Living in Chicago has its perks: Great food, great people, always something interesting to do. These things are just the tip of the iceberg when living here, but perhaps one thing that many people don’t really talk about is that living in Chicago has helped me reduce my carbon footprint.

I know it sounds “bougie,” maybe even a little bit extra. But last quarter here at DePaul, I took a course all about how the media manipulates the public on climate change. And as a result, reducing my carbon footprint has been somewhat of a commitment that I’ve been undertaking.

But I could guess you could say I have had a head start while living here. In Chicago, and especially at DePaul, many people here make it a priority to be as less harmful to the environment. Therefore, it’s probably easier to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle here than, say, a small town in Iowa.

What do I mean by that? For one thing, Chicago has one of the best transit systems in the world (I’m being somewhat sarcastic saying that), the CTA. Whenever I have to get to somewhere, nine times out of ten I always check that it’s somewhere in proximity to the L or the bus.

Moreover, I’ve cut the majority of my usual meat and dairy consumption out of my diet. Here at DePaul, veganism and vegetarianism is a popular diet among students, so this was a relatively easy adjustment.

And of course, I credit the class I took for having me engage in more ways to reduce my carbon footprint even further. Reducing your footprint is more than just taking public transit and cutting down on consuming animal products. Bringing a reusable bag to shop for groceries or clothes instead of using paper and plastic bags. In fact, here in Chicago, there’s a 7-cent bag tax for every plastic bag you use. Instead of drinking from countless bottles of Aquafina for water, use a reusable water bottle. Recycle anything that can be whenever possible.

Coming home, it seems people have noticed that my pledge to reducing my carbon footprint is evident. I often ask if carpooling is an option, or can I get there easily by public transit. Some have even asked if I lost weight because of my crackdown on animal products. I become a bit more annoyed than usual when I see people throw away plastic or extra food.

In the end, the punchline of this article is this: The world we live in is suffering on the daily. Though it may seem climate change’s toll on the planet is irreversible that does not mean we can continue letting our carbon footprint get worse. Some simple steps and changes to our first-world lifestyles can go a long way in curbing the catastrophes that could ensue from climate change.