Ecological Footprint Quiz Analysis

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.

I always knew people liked to consume more than what they need, but never really considered how it affects our environment. Until I read an article by Graham Hill called “Living with Less. A lot Less.” In this article, Hill argues that individuals obtain products one doesn’t need. Secondly, he mentions how purchasing these products won’t make you happy, but can do the exact opposite. Lastly, Hill argues how living with less merchandise can make us feel and live happier. As a result, I compared my life to his and realized he’s right having less might give us the opportunity to explore further.

American author and journalist, Michael Pollan, in the article titled, “Why Bother?”, published in The New York Times Magazine, addresses the topic of environmental issues and argues that the phrase, “why bother?”, is what is keeping society from changing the ways citizens use up resources. His main focus of reasoning is supported by his idea that specialization has a significant role in reducing the average consumer’s chance of changing their lifestyle and also highlights that planting your own garden would be a task which in turn would benefit the consumer in many ways, while also decreasing their carbon footprint size. He concludes that these actions taking place could have a chain reaction that would spread these practices across the nation and lead to positive impacts on the environment.

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

As a nation we all participate in daily consumption of food, clothing, shelter and some sort of transportation. to survive. We are destroying our environment with waist. On average Americans disposed over 200,000 tons of edible food daily. Pollute our air and water, destroy our forest, just so we can drive the newest car or have the latest crafted oak furniture We use top soil to build malls, so people can consume even more. In "The shadows of Consumption, Peter Dauvergne explain the coast of consumption by globalized corporations, trade, and finance." (Dauvergne, Peter. The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008. ).

While reading Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man, I had a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. One of my underlying thoughts throughout the whole book was, “Well damn, I am so sure I would never, ever, be able to do most of this in my life.” In all honesty, it at first made me feel kind of bad about how I lived; it made me feel as though I did not do enough for the environment and thought only of myself. The first thing that came to mind when I learned what this book was even about was a short online quiz of sorts. The purpose of the quiz was to determine how many planet Earth’s we would need if everyone on Earth lived how I did. My result was that over five planets would be needed. This made me think about how while I was using over five

What do we know about our energy sources and how our energy choices affect the environment? Many people still do not put much though into this topic or pay any attention to the amount of energy they use or where it comes from. For some it is just willful negligence, but for many others it may be due to a lack of knowledge on the subject. Perhaps it is a good idea to pay closer attention and educate ourselves so we can make informed decisions that may lead to less stress on our wallets and on our environment. In order to make a change, we should observe our currently used energy sources in everyday life, the impact of increasing energy uses, and observe all of the alternative options available to us.

Support for these claims are documented through extensive research into numerous practices that individuals could take part in to diminish their carbon footprint and greenhouse gases emissions. These small changes include of catching public transport more regularly, replacing regular incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) which use 60% less energy than a regular bulb and buy more locally grown and produced foods.

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.

In the age of commodities and consumerism, the U.S has emerged as one of the leading over-consumers in the world. Overconsumption is a catastrophe, as humans exploit more than the environment can sustainably provide. People consume water, energy and minerals on a daily basis at a rate that is depleting the earth’s life-sustaining systems. Americans make up to 4.5% of the world’s population and consume more than 20% of its energy (WPB). The lifestyle and culture exhibited by Americans are unsustainable resulting in significant problems that add to the issue of global warming, species extinction, and accumulation of toxic wastes. Part of the consumption is linked to the high population. Whereas the U.S accounts for 4.5% of the 7.1 billion population of the planet, the relative consumption of every individual account for the largest consumption rate in the world thus leading to environmental problems such as air and water pollution. An analysis of the relative consumption rate in the U.S indicates that the U.S population is associated with heavy levels of consumption that accelerate the rapid depletion of resources.

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.

This essay reviews my personal carbon footprint and discusses ways to manage it and reduce some of the biggest areas of my resource consumption. The footprint calculator that I used required that I answer a series of questions about my consumption habits, and based on the answers I provided, showed the impact of my lifestyle on the planet. The footprint calculator uses data for selected countries, based on National Footprint Accounts. The online calculator asked questions to determine how to distribute the ecological footprint into different categories based on the country's average consumption profile. In addition to calculating the amount of carbon a person is responsible for through their daily activities, the calculator also estimated a total ecological footprint to represent the amount of land and sea area required to provide the resources a person needs and to absorb their carbon emissions.

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 order to reduce the ecological impact of Macquarie University’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.