Ecological Footprint Re-calculation 12/7

After re-calculating my ecological footprint, I'm very stoked to see I had a .3 reduction in the number of Planet Earths it takes to support my lifestyle. The biggest reduction category I saw throughout the quarter was my impact through food consumption. My initial footprint was 3.7 Earths, 16.6 global acres of productive area. After implementing my reduction strategies into my lifestyle, my new calculations show 3.4 Planet Earths, and 15.1 global acres. It may not seem like a drastic change, but I'm pretty happy to actually see results, I was concerned that my calculation would remain the same even with the reduction plans I took on. Reduction plans listed below:

Reduction Plans:
1) I will reduce my consumption of meat products, by having 2 meat-less days a week.
2) I will do my best to purchase produce and meat products from local, sustainable businesses.
3) I will carpool to the river during salmon runs (fly fishing).
4) I will purchase and use a power strip for my apartment's media center.

I was able to stick with all of these throughout the quarter. At times, I had difficulty buying local, sustainable food, due to a lack of steady finances and it's availability. I think it will be way easier to stay local once the spring and summer Farmer's Market is open again. I believe the meat-less days added to my weekly diet had the greatest effect on my overall footprint. These reduction plans are definitely something I will adhere to for the rest of my life. They are seriously simple changes that practically every person should be able to do. I thought it was interesting that I didn't see much of a change in my electricity bill after putting in a power strip and monitoring it. One of my roommates is really bad about leaving all of his electronics and bedroom lights on, so I feel like that offset any ghost power we saved on with a power strip. Finally, I didn't go out fishing, or hiking for that matter, by myself. We were able to carpool and save on gas consumption and miles driven.