I also decided to track some of my activities, hoping to see where I could make some changes in my lifestyle. However, I found a lot of the categories that factor into my carbon and nitrogen footprints are things I am not sure I could change.
For instance, I always thought living on a college campus would reduce my carbon footprint. I walked everywhere, ate food that had already been made for me, and was constantly reminded to “be bright and turn off the lights.” Yet it seems to me that going to school across the country only added carbon to the atmosphere. I had never thought about how many hours a year a flew until I took this quiz. Middlebury is not a drive away for a lot of its students. Flights home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and summer breaks are standards for college students. Furthermore, spring breaks, feb breaks, and other random trips most certainly add to the pot. But what am I to do? I have to go home and eat my dad’s garlic mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving and there is no way I am missing Christmas. Oh and not to mention my swim team’s training trip to Florida after the holidays.
After taking the quiz I discovered that transportation was the primary reason for my Nitrogen footprint being almost double that of the country average. Furthermore, while goods and services and mobility were the highest part of my Carbon footprint, which includes transportation. Thus, I was forced to reconsider how my travel habits impacted the planet. I always thought of myself as using eco friendly transportation. I biked to work every day last summer, I walked to practice practically every day (even though I had a car on campus), and tend to walk places rather than drive. But I didn’t consider flying. While I thought traveling home and abroad contributed to my sense of awareness, I was really contributing to global warming. It is important to realize that even a Carbon conscious school contributes greenhouse gases by admitting non-New Englanders.
College campuses also impact the environment in ways that people may not consider. I thought eating at Proctor was pretty Carbon friendly. This may be somewhat true for meals that include local food, however after thinking about my eating habits at Middlebury I realize I was not sustainable at all. Food is wasted when cooked for a large amount of people. The food is already made, but it is hard to predict what people will eat and how much of it they will consume. I think back of the untouched Friday lunches at Saturday brunches and the same soup served for lunch and dinner. While Middlebury certainly attempted to mitigate food waste, it is nearly impossible. Because of food regulations and safety laws, dining services cannot leave foods out for long and can’t reserve them after a certain time has passed. Furthermore, people tend to take larger portions when large amounts of food are presented at meals. This results in excess food waste and even overeating, which leads to weight gain and also increased carbon footprints (as we learned in Fat City our excess weight results in higher transportation costs and fuel use). Thus, while we love our “free” food at Middlebury, perhaps an a la carte option would decrease waste and excess. This is probably easier for me to say as I am graduated and would not experience what it means to eat on an a la carte meal plan.