So, I’ve come to find that being in the type of shape that would allow for your body to be rolled from one place to the next is not exactly optimum for  long day hikes.

Luckily the CELL community I’m living in is rich with people willing to lighten the load, literally – the same dude keeps carrying my video camera and tripod for me when we go for steep climbs.

Shout out to Nate (you rule, broseph!)

With this in mind, when my instructors tasked me with coming up with a way I want to challenge myself to become a more effective ecological citizen while I’m here, challenging myself physically for the rest of the semester is exactly what came to mind. I figure the more apt I make myself for physical exertion the deeper my connection to the Earth will become – instead of getting sweaty palms and a chihuahua-esque nervous tremor when I’m told it’s time to pull out the trekking poles and explore, I will hopefully grow a healthier excitement than what has thus far come to pass.

Such excitement I hope will transfer to my daughter when I get home…

The way I figure it, the better acquainted I become with my body and the outside world the better example I can set for her in terms of showing how important it is to get out into nature to find a relationship with the world around us. I think taking on this challenge will undoubtedly help me become a better ecological citizen because I’ll be raising my daughter to have a solid, much more thorough respect for her environment. I can talk to her until I’m blue in the face about how important saving the Earth from environmental degradation is but if I don’t help her to connect this thought with what could be lost by encouraging her to enjoy and experience it in the first place all I’m trying to teach her might be lost.

And speaking of her: I’ve started taking her stuffed lion (WeeWo the Wion) out on some of my adventures and sending the pictures home to her so she can live vicariously through him. Here he is enjoying some of Iceland’s many beautiful waterfalls and waterways:

And here he is during a hungry moment snacking on some ice cap:

Man, this place is intoxicating – and I don’t just mean Iceland, I mean this entire rock in the sky, which is why I was thrilled to learn a little about what it means to measure my ecological footprint during class today.

It’s easy to take for granted the resources we use up without ever really considering what it takes to utilize them. To become a good steward of this place equipped with the knowledge needed to tackle some of the biggest environmental threats like climate change, the first step is an awareness of our own impacts.

To find out yours click here to take a nifty and quick quiz that will not only tell you what your footprint looks like, but what you can do to give it a lighter outline. Share your results in the comments below! (Hint: I take up 4.1 planets!)

Also, until next time, stay green and enjoy this here:

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