Wildlife biology
Discussion 3: Local Steps to Alleviating Global Problems
Respond to the students
Student 1: Maci
For this discussion I am choosing steps 4, 5, 9, and 10
4) As college students, many of us live with multiple roommates to reduce the cost of living. With more people comes more water, power, trash, and gas usage. We can limit the amount of waste/usage of these utilities by having a conversation explaining the importance of using these things conservatively. Simple things such as turning off the water when brushing your teeth, turn off all the lights in a room when you're leaving it, closing the blinds/windows to reduce heat so we don't need to power the AC often, and limiting waste by purchasing reusable packaging when available.
5) Green-Friendly cars are becoming more prominent with every make of car. I recently purchased my first car and when looking, at first, I was going to go for a 2001 tacoma because Toyotas are super reliable cars and can run forever. Then I took a look at the MPG and realized I would be putting off so much fuel emission into the environment with a car that only gets 13MPG. Instead, I spent a little more money than I was aiming for and ended up purchasing a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan which gets 26MPG city and 39MPG highway. I know there are more fuel efficient cars out there but this one was the best for my lifestyle/needs while being a rather fuel efficient car.
9) Personally, I love driving. So whenever I go grocery shopping or just shopping/out in general, I text a couple of my friends and see if they want to come with me and we can run their errands as well. Most of the time they come with me to Trader Joe's and Target as those are our two favorite places and can spend hours and hours in there.
10) We have always recycled in my house growing up. So naturally, when I moved out on my own, I recycle in my house as well along with my roommates. We also use bee's wax sheets as food storage covers because it reduces plastic waste and they preserve food very well.
Pt. 2
I do not think it's realistic to think that one person or one family can reverse or reduce detrimental human impacts on the environment. There are over 7 billion people in this world so even one person doing everything they possibly can, will not do anything. We need at least a quarter of the worlds population taking initiative to see even a sliver of progress.
Student 2: Aundrea
2: Learn more.
It is much easier for me to take action when I understand the reasoning behind changing my lifestyle. It is important to learn about how our world works so that we can protect it. If I come to a decision on my own, I find that my new knowledge shapes many decisions in my life over time. Knowledge is the best way to fight a battle that is waged in ignorance. (Foodprintnetwork.org looks like an interesting place to start.)
4: Reduce energy use
I believe in voting with my dollar. I already leave the air conditioning off in the springtime for as long as I can. I do want to buy some more power strips so I can stop my electronics from using electricity while they are not in use. We use so much electricity in America. Any reduction in net usage will help.
6: Drive green-friendly
I normally keep a lot of stuff in my trunk. Most of it is stuff I need to donate to a thrift store. This summer, I will unload my trunk and take the donation items to the thrift store. I already drive conservatively, so I will keep doing that. I am curious how much gas I will save by lightening my car's load.
8: Ride a bike
Fort Collins is a great place for biking all over town. Next semester, I will not buy a parking pass and bike to school until it gets cold. After that, I can ride the bus to school. This will greatly decrease the car emissions that I am responsible for and it will save me money.
It is definitely realistic to say that my actions to reduce my usage of nonrenewable resources will have a beneficial effect. I would feel like I had accomplished something significant if I were able to reduce my usage of resources to the level of an average family in the developing world. If I was the only one in the world making this change, it would not have an impact. If my example leads others to join in, then together we have the opportunity to make a sizeable change.