According to my ecological footprint, if everyone lived like me we would need 5.3 planet Earth's to provide enough resources. It also said in order to support my lifestyle it would take 23.7 global acres of Earth's product area and 26 tons of carbon dioxide. I am in some ways shocked by my results because it is crazy to see these numbers but then again I am not really that shocked because I don't believe I live a very sustainable lifestyle. Now that I am living on my own in an apartment and not in my parent's house I have the choice to live how I want too. My mom recycles everything, where as I might recycle every now and again if there happens to be a recycle bin around. I don't exactly go out of my way to recycle, especially in my own trash. This is a lifestyle change I would be willing to make. I don't really think about how much electricity I am using, I do things like leave my charger plugged in at all times or leave the fan on in my room even if I leave. My parents used to get onto me for those things and not turning off the tv or shutting of the lights. That is also something I would be willing to work on and hopefully change while living on my own. However, a big part of my ecological footprint was mobility which I assume is transportation. I prefer driving my own car to places I want to go. I actually commute quite a ways to work, as does my mom and I think the only reliable way to assure you get there is to drive yourself. I personally would not be willing to change that aspect of my lifestyle as I am sure my mother wouldn't either. Things that are in walking distance, I will walk to instead of driving. There just doesn't really seem to be much around me in walking distance. I live in apartments right next to campus and as we talked about in class it just isn't set up for things to be in walking distance. Even in my parents HOA the club house where my brother goes to play sports is a 25 minute walk so typically they will drive. I am also not a fan of public transportation such as busses or trains. If needed I would be able to ride one however my mother is a complete germaphob that I know she would never make that lifestyle change.
This class has brought a lot of things about our environment and they effect we each have on it to my attention. Before this class I never thought twice about it. It is good that I am more aware of what is actually happening to our environment. Although I would love more restaurants, shopping, and food around me I see what tearing down and building is doing. We are slowly running out of resources and that is scary to think about the future. It may not directly affect me, but what about my kids or grandkids. It is important to be more aware of what is going on and how I contribute however because of how I was raised I believe some changes will be hard to make to my lifestyle that I don't know if I am ready to make. I think as a global community, making changes that we talked about in class such as smart growth is a good start.
Surprisingly enough I actually enjoyed colloquium a lot more than I thought I would. I am kind of glad it was required. When you first hear of a required class like this you automatically associate it with negative thoughts, or at least I did. However, I tried to go into it with an open mind. When looking back at my first journal the thing I wanted to get most out of this class was getting out of my comfort zone and I think I accomplished that. I knew coming in this class wasn't going to transform me into a huge environmentalist so I tried to set my goals to something more realistic. Which was becoming more aware and looking at things from a different perspective and trying new things. At first I wasn't to excited about doing this blog or these journal entries but now that the class is over and I get to go back and reflect, these are a great reminder of my thoughts and feelings during a specific time throughout this semester. I was one of the few who actually read, A Land Remembered and I did enjoy it but I wasn't exactly to found of the big essay around it. I think the part I found the most difficult was writing about a prompt I wasn't that interested in. I also wasn't too excited about the presentations because I hate being in front of the class and I get nervous and not being able to read off a power point or flash cards made that very difficult. However, that is something that got me out of my comfort zone and will most likely be beneficial to me in the future. I really enjoyed the field trips. At first I thought 4 hours was a big chunk of time to dedicate to a class but there were only 5 field trips and they were for the most part enjoyable. I got to go places I probably never would go and got to actually learn about them. My favorite field trip by far was downtown, I just thought it was so beautiful. My next favorite was Koreshan, not really the tour part but the canoeing because that was something I have never done before and I was glad I was able to try it. My least favorite field trip was ECHO, mainly because I'm still not clear on what they do there A major take away from this class is in what ways I can contribute to helping make this planet a better place to live. I am more knowledgeable of different issues we are facing and I am now able to form an opinion and have an educated talk about it with someone. My service learning hours were done in the Food Forest and that truly got me out of my comfort zone. I did a lot of manual labor and learned a lot about permaculture and about how things grow, especially down in Florida. This class also was very interactive which I enjoyed. I got to meet people from different majors that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. It was great to have a class that you actually interacted with people and knew their names. Most classes I am you sit there, listen to lecture, don't talk to anyone, and leave. So this was a nice change. This class is also important to my future. I hope it helps mold and shapes the choices I make as I start getting my own car, place, ect and how I choose to live my own life outside of what my parents have taught me. 
