Until I took the carbon footprint, I never knew how much I was damaging the earth. The consuming lifestyle that I am living comes with a really big price tag for the rest of the world. On the carbon footprint it showed the bars as the total number of global acres that represent the amount of biologically productive space on Earth. The planet has 26.7 billion global acres of land and ocean. That is about 4.5 acres per person. My lifestyle showed over that amount, meaning my score will equal more than one Earth, and we know that can never happen.
What I have learned is that living more moderately in just a few areas of my life can have a huge impact. This idyllic world that we live in now could change quickly and radically depending on how a person answers to the questions in each lifestyle category. The food and drinks a person can consume is connected to more than just the land. Even shopping habits do not just end at the store. They have a ripple effect also. Where and how you live makes a big impact on the world as well. After I took the carbon footprint the 1st time I tried recycling and buying less. When I took it the second time I could see that it made a difference. It was very surprising how something so simple and small can have a big impact overall. When taking the carbon footprint quiz it is very important that you understand your score. The score received at the end of the quiz shows the consequences of your consumption. It tells you the number of earths it would take to sustain all the people on the planet if everyone lived like you. By changing a few things in my lifestyle I not only received a better score, I also gained a new way of living that really was not that different from how I lived before. (331)
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