This was an interesting exercise, and it's definitely made me think more about exactly what kind of an impact even a small family like mine can have on the planet. I can't imagine who my kind of lifestyle would require five planets, I thought we were doing relatively well compared to many other examples of wasteful living in America.
What this has really got me thinking about are the changes that my family and I need to start making so that we don't continue to consume as many resources as we currently do. I've been persistent in trying to convince my parents that they should try to cook one or two meals each week without meat in order to cut back on their reliance on factory-farmed protein, but this has been a hard sell for them. I think that many Americans would struggle with making changes to their diet in order to "save on resources". It's very tough convincing people that they need to make changes, but perhaps by showing them a graph like the one above, I could begin to get the point across.
There's no doubt that we're consuming more of our planet's resources than we need to be, and I think that it's time for a value shift in America away from the consumer/waste culture that we currently have and towards a future based on conservation and preservation for future generations. I honestly believe that only a cultural shift like this will have long-lasting effects on this nation's consumerism, as right now our country is happy walking straight over the edge of a precipice.
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