Reducing My Ecological Footprint - created from Mind Map

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Food Choices

Housing

Transportation

Plant your own garden-Growing your own food is better than buying food from stores because it reduces all the waste it takes to get to the store(packaging etc.)

Shop at a local farmer's market=this is good for the environment because it is grown locally so all the food is fresh and hasn't travelled a long distance to get to you.

Choose foods that have less packaging-Having less packaging means that the food that you consume will provide noticeably less waste than others because of the different types of packaging.

Unplug your electronics when not in use- Believe it or not, even when nothing is charging but the charger is still plugged in, it still wastes energy. Now that you know this, you should know to unplug your cords to save energy.

Dry your clothes outside whenever possible- you should be buying clothes that you are able to dry outside instead of in a dryer because it wastes energy. You should also wash as much clothing as possible in one load to reduce the amount of times you need to wash your clothing

Don't use your AC/Heater as much-Try to keep it cool in winter and hot in the summer, try to adjust what you are wearing to fit the temperature in your house so that you don't have to use as much heating or cooling power.

Choose wisely when shopping-when you are shopping with your parents for items or appliances, look to see if they are energy efficient or if it is recyclable so that it doesn't do as much harm as other things to the environment,

Don't ride in a car when you are able to get somewhere in a differenct way- If you can bike, walk or take public transportation, do it so it can save the environment some pollution.

Check to make sure that your car can be used at max efficiency- You are actually able check the emission control systems and checking the car tires that they are inflated for the maximum efficiency while driving the car. This is something that will help your car use as little gas as possible for a longer distance.

Pick smaller cars-when someone that you know is planning to buy a new car, you can tell them about how smaller cars are more efficient because their engines are smaller. If you would like to tell them more aobut this, you could even tell them about the most efficient cars such as the Ford Focus Electric and the Nissan Leaf which both have over 100 Miles Per Gallon equivalent (MPGe)

I chose "provide a variety of transportation choices" because many people in the community aren't provided with a variety of transportation choices. For example, I am told that a bus is an optiion to go to school but the bus stations near my house don't even go to the school. I am also provided with a bike but that can't be used in the winter. In the winter, it is also icy at the sidewalks and then most of us choose to have our parents to drive. In conclusion, in the winter, we only have the option to drive or bus to faraway places or walk or drive to closer places. This ends up with most of us driving to get to places and that is bad for the environment.