Singapore Footprint
U.S. FootprintI did the test twice because I was curious how my lifestyle in Singapore would compare to the one in the U.S. The first box is the Singapore result, while the second is for the U.S. I was a little surprised by the result. It would take about a half a planet more in Singapore than in the U.S. I was surprised because I drive a lot more in the U.S., we have a house and rather than living in an apartment style building. After playing around with the various pieces of the quiz, I found that the one contributors is air travel. Since it took 20+ hours in the air to get to Singapore, add to that the return trip and the 13ish flights I'll have taken while here, it raises my footprint considerably. Normally I would fly A LOT less. If I change that factor, Singapore living becomes better by roughly half a planet.
Areas I could improve:
Areas I could improve:
- Reduce animal product consumption. A large part of my footprint comes from the food I eat. In the U.S. eating local isn't much of a problem, as I grew up on a farm and we raise our own meat, vegetables, and some of our fruit. Because meat is readily available, I've become accustomed to eating a lot of it. This is an area I could realistically scale back.
- The packaging idea is a good one, as those foods tend to be more unhealthy anyway. That would force me to be less lazy in food preparation. Small improvement is possible, but a big change probably isn't realistic due to my cooking skills and time constraints.
- Don't see the solar panel thing happening any time soon. Way too big of an initial investment.
- I don't own appliances, nor do I pay for the electricity; therefore I'm a little ignorant in this category. Generally, in the U.S. anyway, landlords provide pretty efficient models because it saves them money. Not sure how I would improve this other than the way I use them, but that's pretty efficient already. Only do laundry with full loads, etc.
- The public transport suggestion is interesting. It's not mentioned in the suggestions for the U.S. model. In Singapore, that's all I use, and honestly, I agree with Sabrina it seems to be all that's necessary. The U.S. is a different story. Due to the size of the country and the fact that other than the big cities, it's pretty sparsely populated making public transport difficult to implement. Therefore, there isn't any. In my university town, we have a bus system. Generally, I don't leave campus except on weekends. I walk or take an occasional bus on campus. Since traffic is never a problem, public transport takes 5 times as long, therefore I tend to drive. My friends and I usually car pool to places, so that's a positive I suppose.
- The flying thing is the big contributor, as I mentioned earlier. The Singapore exchange experience heavily impacts that. I don't see this sort of thing changing. If I get the chance to see and experience a new country or place...chances are I won't be thinking about the environment. Sabrina's idea of offsetting is good, although for me personally, I don't know that I'd ever follow through on it. I think I'd need some kind of incentive, to be honest.
you can look into getting a hybrid or electric car. Telsa Motors has pretty cool looking electric cars.
ReplyDeleteAnd ya i understand what you mean abt traveling around more during exchange...i think it's perfectly fine because you probably won't come back here for maybe 10 yrs? where have you been to already? care to share?
flights were my biggest downfall too. In the last year I flew to Europe and back, and then to africa and back, and even if you take those unusual trips out I still fly to northern australia 2-4 times a year. without that, I would also have saved half a planet.
ReplyDeleteHybrid car isn't a bad idea. Although kinda hard to justify buying any car at this point. Electric car technology still has a ways to go. Plus the electricity comes from somewhere.
ReplyDeletePlaces I've been include: Borneo, Jakarta, S. Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Bangkok. Upcoming trips: N. Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Laos (maybe).
Talking about hybrid cars, I do think that hybrid cars are environmentally friendly and all. But, I don't think hybrid cars will be a great success in Singapore. Think about the 1001 problems, in context of Singapore. For Singaporean drivers, these cars are cost ineffective at the moment, and a total pain (the gas for these hybrid cars can only be pumped at 1 petrol kiosk near Jurong Island). And I actually do hear hybrid car owners complaining that they are consuming much more petrol than they used to with normal cars. Again, we should question the effectiveness of technology in enhancing environmental sustainability (technology is a double-edged sword afterall). However, I am not pessimistic about what technology can do, and I personally do think that technology seems like the best way out for now.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I fly around pretty frequently for school-related activities as well. With that, I, again, wonder how universities actually do support environmental sustainability. It seems pretty oxy-moronic. Schools like NUS are advocating that students should be traveling around (e.g. for exchange) in order to promote a global learning college experience, but on the other hand, wants to promote environmental sustainability (when air travel is deemed as one of the most 'deadly' contributor of a high ecological footprint).
By the way, I just came back from Siem Reap, Cambodia recently! And I must say, that place is beautiful! I hope you had actually visited the Ang Kor sites! Just in case you were yearning for American food (like all my New Yorker friends who are currently in SG, Hongkong is very Americanized, and offers really Amercanized food. But if you're looking for an Asian/Chinese experience, you should skip Hongkong and do Taiwan =)