Personal and Professional Footprint - Essay Example

In fact, according to the results, we would require at least 4.2 planets if all people in the world were living my lifestyle. I was shocked by this because I have always regarded my life as modest and not too demanding in terms of natural resources. Of the four carbon footprint tests that I toot, two of them indicated that my carbon footprint is above national average. For instance, my housing footprint was 31.31 while the national average is only 28.36. My goods and services footprint is 67.78 compared to the national average of 62.06. I not only find these statistics as relevant but I also find them shocking and this means that I need to review my lifestyle.

The industry has a number of processes and equipment that are associated with carbon footprint. This is caused by the number and type of machines, materials and processes that professionals in this industry have to use in order to be able to do their work. For instance, biologists have to use a number of chemicals for the various experiments they carry out. These chemicals have a number of negative impacts on the environment either directly or indirectly (Matthew, 2012). For instance, the chemical are removed from their natural places of existence and this has a negative impact on the environment.

At the same time, the residues from these chemicals after they have been used in the laboratories also have a negative impact on the environment if the disposal is not done the right way. The other issue is the machinery that is used in the industry. This machinery consumes a lot of electricity and this definitely has an impact on the environment especially when the power source is not a renewable source. Electronic microscopes and other such machinery can consume a lot of power every year thus expanding the carbon footprint on the planet.

At the same time, the manufacturing of these machinery and other laboratory equipment raging from the simple items as