Personal Narrative: My Personal Development Plan

When starting this assignment I had no clue exactly what my ecological footprint was, I never really paid attention to what and ecological footprint was until this assignment. In order for me to figure out what my ecological footprint is I chose to take two quizzes in order to see if my answers all matched up. After taking both tests my results were all different but all stated that the way I am going about life in our habit is not so eco-friendly as I thought I was and I definitely need to make some changes.

Before taking the quiz, I had a mere idea of how I was helping or harming the environment. I knew about recycling, transportation, and some energy sources—but was not aware of many other behaviors. After going through these quizzes, I gained a better idea of my overall impact on the environment; I am now aware that my individual behaviors make a considerable footprint. Nonetheless, after taking the quiz the second time with modified answers, I realized that simple measures can go a long way. Taking the quiz twice made a huge impression, since I gained a new perspective of the significance of individual behaviors. Tweaking just a few behaviors during the quizzes substantially reduced my carbon footprint, which is an astounding discovery. The quizzes, overall, were helpful because they changed my thoughts on what I do, and made me question certain actions. I began asking myself “Do I really need to drive to all of these places?” and “Why don’t I recycle more?” and “How can I save

How will I help our environment? I will be partnering up with Karlie Ramirez, we have decided on the 21st of October to head up to Giant Rock, located in Lucerne Valley. Over the years mankind has polluted our air drastically, consequently we throw trash on the ground and in our oceans. At worst is air pollution. Exhaust fumes, Radiation spill or nuclear accidents It creates an adverse effect on the overall environment. We put fumes and gases in our air on a daily base and How does this affect our environment? As some of us have seen It kills wildlife and is currently putting a hole in our Ozone Layer. Karlie and I will be heading to pick up trash, approximately for about 5 hours. Before we can move forward, there are a few steps we will need to complete before the 23rd of September. Moving Forward to our first step, will need to speak to our parent about purchasing a few items. Such as, trash bags, gloves and water. Moving on to our Second step, discussing where we will be disposing of all trash we pick up. When you make a point of doing everything you can to help your environment by recycling, your actions make you part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Our third step, talk to our parents about transportation and Location in Giant Rock. After these steps, Karlie and I will be ready to help our earth function and breathe, on the 21st of October. (Here we come Giant Rock!) Everyday items such as soda cans and plastic bottles can be deadly for unsuspecting wildlife.

Everyone in my generation has probably grown up seeing ads or watching videos about pollution or about the environment in general, so much, to the point that these constant reminders about protecting our planet are already part of the norm for us. While these reminders have had positive effects, like how more and more people have become informed of the Earth’s condition, many people, myself included, still remain indifferent to the threats our environment faces. I won’t lie; I’m no saint or crusader for the cause, but every now and then certain videos or articles strike a chord within me and makes me reflect on the way how I’ve been living affects the environment. One such article was the one we read last week in class, “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert in the Upfront magazine.

times and the present day, we must change the way we interact with our environment. Whether

Along with my love for the environment came a pain in watching it suffer around the world as human development encroached onto once untouched regions. I felt powerless and desperate to somehow use my individual influence, no matter how small, to slow the damage to the planet and lessen the impact a growing population was having as we dive deeper for resources.

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children 's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” (Theodore Roosevelt) My environmental ethic is to improve the environment to sustain living on earth. People in the world today don’t really take into effect the way they hurt the environment. People don’t care where they throw their garbage or burn chemicals that are unhealthy, yet it could hinder your health ultimately. The earth is a wonderful and beautiful place. People have to take care of it for the next generation to come, or how will people survive on a planet that has toxic environment. Let me explain: what experiences I have had, Persistent challenges, education, religious beliefs or influences that shaped my world today.

From a young age, athletics were a very important part of my life and soccer was my passion. Whether it was playing on boy’s teams and summer leagues, or refereeing tournaments and coaching soccer camps, I was constantly trying to improve my game. When I came to college, I was excited to have the opportunity to continue playing soccer. Unfortunately, I received several concussions and I had some complications that ultimately forced me to stop playing soccer after my sophomore year. At first I was distraught, all of my personal goals were gone and I was no longer working with my teammates toward the goals we set together. However, I realized I needed to find new interests and new objectives to work towards during the rest of my time in college.

Just like in “the Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi, people have a single story that helping the environment is about doing big changes in our lives, and the lives of others by donating money, participating in cleaning campaigns, or buying that super expensive electric car in order to avoid burning fossil fuels. Although is very true that most of what we heard of environmental protection usually comes through public media such as news, newspapers, internet, etc. that only showcase the big things, we tend to believe that if we do not provide a huge amount of our effort, then we are not helping. The truth is that we can all help the environment by performing the simplest tasks a little different by changing the type of energy you use, and the products you buy. In the interview “Buying Green Products Will Improve the Environment” author Jenny Shank. This interview sows how perfectly someone can protect the environment without stop being lazy. In this interview, green entrepreneur Josh Dorfman is asked: what was the laziest thing he did in order to protect the environment to which he answers: “I switched over to 100% wind power for my apartment by checking a few boxes and making a few mouse clicks on the website of my power utility” (Shank) although he also explains that he now has to pay $6 extra in energy, he know feels better knowing that all he had to in order to protect the environment was to click a few times. The same thing can be applied to buying green

“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” In this report, I will outlay four different methods by which I can reduce my ecological footprint. The point could certainly be argued that one person will never make a difference, that my footprint is just too insignificant to worry about. However, just as each beach is made up of single, seemingly insignificant grains of sand, this world is made up of billions of “single” people. Working all together, a giant leap will be achieved. I will explain how changing my habits in the ways that I charge my electronics, shop, deal with waste and drive will decrease my ecological footprint.

Rarely do we stop and take into account our living habits, and how they may impact the environment. After calculating my own ecological footprint, I learned that if everyone lived like me, it would take 5.1 Planet Earths to provide enough resources. Throughout the process, I learned the breakdown of my footprint, and ways that I could hopefully reduce my ecological impact in the future.

I think that I have grown as a student and a person as a whole. Emotionally I have matured so that I don't take everything so serious, I don't get upset over things I don't need too. I have become more responsible for example I take care of my items and do my homework. I have more knowledge now than ever before, this knowledge has helped shaped me to who I am. Over all I have grown greatly throughout the years.

Beginning on October 20, I started carefully assessing my daily routine and documenting my activities in regards to my production of solid waste, carbon emissions, and use of fresh water. During those two weeks, I collected data and examined how I could help reduce my overall ecological footprint and use of environmental resources through propositions, research, and online calculations.

Select an aspect of your day-to-day existence that has environmental consequences. Describe the environmental consequences, and briefly discuss more sustainable alternatives.

In the current world of immense technology, increasing population and flourishing economic, investigations have shown that the global economy is outgrowing the earth’s ecosystem. Environmental problems are some of the most vital issues which human being, especially environmentalists, pay significant attention to. As individuals, what we are able to do is to adopt some small but significant changes to reduce our ecological footprints, thus making little but crucial contributions to our living environment. In the past half of the month, I changed my lifestyle and tried two changes to improve the quality of our ecosystem.