Answer and Submit the second 5 entries as a pdf by 5/13/2024.
Week 6: Track your beauty impact – deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, other hair products, soap, shaving cream, lotions, make up… all of these things generally come in single use plastic that isn’t recycled or recyclable. They also often contain toxic ingredients, environmentally destructively sourced ingredients like palm oil, and other problematic components. Pay attention to your products. What is in them? Are they biodegradable? Is the packaging biodegradable? Are there alternatives that have less waste (consider shampoo and conditioner bars, shave bars, and other alternatives that reduce your plastic consumption, here is more info on zero waste beauty brands). Don’t throw out anything you’ve already bought, use it, but consider replacing it when it is done with a more sustainable option. Write a reflection in response to these questions and issues and your thoughts and plans for the future.
Week 7 option 1: If you menstruate, track the impact of your period products – “The Huffington Post calculates that the 70 percent of women who use tampons go through about twenty per menstrual cycle. Women have an average of 456 periods in their life, which translates to 9,120 tampons used. At an average price of seven dollars for a box of 36 tampons, the total amount women spend on tampons is approximately $1,773.33. ” You can save that space in landfills and money in your pocket by switching to reusable menstrual materials. How many disposable products do you use each period? Do that calculation for yourself to see what you would save your whole life by switching. Check out this article for options and more information. Read up on how you can reduce and reflect on your willingness or hesitation. I switched years ago and can’t even imagine buying that crap anymore. 🙂
Week 7 option 2: If you don’t menstruate: track your toilet paper use. Where is your toilet paper from? Can you find out? Are toxins involved in the production? Is it made from trees, bamboo, recycled paper, or something else? How much do you use? How much do most Americans use? Do some googling. I found this remarkable toilet paper calculator, check it out. Are there alternatives? Can you use less each time? Would you consider using a bidet or toilet cloths? Why or why not? TP is one of those things we use thoughtlessly, but has a huge impact. One site estimated that the average American uses 11,155 rolls of toilet paper in a lifetime, the equivalent of ~8 trees. Do you care? Are you interested in reducing that? How?
Week 8: Track your carbon footprint – many things that we do produce excess carbon dioxide. Your carbon footprint is the cumulative assessment of how your activities, from eating to driving, to charging your phone and being warm in the winter, contribute to your overall carbon footprint. Try at least two of the following carbon footprint calculators: WWF, Carbon Footprint, or this Terrpass footprint calculator (or another one of your choice!) to assess your own carbon footprint. Reflect on what you discover, compare and contrast what you liked or didn’t like about them, and what you learned. What are ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint?
Note: it is important to note that the “Carbon Footprint” concept was conceived and popularized by oil companies in an effort to put the attention of individuals to make change, not corporations or fossil fuel companies. Read more here – “Big Oil Coined Carbon Footprints to Blame us for Their Greed – Keep them on the hook”. Collective action addressing the harms of the fossil fuel industry remains critically important.
Week 9: Track your ecological footprint – Use this Ecological Footprint Calculator to estimate your whole Ecological Footprint. This calculator attempts to incorporate more than just your carbon footprint, including your impact on ecosystems more broadly. Try it, share, reflect. How does delving into your personal impact feel? How can we turn feelings of guilt into motivation? What are some ways that you can and will work to reduce your ecological footprint?
Week 10: Reflect on your tracking and journaling this semester. What have you learned? What have you changed? What will you keep working on changing to be more sustainable? How do you feel about collective action, climate activism, and more systematic ways of reaching for change?
