In a course-long project beginning this week, you will take on the challenge of lessening your impacts on the environment through reducing the size of your ecological footprint.
In a course-long project beginning this week, you will take on the challenge of lessening your impacts on the environment through reducing the size of your ecological footprint. Specifically, you will identify possible lifestyle changes that would reduce the amount of resources you use and/or the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that you produce. In a course-long experiment, you will determine whether or not it is possible to make a measurable difference in your environmental impact through a few simple actions in your daily life. The first step, of course, is to determine your ecological footprint right now. To do that, you will calculate three footprints: an overall ecological footprint that takes most of our daily behaviors into consideration; a carbon footprint that focuses on our daily carbon emissions that are contributing to global climate change; and a water footprint that assesses daily water use.
Part A: Ecological Footprint
Use the footprint tool from the web page What Is Your Ecological Footprint? (Links to an external site.) to calculate your ecological footprint. At every opportunity, please select the “add details to improve accuracy” option. At the end of the footprint activity, make a note of how many Earths would be required if everyone lived like you. Then click on “see details” to obtain the following information:
Your ecological footprint, in global hectares (a hectare is about 2.5 acres).
Your top three consumption categories.
Finally, research some ways you might reduce your footprint, identifying a few specific ones that you might put into practice throughout the course.
Part B: Household Carbon Emissions Footprint
Next, use the Carbon Footprint Calculator (Links to an external site.) to calculate your household carbon emissions footprint. After answering all the questions,
Make a note of your carbon emissions footprint in pounds. Is that above or below the average household carbon footprint in the US?
Explore specific actions you might take to reduce your footprint. Which of them might be practical to undertake in the next five weeks?
Part C: Water Footprint
Finally, use the Water Footprint Calculator (Links to an external site.) to calculate your daily water footprint. After answering all the questions,
Make a note of your gallons-per-day water footprint.
Record the top three contributors to it.
Scroll down the page to access a series of “Tips” buttons you can click on for advice on reducing your footprint. Again, make a note of some specific ideas you see that might be practical to implement over the next five weeks.
Discussion Post Requirements
Your discussion should include all the information you gathered about your consumption habits from your three footprint calculations, including all numbers with units.
Footprint Table
Week 1
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Hectares:
# Earths:
Top 3 Consumption Categories:
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Carbon Emissions (lbs):
WATER FOOTPRINT
Gallons per day:
Top 3 Contributors:
Copy the table above and paste into your post, then add your data for each category. You can also access the Footprint Table here. Then, in a well-crafted post of at least 200 additional words, examine the numerical results of your three footprint calculations by answering the following questions:
What did you learn that surprised you about your consumption habits?
What lifestyle changes could you make that would reduce one or more of the three footprints? Propose a minimum of five. (These do not have to be the ones you use in this course-long project; over the course of the discussion, you may opt to select other ones based upon classmates’ recommendations. You will be recording your final choices for lifestyle changes in your Journal at the end of the week.)
For each lifestyle change, which footprint would you be lowering? Discuss potential obstacles to making those changes, and then suggest ways you might overcome those obstacles.
Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own.
Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ posts, responding to at least two classmates over the course of the week, comparing your footprints to theirs and offering additional suggestions for ways they might lower their footprints, along with possible obstacles to doing so and ways of overcoming those obstacles. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this discussion forum. Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 11:59 p.m. on Day 7, and respond with robust dialogue to anyone who replies to your initial post.
Note: If you encounter any difficulty accessing one or more of the three footprint calculators, you may need to try a different web browser. For instance, if you are using Google Chrome you may need to use another option (Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla, etc.). If you are having difficulty accessing your usage data, contact your instructor for an alternative.
SCI207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Week 2 Discussion
Dq1
Food Resilience Plan for Ashfordton [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3]
Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 4 in your course textbook.
Imagine that you are a resident of Ashfordton, a community whose characteristics are described below. You have come together with your neighbors for a special meeting to devise a management plan for helping the community become more resilient and sustainable in terms of its food production by 2050. A community that is resilient is able to recover quickly from events like drought or storms. By increasing its own food production, Ashfordton can also reduce its food miles—the distance that imported food must travel. By making its food production more sustainable, Ashfordton can help ensure that its residents’ food needs are supplied for generations to come, without placing undue harm on the local environment in the process
Fortunately, you have all attended the meeting with the knowledge that you have gained from your readings in this course. Now it is time to put your thinking cap on and get to work! Your ideas should consist of one or more of the following elements (some suggestions may apply to both categories):
Food resiliency measures (e.g., building vertical farms in the city center to ensure that urban residents can have access to fresh, organically grown produce).
Food sustainability measures (e.g., phasing out use of organic pesticides in favor of companion planting and other organic methods).
This week’s discussion will take place in an online app called Tricider. There, you will be able to post your ideas for plan components and also share pros and cons of different proposals during the week. Finally, you will be able to vote on the three components that you think the plan should include.
For directions on how to use the Tricider app, please review the Tricider Help Guide. In Tricider, you will be expected to do the following:
Post at least two separate and entirely original ideas. Do not duplicate ideas already posted by your peers.
Include your full name for each one.
Post at least six different pros and six different cons for your classmates’ proposed ideas (12 in all).
Vote on what you feel are the top three ideas in the list.
Do not vote before Friday, so that you can vote from the full collection of student ideas.
You must complete the three tasks above to receive full credit for this discussion.
Please note: You are welcome to post questions and comments to this board for your instructor; however, this discussion board does not have any posting requirements of its own, and no additional credit will be given for posts made here.
In this discussion area, your instructor will post the following:
The Ashfordton description you will be using for this activity.
The link you will be using to access Tricider for this activity.
Dq2
Food Resilience Plan Voting Rationales [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapters 3 and 4 in your course textbook.
Now that you have cast your votes for the Ashfordton Food Resilience Plan, it is time to explain your choices to the class. Please make a post of at least 150 words in which you
Identify (briefly) the plan elements on which you voted.
Explain why you selected each one.
Each of the elements with an explanation is worth .5 point for a total of 1.5 points.
Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own. At the end of the week, the instructor will post the winning Ashfordton Food Resilience Plan, which will include the top three ideas selected by the class. In cases where two action items are judged by the instructor to be nearly identical, the instructor reserves the right to combine the ideas into a single one (and add votes together) in order to determine the winning ideas. This plan will be posted in the Announcements area of the classroom.
SCI207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Week 3 Discussion
Dq1
Water Management Plan for Ashfordton [WLOs: 1, 3] [CLOs: 2, 4]
Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, review Chapter 5 in the course textbook.
Imagine that you are a resident of Ashfordton, a community whose characteristics are described below. You have come together with your neighbors for a special meeting to devise a plan for managing its water resources more sustainably by 2050. Water resource issues the community faces include insuring a safe and sustainable drinking water supply for all, handling its wastewater in a manner that has minimal environmental impact, and managing its stormwater runoff in a way that minimizes the risks of erosion and flooding.
Fortunately, you have all attended the meeting with the knowledge that you have gained from your readings in this course. Now it is time to put your thinking cap on and get to work! Your ideas should each consist of one of the following elements, depending upon what you think is Ashfordton’s area of greatest need:
Sustainable drinking water access measures (e.g., developing a program for rural residents to begin collecting and treating their rainwater for drinking use).
Sustainable wastewater management measures (e.g., collecting greywater from area residences for use irrigating a local golf course).
Storm water management measures (e.g., requiring that permeable pavement be used for all future development projects in the community).
This week’s discussion will take place in an online app called Tricider. There, you will be able to post your ideas for plan components and also share pros and cons of different proposals during the week. Finally, you will be able to vote on the three components that you think the plan should include. For directions on how to use the Tricider app, please review the Tricider Help Guide. In Tricider. You will be expected to do the following:
Post at least two separate and entirely original ideas. Do not duplicate ideas already posted by your peers.
Include your full name for each one.
Post at least six different pros and six different cons for your classmates’ proposed ideas (12 in all).
Vote on what you feel are the top three ideas in the list.
Do not vote before Friday, so that you can vote from the full collection of student ideas.
You must complete the three tasks above to receive full credit for this discussion.
Please note: You are welcome to post questions and comments to this board for your instructor; however, this discussion board does not have any posting requirements of its own, and no additional credit will be given for posts made here.
In this discussion area, the instructor will post the following:
The Ashfordton description you will be using for this activity
The link you will be using to access Tricider for this activity.
Dq2
Water Management Plan Voting Rationales [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapters 5 and 6 in your course textbook.S
Now that you have cast your votes for the Ashfordton Water Management Plan, it is time to explain your choices to the class. Please make a post of at least 150 words in which you
Identify (briefly) the plan elements on which you voted.
Explain why you selected each one.
Each of the elements with an explanation is worth .5 point for a total of 1.5 points.
Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own. At the end of the week, the instructor will post the winning Ashfordton Water Management Plan, which will include the top three ideas selected by the class. In cases where two action items are judged by the instructor to be nearly identical, the instructor reserves the right to combine the ideas into a single one (and add votes together) in order to determine the winning ideas. This plan will be posted in the Announcements area of the classroom.
SCI207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Week 4 Discussion
Dq1
A Carbon-Neutral Energy Plan for Ashfordton [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
Prior to beginning this discussion, read Chapters 7 and 8 in your course textbook.
Imagine that you are a resident of Ashfordton, a community whose characteristics are described below. You have come together with your neighbors for a special meeting to devise a plan for helping the community become carbon-neutral by 2050, meaning that by that time, no net carbon dioxide emissions will be produced by residents as a whole.
Fortunately, you have all attended the meeting with knowledge that you have gained from your readings in this course. Now it is time to put your thinking cap on and get to work! Your plan should consist of the following elements:
Energy conservation measures (e.g., promoting carpooling by adding special lanes to local highways).
Steps to move toward sustainable energy production (e.g., installing solar panels on town government buildings).
Reducing energy consumption will help, but some actions will have to involve switching to other power sources for buildings and vehicles as well.
This week’s discussion will take place in an online app called Tricider. There, you will be able to post your ideas for plan components and share pros and cons of different proposals during the week. Finally, you will be able to vote on the three components that you think the plan should include.
For directions on how to use the Tricider app, please review the Tricider Help Guide. In Tricider. You will be expected to do the following:
Post at least two separate and entirely original ideas. Do not duplicate ideas already posted by your peers.
Include your full name for each one.
Post at least six different pros and six different cons for your classmates’ proposed ideas (12 in all).
Vote on what you feel are the top three ideas in the list.
Do not vote before Friday, so that you can vote from the full collection of student ideas.
You must complete the three tasks above to receive full credit for this discussion.
Please note: You are welcome to post questions and comments to this board for your instructor; however, this discussion board does not have any posting requirements of its own, and no additional credit will be given for posts made here.
In the discussion area, the instructor will post the following:
The Ashfordton description you will be using for this activity
The link you will be using to access Tricider for this activity.
Dq2
Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapters 7 and 8 in your course textbook.
Now that you have cast your votes for the Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, it is time to explain your choices to the class. Please make a post of at least 150 words in which you
Identify (briefly) the plan elements on which you voted.
Explain why you selected each one.
Each of the elements with an explanation is worth .5 point for a total of 1.5 points.
Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own. At the end of the week, the instructor will post the winning Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, which will include the top three ideas selected by the class. In cases where two action items are judged by the instructor to be nearly identical, the instructor reserves the right to combine the ideas into a single one (and add votes together) in order to determine the winning ideas. This plan will be posted in the Announcements area of the classroom.
SCI207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Week 5 Discussion
Ecological Footprint and Comparison [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 3, 6]
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 9 and 10 of the course textbook. Also, view these two short videos on reducing waste: Disposability Consciousness (Links to an external site.) and Two Adults, Two Kids, Zero Waste | Bea Johnson | TEDxFoggyBottom (Links to an external site.).
In this week’s discussion, you will recalculate your ecological footprints from Week 1 and determine whether or not your actions taken over the past five weeks have made a difference in the size of your footprints. You will also have the opportunity to discuss additional actions one might take to live more sustainably. In particular, you are encouraged to focus on techniques for reducing the amount of waste that we generate in our everyday lives.
Complete the following:
First, redo your three footprint calculations from Week 1: your ecological footprint (What Is Your Ecological Footprint? (Links to an external site.)); your household carbon emissions footprint (Carbon Footprint Calculator (Links to an external site.)), and your daily water footprint (Water Footprint Calculator (Links to an external site.)).
Copy and paste the footprint table below into your post and complete the table with your data. You can also access the Footprint Table herePreview the document. Calculate the differences between your Week 1 and Week 5 footprint data.
Compare your new answers from the ones you obtained back in Week 1. How did the footprints change, if at all? Do you suspect that any changes are the result of the actions you took? Why or why not?
Footprint Table
Week 1 Week 5 Difference
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Hectares:
# Earths:
Top 3 Consumption Categories:
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Carbon Emissions (lbs):
WATER FOOTPRINT
Gallons per day:
Top 3 Contributors:
In a well-crafted discussion post of at least 200 words, report on the results of all five weeks of the Ecological Footprint Reduction Project. Did you meet with success? If so, what activity or activities do you think made the biggest difference? What additional actions would you consider taking to reduce your footprints in the future, particularly in terms of lessening the amount of materials you consume and wastes you produce? What did you learn from this experience? Do you think that individual efforts to live more sustainably matter? Why or why not?
You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own.
Note: If you encounter any difficulty accessing one or more of the three footprint calculators, you may need to try a different web browser. For instance, if you are using Google Chrome, you may need to use another option (Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla, etc.).
Guided Response: Respond to at least two classmates over the course of the week, comparing your successes or challenges to theirs and offering additional suggestions for ways they might lower their footprints (particularly in terms of reducing the amount of waste that they generate) and live more sustainably in the future.
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