week 4

Assignment for Tuesday, Feb.26:

  1. Complete the Ecological Footprint exercise at https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/        and answer the following questions for next week:                                              Summarize what your footprint indicated.                                                                Did anything about the results of your footprint surprise you?
  2. Reminder: Post your research topic proposal(s) as a thesis or a question; be prepared to share/discuss
  3. Reading for Feb. 26: participation points for participation in class discussion The Elephant in the boardroom     (pgs. 1 – 12)  Come prepared to discuss  the following: You may find it helpful to print these pages for Tues 
    1. The reading argues that in order for production and consumption to become sustainable, they must remain “within planetary boundaries.” Clearly explain what this means in the context of the reading.
    2. a) Describe two business models the reading points to as sustainable models of production.                                                                                                      b) Explain how either of these two models is sustainable and why.

    3. According to the authors, ” Most businesses’ growth is still predicated on more people buying more goods” and…”The rapid expansion of consumption-driven markets in the coming decades is the anticipated engine for continued business growth.” Discuss the reasons why this growth model is unsustainable.

27 thoughts on “week 4”

  1. 1. My personal Earth Overshoot Day is: 09 May which was calculator by me using 2.8 earth. what surprised me was may 9 is such an early date, i though 2.8 earth might take few years to for humans to finish the resource.

    2. my research topic is Electric Cars. emission has be produced by cars since 1960, that is about 60 year of pollution in the air that we breath. recently many manufacturer are creating electrical car which reduces the exhaust fume. electrical cars has both positive and negative effect on our body and the environment.

  2. 1) My overall earth shoot day is may 6. I would require 2.9 earths. My ecological footprint is 5 and my carbon footprint is 8.9 and my carbon footprint is 62%. What surprised me is that my earth shoot day is may 6 which I didn’t know.

    2) My research topic is polluted water: water is a natural resource we need to survives. half of the world population either doesn’t have water or the water is polluted. some water land is polluted with garbage, other are polluted with disease. I will discuss how polluted waters affects humans and the environment.

    1. Water pollution sounds like a very interesting topic. There are so many diseases that can be contracted from polluted water. By addressing water pollution, we can prevent these diseases and avoid unnecessary human suffering, deaths, and healthcare spending.

  3. According to The Ecological Footprint exercise, my personal overshoot day is March 13 and if everyone lived like me, we would need 5 earths. My carbon footprint is 50% of my total ecological footprint.I am embarrassed by my results and have never thought about the environmental consequences resulting from my daily routine. I am consuming an excessive amount of meat products and my home is not energy efficient at all. This activity has made me aware of some of the changes that I can make.

    My proposed research question is….” What are the environmental and economical factors associated with asthma in low income neighborhoods of NYC?” I will explore the environmental triggers of asthma and the economical costs associated with this diagnosis . I plan to revise my research question.

  4. 1. My personal earth overshoot day is May 02, and if everyone lived like me, we would need 3 Earths. It’s sooner and higher than I thought, but in retrospect, it isn’t too surprising. Apparently, eating meat is devastating.

    2. My topic is public transportation and how the lack of environmental care affects it. I’ll be comparing different systems from different countries to look at some solutions.

  5. 1. My personal Earth Overshoot Day is May 9, which was calculator by me using 2.8 earth. I am surprise by this because I always taught, I was one of those people who always try to make the planet greener. I was surprise by the result.
    2. My research topic is public transportation. How the city can manufacturer create electrical bus and can reduces the exhaust fume. electrical bus will be great for our city and planet because instead of using gas it would be using electrical power.

  6. My Earth Overshoot is 0.4 April, which was calculator by using 3.9 Earth. I am not surprise that my Carbon Footprint was the higher because I believe earth is dying do to people not taking care of it. I am against pollution but people like my self don’t take any step to make sure the planet is clean and save for the next generation.
    My research topic is lighting Africa. My goal is to provide light in Africa by using solar power plant which is clean and save. By doing so it provided clean energy to people and help the environment.

    1. Your topic is interesting. Is thee one place or one country where you would begin your focus? What would be the challenges to getting solar installed? How can the plan be developed and who needs to be involved? (for ex., government? businesses? households?) You also want to discuss the economic and environmental benefits>

  7. My earth overshoot is 07APf, it would take about 3.7earths to live the way I am currently living. I use6.4
    of my Ecological Footprint, 8.1 Your Carbon Footprint (this is because I use public transportation a lot and as well as car pooling). I also use 44 % of my carbon footing.
    My research project topic is going to be on public transportation and how it can be improved for daily commute for the earth.

    1. Okay. In terms of the research project, it is important to have a focus. Think of a central question you want to address – a main point. If you are looking to talk about the economic and environmental benefits of public transportation, you may want to think about what kinds of features make a system economically efficient; what kinds of features are environmentally beneficial? How can it be made to be even more so? Will you be looking only at the NYC public transportation system? public transportation overall? is there a system in another city or part of the world that you believe could serve as a model for efficiency and environmental cleanliness?

  8. My earth overshoot day is March 30th, and it will take 4.1 earths if everyone lived like me. This is much higher than I would have expected but it makes sense since I live my daily life unaware of these aspects. My ecological footprint came out to be 7.1 and my carbon footprint 9.5, and the percentage that is carbon from my total ecological footprint was 46%.

    My research topic is on electric cars and what actually makes a car “environmentally friendly”. The long and short term effects of using this alternative power method and ways to improve electric vehicles for greater sustainability in the future.

  9. 1. My overshoot day was May 12. An according to the Ecological Footprint Calculator, it would require 2.9 earths if everyone lived like me. I kind of expected this because of the amount of commuting I do by car. I drive an SUV so it’s not a very fuel efficient car.
    2. For my research topic, I was thinking about the proposal for switching to fully electric cars worldwide. This issue was that at our current technology level, gas powered vehicles still get better range on a full tank of gas versus electric cars on a full charge. Also, another issue I realized would be charging stations. Not everyone lives in a home so it would be difficult for people living in apartment buildings to leave their car at a charging station. Also, the time it takes for the electric vehicle to fully charge presents a problem. It could take an electric vehicles hours to fully charge whereas a gas powered vehicle needs no more than 5 minutes to fill up. This will be an inconvenience for many people. My question is, Is it really possible and convenient to eliminate gas powered vehicles and switch to electric cars?

  10. My ecological footprint was 53%, 2.8 in global hectares and 4.3 in CO2 emissions per year. If everyone lived like me, we would need 1.6 earths and my overshoot day was August 12, though I’m not sure of what year. I am a bit surprised it was higher than I thought but I think it had to do with my apartment complex not recycling and i’m unaware of where my power comes from.

    I’m not still not sure of what my research project will be on. Most likely public transportation.

    1. Okay. In terms of your research, what is important is to develop a thesis or main argument that will guide your research. It is important to have a focus and of course, you will want to focus on the environmental and economic aspects – costs, benefits, etc.

  11. I found out that my overshoot day is 25 and if people lived liked me then we would need 4.4 earth’s. I was very surprised about that considering the fact that I always recycle and use eco fredly light bulbs all over my house. I think it has something to do with my commuting. I usually drive 500 miles a week because every day I drive 100 miles round trip since I love 2 hours away from school.

    Thesis: Using cars withbresusuable and eco friendly resources such as electricity and bio fuel will help sustain the earth and reduce the price on regular unleaded gasoline.

    1. Okay. Your thesis sounds good. One thing that can reinforce this argument is to look for and include some data on the environmental/emissions benefits vs. gasoline powered cars. Also, some data on the price impacts would be good.

  12. My earth overshoot is 22 MAr, it would take about 4.5earths to live the way I am currently living. I use 6.4 of my Ecological Footprint, 7.8 Your Carbon Footprint I also use 55 % of my carbon footing.

    My research project topic is going to be on public transportation .

  13. My Personal Overshoot day was April 9, and according to the calculations it was saying that if everyone lives like me we would need 3.2 Earths. After I got the results i am actually concerned that I am using so many resources form the Earth. but there is something that might change the final result of this, it that i work for a company somedays i do deliveries, so i dive a lot, and its because of work, not because i do for fun, and also i cannot do pool when i drive since its deliveries i nedd the most space that i can get from the car. this is the reason why i need so many earths for me in orden to have a sustainable planet. Other than that, i think i have a sustainable life.
    2. My reserch topic is going to be renewable energy, and we can get this energy from a bunch of sources, for instance we could get, energy from wind, sun, water, vapor, and many other sources, that now are abailable, but the problem is that is not efficient that the reason why this is not being used.

  14. My personal overshoot day is March 26. The calculator told me that if everyone lived like me, it would take 4.2 earths to supple our way of life. The major thing in my consumption would be my eating habits. I am a meat eater, and I rarely eat any vegetables. Should I improve my diet, I am pretty sure that I could easily decrease the cost of my consumption by half. The reason why I am able to live like this daily is because many other people are suffering on my behalf. They are sacrificing based on their life habits in order for the majority of people like me to have such a luxurious life style.

    For my research project, we would try to focus on public transportation where instead of metro card swipes, we would just use our everyday handheld phones.

    1. Okay. In terms of your research project, your topic needs a focus. Think of a main argument that you might
      want to make about public transportation. There are a lot of possibilities. For ex., how might an increased
      investment in urban public transportation be an environmental benefit? Why is an efficient well-functioning
      public transportation system important for sustained economic growth? Your proposal of a phone app might be
      one part of the process of improved efficiency in N.Y. You might also look at an example in another city or country
      that you think could serve as a strong example of efficiency and environmental benefit. What about it is beneficial?

  15. 1) My personal Earth Overshoot Day is July 19. If everyone lived like me, we would need 1.8 Earths.

    2) My research topic would be in relation to sustainable engineering methods. I don’t have a set topic yet in which field to research in. Some ideas that come to mind are insulated and renewable housing, electric cars and etc.

    1. Sustainable engineering methods is a good start. In focusing on the economic benefits,
      some suggestions might be to focus on specific sustainable practices that you see as important and to
      examine the cost savings of these practices. Are they more efficient and economical?? Also, what are
      the environmental benefits of sustainable vs. conventional design?

  16. 1) My personal Earth Overshoot Day is July 19. If everyone lived like me, we would need 1.8 Earths.

    2) My research topic would be in relation to sustainable engineering methods. I don’t have a set topic yet in which field to research in. Some ideas that come to mind are insulated and renewable housing, electric cars and etc.

  17. 1) My personal Earth overshoot Day is 11 May. If everyone lived like me, we would need 2.8 earths. The major thing in my consumption would be the travel miles and time, since I go to work and go to school by train, and they both far away from my home. Also, I eat meat but not much, I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits too. I was surprised with this overshoot result. I used to think I was a environmental conscious person, but from this result, I need to rethink how should I adjust my habit to protect our environment.

    2) My Research topic is how to reduce food waste in the elementary school.

  18. If everyone lived like me, we would need 3.6 Earths. My personal overshoot day is April 13th. This information was extremely surprising because I feel like overall, I try to be extremely aware of how economically sustainable my everyday life is. For example, if I have the option to use a straw I will also opt out. I also use reusable grocery bags when I remember, recycle everything in its proper order, and make sure to never leave the water running. This exercise was extremely eye-opening.

    My research topic will either be food waste within the restaurant industry, how to maintain a sustainable way to travel across the world, or the effects of pollution on the ocean and its creatures. I’m not sure yet.

Leave a Reply to Hemraj Mohabir Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *