Voluntarily - Exam Prep

What is an ecological footprint?

With the earth's population at more than 6 billion, human impact on the earth is causing serious environmental problems. We have studied many of these problems in the ENO Programme. Who is responsible and what can be done to insure a sustainable future for our planet?Scientists have developed a tool for measuring our impact on the environment by studying an individual's daily use of water, transportation, energy, and food, as well as a person's daily garbage production. A mathematical formula is then used to calculate how much land and sea are required by each person to live this way. This measure is called an ecological footprint. In this theme we will calculate our individual eco-footprints in order to see our impact on the earth's systems and resources. We can then compare footprints between countries to see who uses more of the earth to sustain their lifestyle. Once we know our impact, we can begin to find real solutions to environmental problems caused by overuse of the earth's finite resources. These solutions will be things individuals can do at home, work, and school to help conserve the earth and insure a sustainable future.

1. Calculate your ecological footprint

There are many sites in the Internet where you can calculate your egological footprint. Calculate your EF here:

http://ecofoot.org/
How much was it? Write it down to ENO Diary or blog. Note that different EF calculators are not always exactly comparable.

2. Footprint in different countries

Find out more about ecological footprint and its size in different countries:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/

WWF: Living Planet Report 2006:
http://www.wwf.fi/wwf/www/uploads/pdf/living_planet_report_2006.pdf