Humans have had an enormous negative impact on the environment, some of the biggest issues being carbon emissions and trash. Working to heal the environment is not something one country can do on its own. The Paris Agreement was created between countries of the United Nations as a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Hersher, 2019). A part of this agreement was to help poorer countries implement changes toward this goal. The United States announced towards the end of 2019 that they would be withdrawing from the agreement, while France is still a part of it. Based on what I experienced abroad, it is clear that France is attempting to reduce its impact on the environment and give its citizens the opportunity as well.

          While studying abroad in Paris, I noticed some fundamental differences in the way they deal with the environment. The main difference was the large public transportation systems, including the metro and bus. I used these systems every day, along with walking, to get around the city. While many large cities in the United States have public transportation, I believe there could definitely be more. Having public transportation reduced the need for everyone to have a car, lowering the carbon emission levels. Along with lower greenhouse gases, I also noticed that Paris prevented and got rid of waste in a different way. My apartment had separate recycling bins for plastic, cardboard, and glass. The use of plastic bags was also almost nonexistent. Grocery stores charged extra for each plastic bag used, so most people just brought reusable bags. Reusable bags were also useful at local markets, where plastic bags were not even an option.  

         Local markets are something the United States lack in numbers. Many of the local markets in Paris had farmers drive their produce directly from the farm. There are many markets throughout the city, one in almost every neighborhood. While living in Paris, I was able to get all of my weekly groceries from these markets. Eating local is something I find very hard to do in Columbia, South Carolina. In my Environmental Health and Pollution (ENHS 321) course the professor tasked us with eating only locally grown and sourced food for the weekend. Eating local produce not only supports local businesses, but has a smaller environmental impact because the food does not have to be transported as far. One place I found locally grown food was at the Soda City Market, kind of similar to the markets in France. This made me reflect on my time in Paris and how I felt like I was living a more environmentally conscious lifestyle while there.

         During one of my ENHS 321 lectures, my professor mentioned the term “ecological footprint”, and defined it as a person’s impact on the environment and how many earths it would take to sustain their lives. I decided to look into the idea further and I came across an ecological footprint calculator; it asked questions about your home, car, and food. This test opened my eyes to many things concerning the environment I don’t think about often, such as the food I am eating or the type of house I live in. I thought it would be interesting to use this ecological footprint calculator to calculate for my lifestyle here and in Paris. My lifestyle in Paris had a smaller ecological footprint, like I had presumed. In the US, there would need to be approximately 2.8 earths to sustain everyone that lived like me. My carbon footprint was 62% of my total ecological footprint. Whereas in Paris, only 1.8 earths were needed and my carbon footprint was 56% of my total footprint. I did not drive, lived in an apartment, and ate local, all things that reduced my footprint. One thing that stands out is I did not have to go out of my way or make an extra effort to do those things. It was easy to do based on where I was living.

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      My time studying abroad made me realize that if I want to lower my footprint at home, I will have to start doing more than recycling. I realize just reducing my waste is not going fix the environment, but everyone should do their part to help. I can eat organic and shop local, a part of the ecological footprint, but changes need to happen on a larger scale. Countries should be working together and learning from each other to reduce their impact. The different strategies I witnessed in France were great, but it only opened my eyes to how much more needs to be done if we are to save our earth and its resources.

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