Something old, something new, something borrowed... something green!

Today I started a seminar on Social Responsibility at my university... funny fact: the woman that is presenting the seminar opened the class with the video I shared with you in my Limits to Growth post, which was one of the very first ones here at The Integrated Challenge.

Anyway, we discussed some basic concepts like which areas are normally taken into consideration for CSR practices, and of course the environmental impact of companies was one of the mentioned. But companies are not the only actors in society: we as individuals and consumers also influence the changes in the environment depending on our habits. So she told us about a website that calculates our impact on the envirnonment based on the way we live, and that divides the famous footprint into four categories:

• Carbon emissions, which is related to the means of transport we use, how energy efficient the appliances at our houses are, and our energy-saving habits.
• Food, which basically has to do with how local the food we buy is (besides having a positive social impact, consuming goods that are grown or produced near your community eliminates transport), with the amount of packaging involved... and believe it or not, with how often we eat meat. The exact number depends on the source, but between 20% and 25% of greenhouse gas emissions is associated with the cows that become steaks!
• Goods and services, covering usage and recycling habits of the stuff we're surrounded by.
• Housing, for aspects like thermal insulation, building and furniture materials, eco-friendlyness of cleaning products, and water saving devices.

According to your answers, the quiz estimates the amount of land and ocean area required to sustain your consumption patterns and absorb your wastes on an annual basis. After giving the results, the site provides some tips for reducing the impact for all four categories. I checked it out and decided to "borrow" the URL and share it with you; if you have some time you can take the quiz as well and tell the rest of us about your results or thoughts regarding the questions asked, the info presented or any related issue. You can find it by going to

http://www.myfootprint.org/

I hope you learn and have fun!