habits and what can be
changed. I honestly do not believe our volume in airfare will change as our family and friends
are so spread out and they are a key priority in our life. However, when I look at our habits from
a consumption standpoint, I do believe we can make valuable changes in this category. In this
exercise I reflected on our food usage and the dollar amount we spend per year in this category.
When I look at our amount of waste as a household there is more than needed. Similarly,
purchases from Amazon often come because of poor planning when out at a store and the need
for something conveniently. I believe with careful planning of what we need in the household
and what our meals will look like for the week can help cut down on a lot of waste we
experience.
When I reflect on some of the changes we have adopted in our household, I can see that
we have been more mindful in certain ways that help our footprint. We switched this year to
using reusable paper towels which has cut down on our use of disposable towels incredible.
When it comes to clothing, we are really cognizant about overbuying and I think we experienced
a year where clothes worn for a long time needed replacing. If a piece didn’t fit in that category,
we always donate it which I hope helps offset our footprint. I also personally used a rental
service for wedding attire this year which has its emission when it comes to delivery, but is used
by many instead of sitting in a closet.