“Every dream leaves a footprint. Some cannot be walked back.”
The warning was etched into a gate between Sydney and my exchange to Leeds. I read it, long enough to understand, not enough to obey. Then the dream rushed in. In the UK, I imagined a braver Cynthia, more spontaneous and less afraid that Leeds would see who she wanted to leave behind.
I reached for the gate,
“I wish for exchange to change me.”
In seconds, it gave me the flight. Sydney to the UK, a dream carried by fuel. I couldn’t avoid that first crossing, but the gate noticed how quickly I accepted Barcelona because it was cheap, Dublin for the weekend and Copenhagen before I had even learnt Leeds. Each stop eased my fear that stillness meant wasting exchange. Behind each flight, dark footprints pressed themselves into words: flights contribute to 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions and 4% of global warming.
Next came the Tailor, stitched from panic and trends. A trench coat, boots, parachute pants; outfits for versions I hadn’t met yet.
“You have to keep up,” she whispered.
Annoyingly, she knew my weakness. I wasn’t dressing for weather, but from fear of looking out of place. Then the seams leaked. Water from the cuffs, dye from the hems, threads unravelling until fabric confessed: fashion and textiles produce 2 to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and use 215 trillion litres of water each year.
Then came Hunger, arriving when cooking felt tiring and ordering in felt easier than admitting I was overwhelmed. It handed me takeaway, plastic and half-used groceries. Waste rose until Leeds almost disappeared, while food warning labels gathered into a sentence: EU food waste hit 59.2 million tonnes in 2022, about 132 kilograms per person.
I finally understood the warning. The gate couldn’t pull carbon footprints back into the ground or unmake what had left my hands. It wasn’t asking me to save the world, only to choose better from here.
Instead of fast fashion wardrobe, I thrifted and recycled my clothes at Vinted or Depop, aligning to University of Leeds’ ‘Living it Green’ message to reduce, reuse and recycle. The Tailor loosened her grip, and SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, became a coat I chose not to buy. Instead of collecting cities, I used Google Maps, First Bus and Trainline for buses, trains and walking. The footprints didn’t vanish, but they stopped growing, and SDG 13, Climate Action, became the route I chose after the flight I couldn’t undo. Instead of forgotten food, I chose Too Good To Go and meal planning. Hunger quietened. Instead of an abandoned room, I used the Moving Out campaign and British Heart Foundation donation banks to keep items from rubbish. SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, became something I practised in Leeds and carried home.
I thought exchange would make my life look bigger. Now I want it to teach me what enough looks like.
References:
https://accommodation.leeds.ac.uk/info/6/living-in-a-residence/31/sustainable-living
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
https://sustainability.leeds.ac.uk/
https://sustainability.leeds.ac.uk/moving-out-sort-it-out/
https://ourworldindata.org/global-aviation-emissions
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/food-waste/
https://www.unep.org/technical-highlight/sustainable-fashion-take-centre-stage-zero-waste-day
