I was tasked to find out about my ecological footprint at www.myfootprint.org. And I found out that my current lifestyle was not as eco-conscious as what I first thought I was. Some of the factors are not within my control like the rented apartment that I am staying, but there are still other factors that are within my control and I could do something about them like the food I consume and the transportation I take.
This exercise has definitely opened my eyes to my current situation and it also gives me a reason to be more pro-active in my effort to save our earth.
Overseas flights also contribute a lot to that footprint.
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely it does. However, sometimes like in my case, I have to fly to Australia in order to attend University. Even though I do not travel much (Flying to Sydney was only my 3rd time flying on an airplane), I do understand the carbon impact that it produces and also understand that there are ways to offset the carbon footprint I have caused by for example donating to non-profit organizations like Carbon Neutral and The Nature Conservancy or even planting a tree.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... just a thought, if students could study at their home country and not travel abroad and receive the same education, will that elimate the need for study abroad? If the development of inter-countries communication will to be further improve, it could happen. With current communication technologies that allow people to work from home, but yet able to "be" at the workplace, I do not see why this cant be applied to oversea education.
However, one can argue from the point of by traveling oversea, one could experience a foreign land that differs in climate, culture and etc. These are things the any virtual environment can not replace.
So the question is what is the real need to travel abroad, if current technology allows us to "be" there virtually?