Ecological Footprint: Effect of the Pandemic?

Rebecca SE Tan

7 November 2022

I am currently reflecting on my ecological footprint pre-, during and post- pandemic for a module I am taking, and thought I'd present my own self-assessment here.

Pre-Pandemic

My pre-pandemic footprint stands at 5.1gha, slightly lower than Singapore’s average of 5.93. My largest contributor is food at 2.2 gha, followed by services, mobility, goods, and shelter respectively.

I believe my high contribution by food could be because I wasn’t yet conscious of my food choices, such as still eating beef at the time. In addition, living in Singapore meant a very low percentage of locally grown food, which I had placed tentatively placed at 8%.

Services is probably also high because of the high electricity usage in Singapore, and the fact that less than 5% of it is sourced from renewable energy.

Of note – I think the efficient public transport in Singapore reduced the mobility factor significantly, though I still travelled for about 5hr on trains per week for school. During the occassional car trips with my family - which is a large carpool of 6 people – our hybrid car model also helped to increase fuel efficiency.

Vacations wise, I've been privileged to visit many countries, most of which very accessible to Singapore – Malaysia is only an hour away by bus, Indonesia three hours by ferry, while countries such as Australia, Taiwan, Japan, or Vietnam are less than seven hours away by flight. That said, I have also been to Spain and China before, which significantly increases the flight average.

At the time, goods factor was very low because I did very little shopping. As a very thrifty person, I was still using some clothing and a pair of shoes that I had since I was 12.

Shelter was also low (relatively) because of Singapore's small land size, and sharing between a household of six.

During the Lockdown

During the covid circuit-breaker in Singapore (between April - June 2020), my ecological footprint decreased from 5.1 gha to 4.1gha.

Of note, goods probably increased because of the amount of takeaway packaging during the time (couldn't dine in at hawker centres). In addition, shelter also increased because we moved into a rented house that was bigger by about 1.5 times.

Mobility, on the other hand, decreased significantly from the lack of transport. Beyond the lockdown, this could also be attributed to the fact that I was not schooling at the time – I had just graduated from Junior College (sixth form equivalent) and was waiting for university to start in August. That said, the lockdown did shift my volunteer activities online.

Post-Pandemic

As my lifestyle in Singapore and in the UK is quite different, I have decided to split this section into two. In both cases, however, my ecological footprint rebounded significantly, particularly in terms of mobility.

In Singapore, this may be attributed to my trip to America - my longest flight ever. This trip was probably influenced by our lack of travels for the last 3 years, resulting in a greater willingness of my parents to spend & fly further away, but also because my brother had just graduated from his university in America.

Similarly, my mobility footprint is very high in the UK because I… flew here, which took about 14 hours. (And I have to fly back!) As an exchange student, while my footprint may be reduced because I live on campus, I also increase my emissions when I explore new places in the UK, on almost every alternate weekend.

The food factor decreased for both. This is likely more attributed to my studies in Environmental Science than the pandemic, as my classmates and I tried to reduce beef and meat intake, at some point implementing meatless Mondays etcetera. In the UK, I see much more (tasty and affordable) vegan and vegetarian options, such as halloumi cheese wraps or vegan yoghurt. There are also much more pescatarian options, meaning I consume more fish and seafood as an alternative to other meats. Not to mention the larger percentage of locally grown food for e.g. milk and produce, whether in supermarkets or at farmer markets where I shop.

All in all, my ecological footprint has decreased during the pandemic but rebounded after. This increase, however, is unlikely to be completely representative of my lifestyle going forward, due to the one-off events of going America or coming to the UK for my studies. Still, even disregarding those events, I am still way off in keeping within the resources Earth regenerates in a year. I hope to continue reducing my ecological footprint by being more mindful of my food, services and goods consumption.