1-1 Discussion: Natural Resources
Hello all, my name is Brynne Nicholas. I am 33 years old and from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In December
of 2021, I graduated from Baton Rouge Community College with an associate degree in Liberal Arts and
now am looking to complete my bachelor's degree in General Studies with a concentration in psychology
here at SNHU. I am currently employed as a special education paraprofessional and plan to complete an
alternative special education teacher certification program offered through my school district once I
obtain my bachelor’s degree.
Energy sources and sustainable energy are what I'm most curious to learn about because I feel like I
don't know a lot about them. According to our text, natural resources are defined as "resources such as
air, water, and soil, and various forms of energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans"
(Myers, N., & Spoolman, S., 2013). Some examples of natural resources include soil, land, water, air,
animals, and plants as well as solar energy (Myers, N., & Spoolman, S., 2013). When it comes to the
types of natural resources, it is hard for me to determine which I use the most in my life. For renewable
natural resources, I would have to say that I use water and air the most just because the use of air is
constant. For non-renewable natural resources, I would have to say that I use crude oil as well as other
petroleum liquids for the gas in my vehicle the most (U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),
2022). I also use natural gas and nuclear power for my electricity at home a good bit (Entergy, n.d.).
We would need 3.7 earths if everyone lived my lifestyle. My ecological footprint is 5.4 gha and my
carbon footprint is 8.5 gha with my carbon footprint being 56% of my total ecological footprint. My
Personal Earth Overshoot Day is April 7, meaning that if everyone lived like me, then by April 19, we
would have used as much from nature as Earth can renew in the entire year. My two highest
consumption categories are food at 1.1 gha and shelter at 1.5 gha with mobility at 1 gha, goods at 0.9
gha, and services at 0.9 gha following behind (How many planets does it take to sustain your lifestyle?,
n.d.). The ecological footprint per capita in the United States is 8.04 meaning that I am below the
national average in terms of my ecological footprint (Ecological Footprint by Country 2023, n.d.).
Although I have never really paid attention to my use of natural resources, I really live with the bare
minimum as much as possible which is why I believe that I am below average when it comes to
comparing my ecological with the average of the United States. All I do is go to work and back home,
and either do homework or watch television/read books to pass time. As far as eating, I do eat fast food
a lot but usually a minimum of fries or something small and I eat lunch at the school in which I work. I
can decrease my ecological footprint by carpooling with co-workers to and from work as I live too far
away to walk or ride a bicycle. The house my boyfriend and I live in is really big, and is too much for us,
but we have talked about putting a timer on our hot water heater so that we can only use hot water at
certain times and using a couple of window units to cool only the portions of our home that we use the
most. We’ve also discussed moving to a smaller home or apartment somewhere, but due to the housing
market, have not been able to sell our home. For the time being, our best shot is to research other ways
in which we can reduce our energy usage in our home.
References:
Ecological Footprint by Country 2023. World Population Review. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2023,
from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/ecological-footprint-by-country
Entergy. (n.d.). Powering life sustainably. Entergy. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from
https://www.entergy.com/brightfuturela/sustainability/#:~:text=Entergy%20Louisiana
%20primarily%20uses%20natural,power%20to%20meet%20customers'%20needs
How many planets does it take to sustain your lifestyle? Ecological Footprint Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 28, 2023, from http://www.footprintcalculator.org/en/results/0/summary
Myers, N., & Spoolman, S. (2013). Environmental Issues and Solutions: A Modular Approach. Cengage
Limited. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781305848320
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2022, June). Use of energy explained: Energy use for
transportation. Independent Statistics and Analysis - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Retrieved February 28, 2023, from
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/transportation.php#:~:text=Petroleum%20is
%20the%20main%20source%20of%20energy%20for%20transportation
