Ecological Footprint:

     The image below shows my ecological footprint as of 04/02/12 and states that it would require 4.3 earths to accommodate my current lifestyle. The categories that I could use improvement the most on according to the pie chart below are in services and shelter. Personally, I know I could use more improvement on decreasing my waste especially with processed foods, taking more public transportation, and decreasing my energy consumption.

(source: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/)

Things to improve:

1. Unplugging electronics when not in use (turning off power strip)
2. Turning off my computer when not in use
3. Buying more products with less packaging to decrease waste
4. Take public transportation more frequently (at least 2-3 times a week)
5. Buy more local food (go to Bellingham Farmer's Market)
6. -Only have one bag of trash every 2 weeks

     I would say that this ecological footprint quiz is fairly accurate and I plan on making steps to decrease my footprint overall. The smallest changes can make a huge impact on my ecological footprint. One thing I need to do is to set my computer to hibernate after a few minutes of not being in use. Typically I turn the monitor on when instead I should be turning it off. I am also going to try and turn off power strips and unplug electronics when not in use to decrease my electricity bill in addition to reducing my footprint. Since services is my highest category, I will try and reduce my water usage also by rinsing off dishes immediately after use to save time on doing dishes.
     Overall, it is fairly difficult to decrease the services category since a lot of that percentage is already allocated to us due to societal factors such as health care, entertainment, real estate, etc.

• Services (45%) 
• Shelter (22%)
• Food (14%)
• Goods (10%)
• Mobility (9%)

EDIT:
(New goals for this week 04/8-4/14)
*Only buy ONE plastic bottle beverage a week
- Eat meat only once a week (on-going this week)
*Take water bottle to class every day (no drink purchases at school)

I have done a much better job about turning my computer off when it is not in use, but I definitely could still be better on making sure that I turn off power strips. I did not get a chance to go to the Farmer's Market this weekend (I went home for Easter) but I will be there this weekend to sing with WWU's a'capella group so I have a good excuse to buy some produce while I'm down there.

04/20

I cut down my meat consumption to 2-3 times a week, which was definitely easier to accomplish. I will try to cut it down to once a week eventually, but for now I've cut down my consumption almost in half.
I've been really good about not buying plastic bottles. I've had the occasional latte (made with less plastic waste) but overall I haven't bought ANY plastic bottles this past week. Taking my water bottle to class has helped me cut back a LOT!