my ecological footprint essay

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Assessing My Ecological Footprint: a Journey Towards Sustainability

• Categories: Ecology Environmental Ethics

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Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1163 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, measuring the ecological footprint, identifying the environmental impact, steps towards a sustainable footprint, works cited.

• Energy Efficiency: Transitioning to renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind power and adopting energy-efficient technologies can significantly reduce my energy-related ecological footprint.
• Transportation Choices: Opting for eco-friendly transportation options, such as biking, walking, carpooling, or using public transit, can minimize the carbon emissions associated with personal vehicle use.
• Dietary Changes: Embracing a plant-based diet or reducing meat and dairy consumption can lower the environmental impact of my dietary choices, particularly the food-related portion of my ecological footprint.
• Waste Reduction: Prioritizing waste reduction through practices like recycling, composting, and minimizing single-use plastics can significantly reduce the waste-related aspect of my ecological footprint.
• Water Conservation: Implementing water-saving measures, such as using low-flow fixtures and reducing water wastage, can reduce my water footprint.
• Sustainable Consumer Choices: Being mindful of the environmental impact of products I purchase and opting for environmentally friendly options can reduce the goods and services portion of my ecological footprint.
• Eco-Friendly Housing: Making energy-efficient upgrades to my home, improving insulation, and using sustainable building materials can lower the housing-related aspect of my footprint.
• Carbon Offsetting: Supporting carbon offset programs and initiatives that sequester or reduce greenhouse gas emissions can help mitigate the impact of my carbon footprint.
• Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. E. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. New Society Publishers.
• Global Footprint Network. (n.d.). Ecological Footprint Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/
• National Geographic. (n.d.). Ecological Footprint. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ecological-footprint/
• Ewing, B., & Hawkins, T. R. (2008). Assessing the sustainability of products and processes: A framework and its applications. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(24), 7660-7665.
• WWF. (n.d.). Living Planet Report. Retrieved from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/living-planet-report-2020
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2018). Global warming of 1.5°C: Summary for policymakers. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/
• United Nations Development Programme. (2020). Human Development Report 2020: The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/137506
• Sustainable Development Solutions Network. (n.d.). SDG Index and Dashboards. Retrieved from https://sdgindex.org/
• United Nations Environment Programme. (2019). Emissions Gap Report 2019. Retrieved from https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2019
• Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-materials-management-non-hazardous-materials-and-waste-management-hierarchy

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What Is Your Ecological Footprint Essay

The footprint one can leave on the earth, to bear the burden of being intelligent, mission is possible.

Nowadays, there is a debate about the impact of humankind on climatic changes. Indeed, people may have been acting violently towards the planet by polluting it with great amounts of plastic waste and emission of gases, which led to the greenhouse effect and as a consequence, global warming in the long run. However, some people claim that not only the overgrowing industrialization as evidence of constant development of human civilization is to blame, but also the Earth processes beyond one’s control. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to prove that human activities cannot be advocated this way. It is the responsibility of intelligent life on the planet to become wise keepers of the Earth and protect the environment.

Unfortunately, most people are in the habit of taking the environment for granted. Therefore, they wake up, clean their teeth without turning off the running water, and commute to downtown by car or by bus, not thinking about fumes produced by the machine during the trip. They are even likely to use fan heaters in winter instead of wearing a jumper. Such irresponsibility is hardly conducive to the safety of Mother Nature, because habitual violations of ecological rules may bring about a catastrophe in the future. If one tends to consume water lavishly, there is a strong possibility of unexpected water shortage in the long run (Colin, 2016). The same concerns air and soil pollution as there is an obvious limit to natural resources. Nevertheless, these days one can investigate the character of their consumption with the help of such tools as Ecological Footprint Calculator ( What is your ecological footprint, n.d.). Using this quiz, one is sure to know what ways they may influence the environment every day by simply not taking into account petty, yet harmful actions.

Since it was a challenge for me to cope with the negative results of the quiz, it would be better to admit that carbon footprint turned out to be of most surprise. I have never expected such an immense number of CO2 emissions in tones per year, namely 21.3. It is illustrative of the amount of air pollution in the world in general. Another issue to be concerned about is the number of Earths humanity would need if everyone lived like me – 7,6 green planets with oceans, jungles, and suitable atmosphere to provide food and shelter for the whole legion of the Earth ignorant. Indeed, not a single question was answered in a way I could be proud of. The one which could be considered to be at least tolerant is the question about generating trash because I reported the lower amount of it compared to the neighbors.

Nevertheless, there was one great question worth dwelling upon. Thinking about the greenhouse effect, the problem of animal-based is likely to be omitted. Therefore, the process of producing meat and dairy products should be given more attention from those people, who have no inclination to go in for veganism in the near future (McMichael, Butler & Dixon, 2015). To go deeper into the point, one can remember how way travel by train across summer pastures belonging to farms where herds of cows are raised. The smell of wildflowers suddenly changes to the nasty smell of animal waste products. Each and every farm may leave such an ecological footprint that would require dozens of planets to provide for their needs, according to the calculator.

Admittedly, there might be a desire to shift the responsibility onto anyone else who cannot be punished. In this case, it is possible to remember, that the Earth has never been the same and has overcome thousands of catastrophes throughout its existence time. However, according to the recent studies, “In 1988 the leading climate scientist James Hansen, of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with three other senior researchers, testified to a U.S. Congressional committee that it was 99 percent certain that the warming trend in Earth’s temperature that was then observed was not a natural variation but was caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases” (Butler, 2018). The results of this study serve as proper evidence of how human civilization affects the planet. Moreover, no pseudoscientific hypotheses about bio-contamination without human involvement should ever take place after it.

It is a well-known fact that the Earth does have its cycles as far as tectonic processes are concerned. Even the Moon influences the ocean tides. However, no planet is likely to intoxicate its oceans with tones of plastic, invent cars and factories to fill the air with emissions, produce toys varnished with glue to poison babies, and so on. It seems to be not intelligent enough for such deliberate self-destruction. In contrast, human beings are highly likely capable of such crime, but the question is whether they will prove to be smart enough to correct the mistakes of the disgraceful past.

Indeed, something should be done in order to eliminate various repercussions of human activities before it is too late. Probably, the key to joint success is to unite against the overconsumption of natural resources (Engelbrecht, 2017). Considering the Ecological Footprint Calculator results, several tips may be offered for those who are ready to become defenders or at least prudent users of our planet. First of all, it would be better to give up animal-based food once and for all because one day, a lack of popularity may force this robust industry to shut down. Another idea runs as follows: to travel on public transportation less than usually with the help of electric cars or even cheap bicycles, which would be beneficial to one’s health. The same concerns modern conveniences like running water or central hitting, which are better to be moderately used. Last but not least, different tools to estimate one’s own impact may be applied from time to time to implement the habit of saving resources among people. According to Newman and Meyer (2020), such devices are very popular nowadays. And they have proved to be efficient enough to use them as a weapon against current consumer trends. The ecological calculator may serve as an excellent example of it as it has shown the mistakes one tends to make because of being carefree about environmental issues. However, not to forget is that people living in developing countries may face difficulties while taking up new lifestyle because they seem to have not enough money even to by bicycle. The same can be attributed to the holders of sweatshops there, who have neither money nor the opportunity to let their workers use only that amount of water.

To conclude, humanity bears the burden of being the only intelligent form of life on the surface of the Earth. This is the reason why each and everybody has to take care of it, doing their best in order to prevent ecological catastrophes of the future (Karl et al., 2015). Unfortunately, not all people have enough time and money to buy ecologically friendly food and vehicles. Still, it is worthy of trying to make even small steps towards common welfare because this work is to be done with joint efforts. Hopefully, I will manage to become a part of the responsible society soon.

Colin, D. B. (2018). Climate change, health and existential risks to civilization: A comprehensive review (1989–2013). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 15 (10), 2266. Web.

Engelbrecht, H. (2017). 250 years of industrial consumption and transformation of nature: Impacts on global ecosystems and life. Bentham Science Publishers.

Karl, T. R., Arguez, A., Huang, B., Lawrimore, J. H., McMahoh J.R., Menne, M. J., Peterson T. C., Vose, R. S., & Zhang H. M. (2015). Possible artefacts of data biases in the recent global surface warming hiatus. Science, 348 (6242), 1469-1472. Web.

McMichael, A.J., Butler, C.D., & Dixon, J. (2015). Climate change, food systems and population health risks in their eco-social context. Public Health , 129 (10), 1361-1368. Web.

Newman, P., & Meyer, K. (2020). Planetary accounting: Quantifying how to live within planetary limits at different scales of human activity. Springer Singapore.

What is your ecological footprint. (n.d.). Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, December 13). What Is Your Ecological Footprint. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-is-your-ecological-footprint/

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Good Example OF My Ecological Footprint Self Reflection Essay

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Environment , Footprint , Sustainability , Environmental Justice , Food , Shopping , Internet , Ecology

Published: 2020/09/15

Footprint 2

After taking the Personal Ecological Footprint Quiz online, I was surprised about my effect on the environment. I scored 8.3 global hectares. I did not think I would score this high. I will examine the causes of this statistic, what are the causes and how I can reduce my number. According to the Global Footprint Network, an ecological footprint is the relationship between bio capacity and human demand. The ratio is expressed as the number of hectares that are needed for one person’s consumption and waste (Global Footprint Network: Advancing the Science of Sustainability). That is the amount of land used for growing food, extracting energy, waste products and creating other items a human needs (clothes, furniture). The measurement was published by William Rees in 1992 and further developed by Mathis Wackernagel (Sustainable Sonoma County). The Global Footprint Network offers an online quiz to determine my own footprint. I answered a few questions about the foods I eat, how I obtain transportation and the type of building I live in. Based on the information I provided, I earned a Footprint score of 8.3 hectares. The average in Calgary is 8.6, and the Canadian average is 5.8. I am pretty much right at the average mark. This year, it will take 8.3 hectares of land to sustain me. This is the amount of land needed to grow and mine resources in order for me to maintain my lifestyle. I must admit that I was surprised. I really thought that I was very aware of the environment and my actions upon it. I thought I was making pretty good decisions when it came to consumer choices and lifestyle. Apparently I can do much better. The quiz gave me a few general options where I can begin and I have thought of several other ways that I can reduce my statistic.

Footprint 3

The term sustainability is closely related the ecological footprint. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, sustainability is “creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.” In other words, what we use up now we must replace for the future. It makes perfect sense; farmers have done it for thousands of years, plant one season of crops, consume them then plant the next crop. Cutting down trees is not such a bad thing if we replant them at the same rate. Recycling glass, aluminums, plastics and paper is the same concept. From the single human consumer to major companies, sustainability has become standard practice. Pepsico has a whole website dedicated to its focus on sustainability, “We anticipated the need to take environmental stewardship to a whole new level at the start of the new millennium, recognizing that environmental sustainability was becoming a core component of sustainable success. We began to put in place the systems, processes and metrics needed to drive continuous improvement in energy and water conservation as well as packaging and waste reduction.” (Pepsico) Sustainability and out environmental footprint is everyone’s concern. Things that I can do to improve my footprint score and practice better sustainability include both shopping, travel and waste activities. When it comes to grocery shopping, I really need to stay away from prepackaged convenience foods and start to shop for more natural foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not only better for the environment; they are healthier for me as. A good place for me to shop would be the farmers’ market when it is in season. Buying produce and other goods from local producers helps to eliminate the effects of transporting food. Purchasing fresh food and preparing it myself also eliminates packaging and energy. Purchasing products

Footprint 4

such as paper and household goods that are made from recycled material is also a positive was to affect my score. There is a myriad of items produced from recycled goods, it just takes time to read the label and packaging. I need to reduce the amount of meat I eat as. I really do eat too much. I also need to increase the amount of fruit, vegetables and whole grains I consume. This diet is better for my health and the environment. When it comes to my waste products at home, I have to admit that I get a little lazy. I really need to be more aware and careful about recycling all of the items that I can. Sometimes I get lazy and toss a soda can into the trash rather than the recycling container. Also by being aware of the amount of packaging that I have to throw away when I purchase and item. It is far better to buy a large bag of chips rather then a package full of also packaged individual servings. These snack sizes offer twice the amount of waste for the same amount of food. My parents use to always yell, “Close the door! I’m not heating the whole neighborhood!” As a kid, I really didn’t understand that. My parents wanted to save energy to save money. Now society knows that saving energy saves money and helps improve the environment and cut down on our ecological footprint. According to tips from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, saving power is very effective at reducing my footprint. They suggest: turning off lights when not home; unplug items you are not using and especially if going away; maintain air conditioning at 75 degrees or higher and heat at 68 degrees or lower. Change air filters monthly and use CFL light bulbs. If purchasing a new appliance, be sure that it is Energy Star rated. The way a get around needs to be changed as well. I tend to drive alone quite often. It would be better for me to commute with someone else. Public transportation is also a big improvement

Footprint 5

over driving alone everywhere. It would also be better for the environment and my health if a rode a bike or walked when I could. Taking the quiz really opened my eyes to the giant footprint I am leaving on this planet year after year. Most of the changes I need to make to improve my score are really not too difficult and certainly not traumatic. Talking about sustainability and environmental footprints does not help the environment: action and changes in lifestyle do.

“Ecological Footprint”. Sustainable Sonoma County Retrieved from: http://www.sustainablesonoma.org/keyconcepts/footprint.html “Environmental Sustainability” Pepsico Retrieved from: http://www.pepsico.com/Purpose/Environmental-Sustainability Global Footprint Network: Advancing the Science of Sustainability. Retrieved from: http://footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/footprint_science_introduction/ “How to Reduce Your Ecological Footprint” St. Mary’s College of Maryland Retrieved from: https://www.smcm.edu/sustainability/_assets/pdf/greenlivingtips1.pdf “What is Sustainability”? United States Environmental Protection Agency Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm#sustainability

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How Big is My Ecological Footprint? Assessing the Sustainability of Our Lifestyles

Each of us consumes some of the Earth’s products and services every day. How much we take depends on the ways in which we satisfy our needs and wants — the many habits that together create our lifestyle. We can ask ourselves these questions to get a better sense of what these habits are: How much water do I use on a typical day? What do I eat and how much do I eat? How much food do I waste? How do I transport myself and how far do I go? How much clothing and footwear do I have and how often do I replace it? What and how much stuff do I buy? How much energy and materials are required to keep me dry and warm/cool? How much trash do I produce? How much land and energy is used for my recreational activities?

What is Your Ecological Footprint?

Our answers to these questions reflect the demand that each of us places on nature. In the 1990s, sustainability gurus Mathis Wackernagel and Bill Rees coined the term “ecological footprint” to refer to the load or demand that we place on the Earth’s resources. An ecological footprint is a measure of how much of the Earth’s biologically productive land and water is needed to produce our food, material goods, and energy, and to absorb our waste.

"Having students calculate their ecological footprint gives them a concrete understanding of their own personal impact on the Earth’s systems and offers a means of assessing the sustainability of their lifestyles."

Environmental and sustainability education (sometimes referred to as Education for Sustainable Development or ESD for short) is widely viewed as an essential part of the solution to building a sustainable future. But as most of us realize, sustainable development is a complex, messy and multi-faceted problem (sometimes termed a complex "wicked" problem to illustrate just how complicated it really is) that requires a good understanding of the scientific and socio-political aspects of sustainability to develop and implement effective solutions on local, regional and global scales.

Engaging Children in Sustainability

So, given the mind-boggling complexity of environmental and sustainability problems, how do we introduce children in a way that slowly eases them in and encourages personal engagement? Is there an effective entry point for students of any age to begin grappling with sustainability issues in their own lives?

"Calculating one’s ecological footprint reinforces the notion that sustainability is a journey and not a destination and that it is participatory, not a spectator sport. It serves as a simple guide to living, working, and playing in ways that don’t cost the Earth."

Well, thankfully there is. Calculating your ecological footprint and carbon emissions just got a whole lot simpler due to online tools and apps designed to do just that. Having students calculate their ecological footprint gives them a concrete understanding of their own personal impact on the Earth’s systems and offers a means of assessing the sustainability of their lifestyles. More than that, engaging students in an ecological footprint analysis elicits curiosity, enthusiasm, and genuine interest in taking action to reduce the demand they place on nature. Students like the fact that the analysis focuses on their own lives, and they understand its clear message: that their choices — and hence they, themselves — can make a difference. Calculating one’s ecological footprint reinforces the notion that sustainability is a journey and not a destination and that it is participatory, not a spectator sport. It serves as a simple guide to living, working, and playing in ways that don’t cost the Earth.

Nowadays a variety of well-built ecological footprint calculators exist, some of which are specifically built for children (rather than more complex adult based footprint calculators). One of the simplest to use is the Zero Footprint Youth Calculator , which breaks lifestyle factors down into five basic categories: transport, food, home, use and waste. Students answer a series of related questions and make commitments to reduce their ecological impacts and carbon emissions based on targets. The results provide a breakdown of personal carbon emissions (tonnes of CO2) vs. the global average, as well as the set reductions you have committed to based on your goals. Additionally, the results show how many Earth's are required to sustain your current lifestyle vs. the global average.

Bringing Sustainability to Life

Importantly, this entry point to sustainability is not designed to name and shame children with high ecological footprints. It's simply a way to bring sustainability to life and direct learning and discussion in a constructive direction.

"Engaging students in an ecological footprint analysis elicits curiosity, enthusiasm, and genuine interest in taking action to reduce the demand they place on nature."

A few year's ago, I facilitated this activity among a class of 10-11 year old children and they were really engrossed in the process of making their own ecological footprint calculations. It turned out that one of my students had an ecological footprint which was leaps and bounds greater than the rest of her class. Essentially, her parents lived and worked in Southeast Asia, had three residences dotted around the world and an extremely high annual flight mileage. Like many of the other students, she'd never really considered that the way she lived could impact upon the environment in so many ways and she was deeply upset. But as we discussed our findings, she began to realize she could do something about it and rather than crying, she began to get excited at the prospect of making real-world change and talking to her parents about living a more sustainable lifestyle.

This is the learning outcome that we are looking for: the conscious empowerment of children to take responsibility for their actions through making greener lifestyle choices in their own family lives.

So try doing some ecological footprint calculations with your children and explore ways to make a difference today!

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10 Ecological Footprint Examples

Sourabh Yadav (MA)

Sourabh Yadav is a freelance writer & filmmaker. He studied English literature at the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University. You can find his work on The Print, Live Wire, and YouTube.

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Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

The ecological footprint is a way of measuring human impact on the environment. 

It calculates the biologically productive land and sea area required to support (provide resources and absorb waste) a given population. The ecological footprint is expressed in “global hectares” (GHA) and can be measured at individual, national, or global levels. 

The concept of ecological footprint goes hand in hand with that of biocapacity. They help us compare how much natural capital we are using and how much is being regenerated. So, they are important tools for measuring the sustainability of human activities.

EF also helps us understand the differences in resource consumption across and within different regions, which we will discuss later. First, let us learn about the concept in more detail and look at some examples.

Ecological Footprint Definition

Wackernagel and Rees defined the ecological footprint as a tool that

“…measures the human impact on the biosphere by estimating the amount of biologically productive land and water area required to sustain the consumption of a population or economic system and to absorb the wastes generated by its production and consumption activity” (1996).

To put it simply, the ecological footprint is the amount of resources needed to produce goods and services that support an individual/group’s lifestyle . 

William Rees introduced the concept of ecological footprints in 1992. Under Rees’ supervision, Mathis Wackernagel developed a method of calculating the same. They originally called it “appropriated carrying capacity” but later came up with the term “ecological footprint”. 

It takes into account various factors such as food consumption, energy use, transportation, etc., and then calculates the area of land and water required to support these activities. 

Examples of Ecological Footprint

1. transportation.

Description: Transportation requires energy in the form of fossil fuels (which produce emissions) and large areas of land for roads. It also produces noise pollution that can harm humans and wildlife. 

Examples of Activities: Driving to and from work, taking public transit, transport of food to your local supermarket, flying and catching trains.

How to Reduce this Footprint: On a personal level, we can reduce the ecological footprint of transportation by using public transport, sharing vehicles, and adopting active transportation (walking, cycling, etc.). On a larger scale, we can move towards alternative fuels, and governments can develop sustainable transportation.

2. Energy Consumption

Description: Energy consumption contributes to the ecological footprint in various ways. This includes the direct consumption of non-renewable resources like fossils and the indirect consumption associated with the production, transportation, and distribution of energy. The ecological footprint can be found by calculating the area of land & water required to produce the given energy; it also takes into account the emissions. We can lower our EF by reducing energy consumption and switching to renewable sources of energy.

Examples of Activities: Using your air conditioner, using computers, lighting, internet usage, kitchen appliances.

How to Reduce this Footprint: Use renewable energy sources such as solar panels, wind, and hydroelectric energy. Unplug unused devices around the house. Moderate your air conditioning usage.

3. Food production

Description: Food production has a significant ecological footprint. Agriculture requires a large amount of land, which can lead to deforestation and habitat destruction. Moreover, about 70% of global freshwater goes into agriculture. Food production creates a significant amount of waste, such as carbon dioxide from the use of fertilizers, methane from livestock digestion, etc.

Examples of Activities: The use of natural resources (land, water, and energy) for farming purposes, the production of wastes & emissions during farming, transportation of food to supermarkets and houses.

How to Reduce this Footprint: Eat local to reduce your food transport footprint, purchase waste-free foods, and grow your own food. Some people also eat vegetarian to reduce their ecological footprint from meat production.

4. Carbon Emissions

Description: Carbon footprint is the fastest growing part of the ecological footprint, and it accounts for 60% of humanity’s total ecological footprint (Lin et al., 2018).

Examples of Activities: Carbon emissions are produced when fossil fuels (coal, oil, etc.) are burned for energy. Other activities like transportation and agriculture also add to carbon emissions. This causes air pollution, ocean acidification, and global warming.

How to Reduce this Footprint: There is an urgent need to transition to renewable sources of energy and reduce carbon footprint. 

5. Waste Generation

Description: Waste generation can occur at various stages (manufacturing, transportation, etc.), and it harms ecosystems and human health. The disposal of waste requires land, which can deplete resources and damage ecosystems; improper disposal can also lead to pollution. Waste disposal also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Examples of Activities: Every time you use the bin, you’re contributing to waste generation.

Waste reduction strategies, composting, and individual actions can reduce the ecological footprint of waste generation.

How to Reduce this Footprint: Purchase zero waste products, use reusable shopping bags, go digital.

6. Development and Construction

Description: Construction contributes to the ecological footprint by using natural resources and producing waste. The vast areas of land needed for destruction can destroy natural habitats. The production of building materials (cement, glass, etc.), the use of equipment, and transportation require a significant amount of energy. Finally, construction debris and air pollution from equipment add to pollution.

Examples of Activities: Growing suburban sprawl, deforestation for new agricultural, commercial and residential land.

How to Reduce this Footprint: The use of environment-friendly and recycled materials, incorporation of renewable energy sources, and demand reduction can help lower construction’s ecological footprint.

Description: The ecological footprint of visitors to a popular location is known as the tourist ecological footprint (Anderson, 2019). It depends on the behavior of the tourists and can be quite damaging in fragile ecosystems.

Examples of Activities: Tourist accommodation, transportation, and recreational activities require energy, water, and land while also producing waste.

How to Reduce this Footprint: Travel locally to reduce your transport footprint, use sustainable tourist services, embrace zero waste camping. By comparing tourism ecological footprints, we can find out about alternative tourist destinations to reduce the pressure from crowded ones.

8. Water Usage

Description: Excessive water use can deplete natural water resources and harm the environment. It can dry up rivers and lakes, lower groundwater levels, and destroy ecosystems relying on water. Industrial and agricultural activities also pollute water.

Examples of Activities: Damming of water for farming, farming of water intensive crops such as cotton.

How to Reduce this Footprint: To reduce the ecological footprint of water use, we can practice water conservation, adopt sustainable agricultural practices, and treat water before disposal.

9. Product Manufacturing

Description: The manufacturing of products depletes resources (minerals, woods, fossil fuels, etc.), consumes energy, and produces waste. The use of sustainable materials, such as recycled goods or sustainably harvested goods, can reduce the environmental impact. Incorporating sustainability in waste management, product design, and supply chain management can also lower the ecological footprint.

Examples of Activities: Planned obsolescence and fast fashion lead to shorter lifespans of consumer goods , causing increased landfill. 

How to Reduce this Footprint: Reduce, reuse, and recycle your products.

10. Plastic Use

Description: Plastic use has become a major environmental issue due to the large amount of waste it generates and its persistence in the environment. Plastic pollution harms wildlife and ecosystems and can even enter the food chain, posing a threat to human health.

Examples of Activities: Single-use plastic items like straws, plastic bags, and packaging materials.

How to Reduce this Footprint: Reducing the use of single-use plastics, using reusable alternatives, and properly disposing of plastic waste through recycling or composting can help reduce the ecological footprint of plastic use. Additionally, supporting policies that reduce plastic production and promote circular economies can also help tackle this issue.

Measuring Sustainability through Ecological Footprint

By calculating the ecological footprint and comparing it with biocapacity, we can measure how sustainably a population is living. 

The Global Footprint Network calculates the ecological footprint from UN data sources for the entire world and more than 200 individual nations. In 2019, the organization estimated that humanity’s ecological footprint was 1.75 planet Earths (Wackernagel, 1999).

This means that humanity’s usage was 1.75 times more than what the planet’s ecosystems renewed—we are using natural capital 75% faster than Earth can renew it. This overuse is known as an ecological overshoot.

Wackernagel argues that this will lead to ecological deterioration and perhaps a permanent decrease in Earth’s human carrying capacity. As per the National Footprint Accounts, humanity’s total ecological footprint has been increasing.

From 1961 to 2018, the ecological footprint has been growing by 2.1% per year (Lin et al., 2018). The global ecological footprint was 7 billion gha in 1961 and increased to 20.6 billion gha in 2014. This happened because of population increase and higher per capita resource use.

Resource Consumption Across Countries

By comparing the ecological footprints of different regions, we can understand the unequal consumption of resources across the globe.

More than 85% of the world’s population lives in countries having an ecological deficit (Footprint network, 2017). Different countries have ecological deficits due to different reasons. 

In some cases, the country’s per capita resource use is greater than the area of bioproductive land available on average globally (estimated at <1.7 hectares per person in 2019). France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia fall under this category. 

In other cases, the per capita resource use is less than the global available average, but their population is so high that they still use more bioproductive land than they have. To put it simply, even if individuals are using less, their total number is so large that, collectively, they are still using a lot. Examples include India, China, and the Philippines. 

Finally, many countries have both large populations and high per capita resource use. These include Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Fact File: What is Biocapacity?

Biocapacity measures the ability of an ecosystem to produce natural resources while maintaining its ability to sustain itself over time.

The concepts of ecological footprint and biocapacity go hand in hand. The former measures the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a given population’s lifestyle; the latter calculates the ability of the ecosystem to provide resources and sustain itself.

In other words, the two concepts help us understand how much natural capital we are using vs how much is being regenerated. Comparing the two allows us to see whether we are living sustainably or unsustainably. 

At the moment, the world’s average biocapacity is 1.63 global hectares (gha) per person. (Meaning each one of us should only be able to use 1.63 hectares of productive land, on average, per year). However, we’re using on average 2.75 global hectares per person. In other words, we’re all using 1.1 global hectares per year more than is sustainable!

Here is a list of the worst performing as measured by global hectares per person:

Ecological footprint measures the impact of human activity on the environment.

It is calculated by taking into account various factors such as energy consumption, land use, waste generation, etc. These are then expressed in terms of the area of land and water, which would be sufficient to support these activities.

The ecological footprint can be compared against biocapacity to understand how our consumption contrasts with the earth’s renewal capacity. So, the ecological footprint is a tool to measure sustainability and study how different regions use resources differently. 

Anderson, D. (2019). Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management (5 ed.). London: Routledge. 

Lin, D., Hanscom, L., Murthy, A., Galli, A., Evans, M., Neill, E., … & Wackernagel, M. (2018). Ecological footprint accounting for countries: updates and results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018.  Resources ,  7 (3), 58. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/resources7030058

Wackernagel, M. and W. Rees. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth . New York: New Society Publishers.

Wackernagel, M., Beyers, B., & Rout, K. (2019). Ecological footprint: managing our biocapacity budget . Los Angeles: New Society Publishers.

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Ecological Footprint Essay

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The ecological footprint is a type of measurement used to determine the human race&#039;s demand on, earth&#039;s ecosystems. according to the earth day network, the ecological footprint is &quot;a resource, accounting tool that measures how much biologically productive land and sea is used by a given, population or activity, and compares this to how much land and sea is available.&quot; (&quot;ecological, footprint faq&quot;) this concept is important to sustainable living because it gives us human&#039;s a way in, determining just how much we take away from nature versus how much nature in total can provide, to us. according to myfootprint, the components that go into measuring an ecological footprint, are &quot;the area of land and ocean required to support your consumption of food, goods, services,, housing, and energy and assimilate your wastes.&quot; (&quot;ecological footprint&quot;). this data is compared, against how much land and sea is available. &quot;productive land and sea areas support human demands, for food, fiber, timber, energy, and space for infrastructure. &quot;(&quot;ecological footprint faq.&quot;)., according to data taken from the global footprint network on ecological footprint per capita,, currently the united arab emirates holds the highest at 10, while the country of east timor sits at, 0. (&quot;national ecological footprint and biocapacity for 2007&quot;) other countries, at the top of the list include countries such as: qatar with 10, denmark with 8, and belgium and, the united states with 8. at the bottom of the list,, get more content on studyhub, personal ecological footprint, an ecological footprint is the amount of earth&#039;s resources that humans use in terms of how much, land is required to produce those resources. by this equation, people are currently using 1 times as, much resources as the earth can sustain (gfn). before calculating my personal ecological footprint,, i predicted that mine would be somewhat less than the average american because i try to make, sustainable choices in my everyday actions. i walk everywhere with the occasional exception of, riding a bus for short distances, try to conserve energy, and recycle as often as i can, however, i eat a, significant amount of animal products and processed foods. i also predicted that because i live in a, highly developed nation, my impact would be much greater.. more content..., the amount of resources humans currently use is far greater than the earth can support, and, eventually the finite sources of energy such as coal, gas, and oil will run out. even renewable, resources such as trees and farming land are being depleted at a faster rate than they can be naturally, replenished. the only way that the earth&#039;s resources can continue to support the growing human, population is if we attempt to reduce our ecological footprint, and there are several ways to go about, this task. for one, people can find sustainable methods of fulfilling their needs for things like energy, and food. instead of using so much land for taking care of livestock and growing feed, farms can, focus on growing vegetables for humans which use much less energy and water. people will have to, eat less meat and purchase food that was grown locally to reduce transportation costs. forests,, farmland, and fisheries need to be used in a more sustainable manner so that they are not depleted, before they can be replenished. we could also reduce our footprint by making use of cleaner,, alternative sources of energy like wind and solar power instead of non–renewable ones like gas and, oil that will soon run out. although it is not practical for everyone to stop driving cars and flying,, newly manufactured cars should be built as fuel efficient as possible or be able to be, ecological footprint research paper, my ecological footprint according to my ecological footprint score, i clearly need to improve the, way i live my life. when i first moved into tucson not much was taken into consideration., attending the university has given few options in purchasing my meals because i have a limited, amount of time to eat and sometimes i just don&#039;t have enough money to buy eco–friendly meals. i, end up buying microwavable foods that aren&#039;t really packaged in reusable material. all my wastes, end up in the same bin and i rarely recycle any newspapers, water bottles, wasted phones/batteries, as well as paper. also, driving my car seems more efficient. however, the score made me realized, that i make a huge impact on the world around me through the services i acquire, mobility and, transportation i take, and shelter i use. if everyone did the same activities as me, we would need 4–, planet earths to provide enough resources. my lifestyle is comprised of 42% services. the animal, products i choose to consume aren&#039;t the best preserved nor the ones with the easy availability. the, foods i eat aren&#039;t fresh out from the market. they require to be processed and manufactured in, factories and use up a vast amount of resources. it takes 21 global acres of the earth&#039;s productivity, area to satisfy my service needs. the energy required by me releases.. more content..., i at least use 20 mileages of my car every day. i drive myself practically everywhere i need to go., friends have offered to carpool to school and have also encouraged me to start riding my bike., unfortunately, i live almost 20 minutes away from school so this is something i can&#039;t really consider., i will start looking into other alternatives such as scheduling at least 2 days a week to begin a, carpool with at least 3 of my friends. if i change a few of my daily activities or just try to reduce the, amount of resource i use, i&#039;m positive of making an impact in prolonging our earth&#039;s, ecological footprint report and recommendations, macquarie university arts department: ecological footprint report and recommendations table of, contents abstract/ executive summary 3 introduction 3 strategies 4 operational items 4 buildings, 5 energy 5 water 8 biological capacity 8 transport 8 recommendations and conclusion 11 figures, 13 references 13 abstract/ executive summary in order to reduce the ecological impact of, macquarie university&#039;s arts department the ecological footprinting tool is used to highlight, problem areas and provide clear information on usage. by using this footprinting tool and related, academic literature seven potential strategies have been identified. recommended strategies: 1., reduce single occupant transport by 50% 2. reduce energy usage by 20% 3. offset 30% of energy, consumption 4. reduce air travel by 50% 5. reduce the usage of paper–products by 50% (20% in, advertising and marketing) 6. install 100kw of photovoltaic solar cells 7. introduce vertical gardens, on north facing walls by utilising these schemes a total reduction of 408 gha and 0 planets is, achieved. while this is a modest reduction these strategies, when implemented on a university wide, scale, could dramatically reduce the overall footprint of the university and aid in meeting the &#039;one, planet 2030&#039; goal. introduction in order to live sustainably in a world with limited resources and, increasing environmental, social and economic inequity it is vital for institutions, individuals and, companies to examine the way, an description of an ecological footprint essay, introduction, an ecological footprint tells us how much land and sea area is required to produce the resources and, living necessities for some number of human beings upon it , as well as how much that area of land, or sea absorbs carbon dioxide emissions. but it also helps us tell how much our particular land/sea, area used for living compared to the land/sea area available on the planet (thus one might say, as in, my case, that if everyone lived like me we would require 3 earths to allow for them to live,, sustainably). ==========, an ecological footprint is an important unit of measurement to have because it helps give us some, indication about the total amount of resources we are using, and some of its effect on the planet., thus a footprint can help us reach a better level of sustainable living by giving us some way to, measure our progress towards or away from that particular goal (where otherwise we would have no, way of telling truly how sustainably we were living). ==========, analysis ==========, if everyone lived like me, we would need 3 earths to provide the necessary resources. to support, my lifestyle, it would take 17 global acres of the earth&#039;s productive area (or 17 tons of carbon, dioxide). most of which, over 55% would be for energy/land. about 13% would be necessary for, crop land. about a 4% would be needed for grazing. about 18% would be forested land, along with, roughly 7% of built up land and roughly 3% in fishing grounds. (all of these measurements, my ecological footprint, the following power point presentation is on environmental awareness, specifically my ecological, footprint. as a north carolina (nc) native with a wife and five children, my family&#039;s ecological, footprint would be 28 acres. this figure represents the amount of natural resources required to, sustained just my household. this presentation will discuss the significance of such a large footprint, on the ecosystem, the ecology and biome of the state of nc, the impact humans have as a whole on, the ecosystem, factors of biodiversity and how they effect the ecology, and measures that nc is, taking to support biodiversity. lastly, i will discuss factors within the biome that work together in an, ecosystem and conclude with changes that need to be made, ecological footprint ecological footprint is the effect of human activities which is, measure in terms of biologically productive land and water which is required to produce the goods, produced the goods consumed and assimilate the wastes that are generated, it is essentially the, amount of the environment which is necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to, support a particular lifestyle. the indicator is an estimate of the amount of space on the earth that an, individual uses in order to survive using the existing technology and resources on our planet. the, least developed country (ldc) i picked out is uganda. uganda is a country is east africa, it, comes under a category of one of the least developed countries because it has a per capita income of, under us170$, it is one the poorest countries in the world. the population in uganda is broadly, poor, it is generally difficult for ugandan families to spend a dollar and it is difficult to take care of, their essential needs. 80% of the ugandans work in agriculture, their main crops cultivated are, cotton, corn, tea and coffee. most of the production in the country is by farmer&#039;s cooperatives, as the, environment provides good grazing land for cattle, sheep and goats. uganda escaped a widespread, famine in the late 1970&#039;s and 1980&#039;s because many people including the woman residents resorted to, the subsistence cultivation. the life expectancy for women is 58 years while in the us it is 81 years, of age– that is a 23 year.

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