Sustainability: Ecological Footprint
In order to live, people consume what nature offers. So, every one of us has an impact on our planet. This is not bad as long as we don't take more from the Earth than it has to offer. But are we taking more than we should? The Ecological Footprint measures what we consume of nature.
The Ecological Footprint is a tool that can help us see a little more clearly our effect on our planet.
It includes the land used to supply all our energy needs; the land used by all the roads, buildings, parking lots, etc. that we depend on; land used to grow our food; forest land providing us with wood and paper; and land necessary to dispose of our waste.
How big is your footprint? The average American uses 30 acres to support his or her current lifestyle. This corresponds to the size of 30 football fields put together. In comparison, the average Canadian lives on a footprint one third less, and the average Italian on 55 percent less.
Could everyone on the planet live like North Americans do today? Nature provides an average of five acres of bioproductive space for every person in the world. With a global population of 10 billion for the year 2050, the available space will be reduced to three acres. This should also give room for the 25 million other species. Already, humanity's footprint may be over 30 percent larger than what the world has to offer, as it consumes more than what nature can provide.
What is your ecological footprint? Here are some sites that you can use to illustrate your own impact and help you understand what the impact of your neighborhood might be.
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http://www.esb.utexas.edu/drnrm/EcoFtPrnt/Calculate
We invite you to calculate a rough estimate of your ecological footprint by answering
20 easy questions. You can calculate your footprint on the Web or, if you want to map
your footprint in more detail, and are willing to track your consumption for a month or
even longer, you can download our most recent household calculation spreadsheet.
http://www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/intro
This is a very basic questionnaire to calculate a quick and relatively
accurate ecological footprint for an individual living in the U.S. There are 13
questions divided into three sections (food, transportation, and housing).
http://www.allspecies.org/neigh/nbrfootp
This site applies the ecological footprint idea to a Kansas City neighborhood.