Journal Reflection

            After tracking my day/ecological footprint I have discovered just how wasteful I truly am. For example, every morning I have a Starbucks coffee and just one cup pf coffee requires a cup, lid, cardboard jacket, and plastic stopper. Most of the time I throw it away in the garbage can in my classroom instead of carrying the empty cup to a recycling can. Also, I do take out/ Postmates often which requires a lot of packaging as well. I am a lot more aware of the impacts of my purchasing patterns and consumerism. In order to change this and become more sustainable and reduce my ecological footprint, I am going to use a reusable coffee mug every morning instead of wasting all the packaging and adding to the garbage issue in the world. Also, I am going to cook more or only shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s since they are more sustainable and environmentally as well as socially friendly than most grocery stores. That being said, I will also provide my own reusable bags instead of wasting the bags from the stores. Lastly, I will look for products that are larger in one jar/piece of packaging, rather than individually wrapped. For example, apple sauce is available in one big jar or the same amount of apple sauce just packaged all separately in smaller portions. By choosing to purchase the larger jar, I will be cutting down on the amount of packaging I use. This activity allowed me to see my impacts very clearly and has also allowed me to come up with quick, effective solutions.