I have always been aware of the importance of sustainability within our environment, and tried to do the best for it. However, I wasn’t totally aware of the different factors that make up what a “sustainable environment” and life is. We are halfway through the class, and I have already learned so much. I didn’t realize that so much of what is going on in the world, is due to problems and debates over the environment. I also didn’t realize how many occurrences and issues were going on, based off of the news reports that have been projected in the class by the students. It’s so interesting to see how much of an impact that we have in the world. This semester I am also taking Environmental Ethics, and I find it so interesting on how much they correlate with each other. In PHIL 155, we talked about Ecofeminism and other topics that we’ve discussed in this class. It has helped me so much, and it makes a lot of sense how ethics is tied in with the environment. I find it really interesting how many different perspectives and ways of living there are. After figuring out my ecological footprint, I decided that there were many things I could do to contribute to making the environment better. Without this class, I would have not known that certain everyday things have to do with bettering the Earth. I also found it interesting how meat consumption was an aspect of the ecological footprint. I knew that it helped the environment to eat less meat, but I didn’t realize how much. I have been vegan for almost 4 years, so I happy that I am contributing the most I can in that aspect. I am mainly plant-based, and I love to plant and grow my own herbs and vegetables. It is such a beautiful and fun thing to do, and I feel like if everyone tried, they could do it too! It could help the Earth (and animals) a lot. I began to transition to being vegan because I wanted to be healthier and also I didn’t feel right eating animals or anything derived from an animal. One day I decided to do it, and the next day I cut everything out that wasn’t vegan. Since then, I have consistently stayed true to my word. Just like that, I made an impact not only on myself, but also for others. Another thing that I learned from not only this class, but also my environmental ethics class, is that the consumption that we are used to, is out of hand. I am very guilty of contributing to this, but if we all worked together and only bought what we needed, it would help so much. I always fall into the tricks of perceived obsolescence. If everyone could make a change in their life and stick to it, we could make progress. Whether it have to do with eating habits, means of transportation, recycling habits, and even decreased consumption rates- there would be a huge increase in the sustainability of how we live and coexist together.