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 3.9 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 3.9 earths to provide the necessary resources. To support my lifestyle, it would take 17.4 global acres of the Earth’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
Ecological footprint helps us understand human pressure on the planet. It compares human demand with the planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate it is important to change our lifestyles in order to lead a fulfilling life without degrading the environment.
Environmental scanning can be viewed as a way of acquiring information about outside events that can aid organizations in first identifying potential trends, then interpreting them
Sustainability relates to the ongoing capacity of Earth to maintain all life, which means developing ways to ensure that all resources on Earth are used and managed responsibly so they can be maintained for future generations.
Carbon footprint is the total of greenhouse gases produced by an individual’s habits as well as the energy required to produce things an individual consumes.
The ecological quizzes asked about individual behaviors relating to transportation, energy, food, recycling, pollution, and possessions. Essentially, all behaviors mentioned in the quizzes have some sort of impact on the environment. Both quizzes asked about what type of transportation was most frequently used and also about solar energy. In addition, the quizzes focused on how much you eat and what you eat. These certain behaviors are featured in the quizzes because they have the potential to contribute to a carbon, or ecological footprint. This “footprint” is one’s impact on the environment. One’s impact on the environment is made up of small decisions--either positive or negative--over his or her lifetime. These decisions can include: choosing
Environmental Impact of Personal Lifestyle: Behavior # 1 A major lifestyle behavior of mine that effects the environment is the over usage of water. Water waste is a problem for many people in their households. We can start conserving in our homes which most of our water is wasted daily and we do not pay attention to it. Water is used for daily activities such as taking a shower, brushing teeth, washing the dishes, etc. My personal problem is over usage in the shower, I like to take at least a 30 minute shower. Another major problem is when I let the water run when I am brushing my teeth.
Because carbon footprints are such hot topics in the news these days, it's an ideal topic for this particular paper. As concerns about global warming and potential climate change have continued to evolve the term "carbon footprint" has become ingrained in many people's consciousness. Though the large Fortune 500 companies focus on reduction of their own carbon footprints, individuals can help in their own small way as well.
The average human being, multiplied by the Earth’s population, would need to have about four Earths just to supply enough resources (Footprint Calculator). Thinking of people around the world, the people of the United States seem to take a lot of their life for granted. Many people when they hear of the polar ice caps melting wave it off and either don’t believe in it or believe it is not their problem. Well it is their problem and if we don’t jump on the issue soon we will not be giving our future generations much of a life. This brings me to the idea of sustainability. A simple description of the word means that what we have today we will also have tomorrow, next week, next year, or even the next lifetime. Although that is the modest version sustainability is much, much more than just that. Sustainability is derived from three main parts of the human life: environmental, social, and economic. Each being just as important as the other. Environmental is the most well-known aspect of sustainability in human life, but both social and economic take their place in keeping this Earth sustainable.
According to the calculator, if everyone lived like me, we would need 5.1 Planet Earths to provide enough resources to sustain us all. More specifically, I produce 23.4 tons of carbon dioxide per year and my lifestyle requires 22.7 global acres of the earth's productive area. My footprint breaks down as follows: services that I consume account for 39%, food accounts for 27%, goods for 17%, shelter for 11%, and mobility for 6%.
As I mentioned before, the world has been using more than it created especially in the US. The only reason why we Americans can live like we do is because we use resources of other countries. If everyone in the world were to live like the average American, then we would need around 5 Earths to provide for everyone. One way to reduce our footprint would be to use less. Of course, everyone hears that we should reduce, recycle, and reuse, but how many people actually do that. One great example of a place where everything used is completely renewable and eco-friendly is the Govardhan Eco-Village in India. This village, while not possible everywhere, sets the tone for sustainable living. For sustainability they utilize various techniques like organic farming, water conservation, soil biotechnology, and waste management. This village has attracted much attention and has won many awards including the International Green World Award and International Zero Waste Award. Using this as a model, I believe that with serious reform, we can improve our cities and homes to leave a smaller footprint and to become more
In order to be an integral part in saving the Earth’s environment and ensuring resources for future generations, the way individuals live needs to change. Being fortunate enough to reside in one of the nation’s most developed countries, I wanted to make sure the way I have been living has been meeting the standards set by sustainable living. Using the overall environmental footprint provided by Global Footprint Network, I was able to pinpoint the areas in my life that needed to improve in order for me to be more sustainable. I chose to use this Footprint calculator because it gives you a breakdown on how many resources from the planet are needed in order to provide for your living standards. Once you have input the information, the calculator provides a general ecological footprint explanation and gives real case scenarios in which you can do to reduce it. The results for my footprint were as follows: If everyone were to live the way I do, we would need 5.3 planet earths to provide enough resources. It would take 23.6 global acres of land for energy production, which would emit 23.6 tons of carbon dioxide, and the biggest impacts on my personal footprint included 36 percent of services, 21 percent food and 19 percent mobility.
In 2014 Georgia population was 10.1 million and growing. Population growth has been connected to air pollution by each person ecological footprint. Ecological foot print is the impact of an individual or community on the environment (Global footprint Network, 2016). The footprint
Every living being are directly or indirectly depend on natural environment. Sustainability helps to balance financial, social, and environmental factors to facilitate responsible business decision making over the immediate and long term. . Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Oxford University press 1987, p.43). Sustainability is also being protective and aware of use of natural resources and development that meets the need of present and everything that is need for our survival and well being depends, directly or indirectly on our natural environment. According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainability is
According to Mintzberg, the environmental school of thought is a strategy dealing with the forces outside the organization. Unlike the other schools in his book, Strategy Safari, the environment plays a central role in the strategy formation process alongside leadership and the organization where the organization becomes subordinate to the external environment. The environmental school assumptions are that during the formative period of the organization the company shapes itself in response to the environment, but after that period is increasingly unable to respond to the environment. Moreover, the organization long term survival depends on the early choices made during its formative period. Over time, Mintzberg states, leadership becomes
In the United States, we consume more energy from oil than from any other energy source. In 2014 the total amount of petroleum consumed in the United States was about 19 million barrels per day. As we look into making the world a more eco friendly environment, I ask the question; what are some alternatives of oil and the effects of the alternative.