:Michael Anuzis

Last month I committed to adopting a 1:1 sustainable lifestyle after learning it would take 2.3 planets to survive if everyone lived like me. I dug around for a while and am ready to share some findings with you.

I started with a book called “Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century“. Turns out this is one of those phenomenal books you wish everyone you know has read. (more on this in an upcoming post!)

Long story short, tracking your ecological footprint is harder than I expected, but I’ve come up with a few things that I’m pretty sure will put me at or below at 1:1 sustainability ratio.

First up, now that I’ve graduated it’s time to think about where to make a living. I used to think urban areas were rough on the environment, but it turns out their large infrastructures are way more efficient than suburbs on a per-person basis. Combine this with my fate to work at Google and my primary choices are San Francisco, Ann Arbor, and perhaps Dubai at some point in the future.

Second, living in an urban environment is possible without a car. In Ann Arbor it was natural to drive less than 10 minutes per week (only to shop at Trader Joe’s). I could walk anywhere. Back in the suburbs of Oakland County with my parents for a couple weeks, I drive at least 2-3 hours/week just from day-to-day activity, and I actually do less. Places are simply much farther apart. Put 2 and 2 together, & I’d like to live in a city where I can live without a car.

Third, I used to always gravitate towards the most foreign\exotic foods whenever I’d get groceries or eat out. If a fish was caught in Alaska, or a pomegranate imported from Europe, the sheer novelty of global commodities made them more desirable than local stuff. I never considered the energy required to ship that fruit overseas so I could eat it. Now, I choose local options whenever the opportunity presents itself.

It’d be fun to cut down on some massive need-more-stuff-mindset purchasing craze that I have, but I already buy pretty much nothing and am content with just my go board, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, a fat cat, and some internet access… Not much else to cut out.