Spriiing Break!

Ah, the never-ending battle of saving money. That is my life as a college student. It seems that as quickly as I save it, it is spent again. Books, bills (...speaking of, rent is due tomorrow!), and those necessary vacation trips that will create memories for a lifetime. Okay, so maybe vacations aren't really necessary, but if I can't have fun now as a college student, when will I find the time later on in life?

I have a confession to make! I have bought a plane ticket to Hawaii. Yes, I can hear you. All those tons  of carbon spewing into the atmosphere for one Spring Break trip. In my quest for sustainability, did I consider how my desire to travel would effect my impact on the world? Honestly? Not at first.

I didn't even think about my "green ideals" when I decided to go with roommates to Hawaii for a week in March. But when I reached the end of my purchasing process, it asked me if I wanted offset the carbon I would produce by purchasing a little luggage tag that had the word "ECO" on it. While I don't exactly know how effective such a purchase could be, I decided to do it anyway. It was only an extra $7! I wonder now, though, if this is an example of green-washing or legitimate attempt at going green. Either way, I would have gone on this trip. Now I can feel a little bit better about it. As far as I can tell after some research, it's legit!

Confessions

I have been driving my car when unnecessary. After all my big talk about reducing my driving, I am guilty of driving to my night class and to any meetings that are after 6pm (free parking!). My only excuse is the cold and the dark. Once it is dark outside, I have found I don't like biking back to my apartment. (Neither does my mother, honestly.) It is also getting colder and I also don't like the cold. So there you have it, I am a wimpy and lazy environmentalist.

How should I fix this problem? Maybe I should make up for it by carpooling everywhere possible and employing driving techniques to improve my gas mileage.

Something interesting I learned about my balance in the ecosystem today is I am still pretty comparable to the average American. I used the Nature Conservancy CO2 emissions calculator and my estimated emissions are 11 tons of CO2 per year. The U.S. average is 27 and the world average is 5.5. While that is much better than the U.S. average, the details are what is interesting to me. Home energy accounts for 40.7% of my emissions (36.2% U.S.), food and diet is 31.5% (15.1% U.S.), driving and flying is 21.3% (44.3% U.S.) and recycling and waste is 6.5% (4.4% U.S.). I didn't realize how much of my food and diet were contributing to my impact. I'm not sure how to start buying local foods, however. For one thing, they are more expensive and all price decisions have to be agreed upon by my roommates. But I will have to do some research about local suppliers and see if they will supply throughout the winter.


As a sidenote, I am the 753,420,193 richest person in the world. I was expecting a ridiculously large number like that, but I was surprised because that puts me in the top 12.55% of people! Really puts things in perspective, huh? It was pointed out to me, though, that the issue with this site is that "richness" is relative. It is the purchasing power that is important, how much you can get for what you have. But it still makes me think twice about calling myself poor!

My daily commute

I have to say, I love my car. Not the strange kind of love that some people have, where they freak out if the body is scratched. I just simply like it. It is the first car I purchased on my own and it is the size of a boat. My 17-year-old Pontiac Bonneville has a nose about 30 feet long and could take on just about any whimpy car you can think of. I named it Maurice, or Mo for short.

Now, I don't drive an awful lot. I am a student after all. Any MSU student who thinks driving on to campus will save them time is either nuts or lives way off campus. But I do drive to work, to the store and to other various after-class activities. Oh, and sometimes I drive to my night class because parking is free and it is dark when the class ends at 9pm. I wouldn't say I am a driving lunatic, but I have to wonder, can I cut down my commuting time?  Google Maps tells me that it will take 30 minutes to bike from my apartment to my office. Now, I have inspected the route and half of it is without bike paths and crosswalks. I am pretty sure I am not a skilled enough biker to battle with SUVs and minivans on Hagadorn Road. So, biking to work is out. Plus, I don't actually have enough time scheduled in between classes and work to make the trek and still have time for lunch and a change of clothes.

But I am going to make a more concentrated effort to bike elsewhere. Despite the fact that is is getting cold out. I can't promise I will bike in the dead of winter. I value my life and limbs too much to risk biking around campus on ice while dodging pedestrians and other bikers. But I will try to bike everywhere feasible, I think. Even my 6pm class (parking is free after 6, so I am guilty of driving into campus for that class ...). I'll have to let you know how this new effort goes!