April 18, 2022
Leaving Your Mark
Earth Week encourages us to reexamine what sort of impact we want to make on the world. In some cases, we may wish to limit our impact (e.g., reducing greenhouse gas emissions or water consumption to promote healthy ecosystems). In others, we may desire to increase our impact (e.g., sharing time and resources to lift up communities or improve the marketplace for small business owners). Examine your various footprints and consider how each affects our natural, human, business and digital ecosystems.
Episode 1: Your Environmental Footprint
Every day, we make choices – some obvious and some not so obvious – that impact our environment and the natural world. From the cars we drive to the products we buy to the waste we generate, each of our actions creates a footprint.
While it’s easy to agree we make an imprint on the world through our actions, it can be challenging to understand exactly how each footprint impacts the environment.
Episode 2: Your Social Footprint
Our communities are more than just places to live. They are the schools our kids attend, the stores and restaurants we patronize, and the parks, clubs and organizations that make up the very culture of our lives. Just as our actions create an environmental footprint, so, too, do they create a social footprint.
Episode 3: Your Economic Footprint
We make choices every day regarding how and where to spend our hard-earned dollars. Whether we order from a local vendor or a chain, at a brick-and-mortar store or online, or we opt out of a product or service altogether, we know that the way we spend our money speaks volumes. It also influences the actions of businesses and government and serves as your support for or against those actions. All of this makes up your economic footprint.
Episode 4: Your Digital Footprint
It’s sometimes convenient to think of our footprint as being purely physical. For example, our carbon footprint is seen in the atmosphere and our waste footprint is seen at the landfill. But a large and growing footprint that should not be overlooked is the digital footprint.
