Calculating my Carbon Footprint of my Household
I calculated the approximate carbon footprint of my apartment including my other three roommates. Using tradewater.us, I found that the monthly CO2 emissions of our household is 5.51 tons of CO2. This was extremely shocking considering the average household is 4 tons. I think the biggest contributor was the fact that all four of us use our vehicles separately. This is something that I would like to change at least as an individual. I only live 10-15 minutes away from by driving. However, I put into my GPS how long it would take to get to campus via bike and it is about 20 minutes. It is very incredible to me that the difference is only 10 minutes max, but I am also decreasing my overall carbon emissions of my vehicle. With a little bit of planning, I could make this lifestyle switch work. There is also KAT public transportation that goes directly to my apartment complex! The bus membership is only $50 a year! I spend about $40 every 1-2 weeks on gas. This is massive savings. I may be considering alternative transportation in the coming year.

Reducing animal byproducts has been easier than expected.  My concern and a typical concern for people going vegan is lack of protein in their diet but with proper research and food selection I've still been able to reach ~75g of protein via nuts, pasta, and supplements.

As this challenge comes to a close, I have come to see the immense personal benefits of eating plant based for the last month. There have been some truly beneficial aspects to my personal and mental health. Further, eating plant based has forced my consuming more local foods which promotes lower carbon emissions as well. 

On the 19th day of my daily challenge, I've started trying to reduce how much food I make for myself so I will not waste as much. Also, I have started using Tupperware to save more food as well. My roommates and I couldn't find a recycling place around that accepts compost, so we keep a little thing of our own to keep compost in.  

I have only vegetarian meals for well over a month now. I feel great and I have not been as sluggish as I used to. However, I'm thinking about going pescatarian...I miss fried chicken :(

Day 12 of keeping track of the food that I waste, because of the amount of food that my roommates and I waste we have started looking into composting. I think we are gonna get a little metal container and put it outside to put our compostable in. We do a little bit already because we grow plants in our living so we put egg shells and  peels of fruits in the dirt with our plants.

This is day 7 of doing my daily challenge of keeping track of how much food I waste. So far I have been very shocked with how much I waste daily, and now I realize that it really adds up.