**• Wadi Rum Nature Reserve in southern Jordan**

My name is Tameem Muhsen and I am an intern at Michael Mobbs’ Sustainable House. I am also a Sustainability student at Arizona State University, completing my final semester prior to graduation.

What differentiates me from the other students at ASU and employees at Sustainable House is that I live in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is in the Levant region of Western Asian, located at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia. I wish to take advantage of my experience of living in Jordan to open up to the readers of this blog the differences and similarities of being on this side of the world.

The climate here ranges between a desert climate and a Mediterranean climate. Northern parts of the kingdom are green, while southern regions are arid. The summers here are sunny and hot, and the winters get quite cold due to the altitude (~1,000 meters/3280 ft).

Jordan is a semi-arid country that lacks adequate precipitation. Due to poor infrastructure and lack of water, the mains water is delivered once a week on Sundays. Each apartment building and house has water tanks in which the water is delivered - this means that there is no constant supply of water from the government.

I used the Nature Conservancy Carbon Calculator to calculate my carbon footprint in Amman.

I live a consumption lifestyle similar to that of an American’s, not to that of a Jordanian’s.

According to the calculator, 27 tons CO2/year is my total footprint. Based off The World Bank’s data, The American average is 16.4 tons CO2/year, and the global average is 4.9 tons CO2/year. My total footprint is 29% better than the American average, but still much higher than the global average.

**• My carbon footprint calculator results**

The apartment I live in is connected to the main electricity grid, however my water heater is solar powered as you can see in the picture. I hope one day to disconnect from the mains electricity and depend on solar panels to fully sustain my energy use.

All my appliances are modern and energy-saving. This includes the refrigerator, microwave, water heater, air fryer, TV and so on. Furthermore, all the lights in my house are LEDs. Instead of a HVAC system, I have split unit ACs in each room. The ACs use an inverter system that make them energy saving. I also have the option to only turn on the AC of the room I am currently in, instead of having a HVAC system which will force me to heat/cool the entire house. The heating system is diesel powered.

**• Water tanks and solar power water heaters**

When it comes to travel, I drive a hybrid vehicle with a 42 combined mpg. I found my hybrid vehicle to consume much less energy than my old vehicle which ran entirely on gasoline. Purchasing an electric vehicle or depending on public transport would be a better alternative to my hybrid vehicle.

Food is a large contributor to my carbon footprint.

I’m super big on exercising and working out daily. My workouts consist of high volume and intensity, and therefore require an extensive intake of protein. I eat a lot of animal-based protein which contributes heavily to my carbon footprint.

I can switch to a vegetarian diet but I don’t ever see myself doing so. I avoid sugars and refined carbohydrates and grains.

What I enjoy about living in Jordan is the fact that the fruits and vegetables are all organic and locally grown. This means that I do not have to worry about going to a farmer’s market as all produce stores are identical in their standards. The downside of this however is that fruits and vegetables are ONLY available during the season they’re naturally grown in. This forces people to have to freeze a lot of produce they wish to eat later in the year. The livestock here in Jordan is also grass fed. Lamb is consumed here more than beef, and it is a very common sighting to spot sheep herders amongst the cities and neighborhoods (as you can see in the pictures).

I have never tracked my food waste before, but I am going to be using the Coolseats Food Waste Calculator to do so. I am a firm believer of developing a compost.

Below I’ve graphed and put in tables and maps the different energy and other uses in Jordan, the U.S. and Australia. The map of U.S. electricity prices by state is interesting. And the table showing electricity use in Australian states by category is interesting, too.

I notice Australia has the highest electricity prices.

During this internship I’ll let you know in another post the impact of my food diet and how I compost to save waste and pollution. I’ll also reflect on the different use of electricity in the three countries. Early days in this internship!

Tameem