Lab #1 - Ecological Footprint Activity

FIGURE 1.4 An “ecological footprint” represents the total area of land and water needed to produce the resources a given person or population uses, together with the total amount of land and water needed to dispose of their waste. The footprints of the affluent societies of today’s industrialized nations tend to be much larger than the geographic areas these societies take up directly. (see your text, Essential Environment, page 6)

Introduction / Background Research What is an ecological footprint? The ecological footprint is used as a measure of human impact on local and global ecosystems. Researchers have calculated that the “ecological footprint” of the average American is about 10.3 hectares (25.4 acres, more than 5 city blocks, or 30 football fields). This is the total amount of land required for food, housing, transport, consumer goods and services to sustain the consumptive lifestyle of one average American. The ecological footprint also includes the additional land necessary to handle the wastes generated by that person.

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How much nature is there per global citizen? Adding up the biologically productive land per person world-wide: 0.25 hectares of arable land (land capable of producing crops) 0.60 hectares of pasture 0.60 hectares of forest 0.03 hectares of built-up land 0.50 hectares sea space Total 1.98 hectares (4.89 acres) Not all of that space is available to human use since we share the planet with 30 million – 50 million other species. According to the World Commission on Environment and Development, at least 12% of the ecological capacity, representing all ecosystem types, should be preserved to protect biodiversity. Can everybody on earth live like the average American today?

No. If everyone on earth lived like the average American, it would require at least three earths to provide all the necessary material and energy. Ranking the Ecological Footprint of Nations

A country’s ecological footprint is calculated by subtracting the total per capita footprint from the available biologically productive area of that

country. Most countries use more ecological capacity than there is within their boundaries. This means that they run an ecological deficit. Consequently, they need to import their missing ecological capacity -- or deplete their local natural resources. Countries with footprints smaller than their capacity are living within their nation’s ecological means.

Often, however, the remaining capacity is used for producing export goods rather than keeping it as a reserve.

Go to: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=national_footprints to see regional footprint information. Go to: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=global_footprint to see a report on the global footprint and how it has changed from 1961-2003. These data reveal that humanity lives too heavily on the Earth. Today, humanity’s Ecological Footprint is over 23% larger than what the planet can regenerate. In other words, it now takes more that one year and two months for the Earth to regenerate what we use in a single year. This overshoot indicates that humanity’s consumption currently exceeds what nature can

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regenerate on a continuous basis. We maintain the overshoot by liquidating the planet’s ecological resources. This is a vastly underestimated threat and one that is not adequately addressed. Sources: Global Footprint Network Homepage, Aug. 29,2008. Global Footprint Network. July 28, 2008. (http://www.footprintnetwork.org/index.php). Wackernagel, Mathis, et al., Ecological Footprint of Nations. 2005. National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. 2005. The Underlying Calculation Method Available at http://www.footprintnetwork.org Accepting 12 percent as the magic number for biodiversity preservation, one can calculate that from the approximately 2 hectares per capita of biologically productive area that exists on our planet, only 1.7 hectares (4.2 acres) per capita are available for human use. Assuming no further ecological degradation, the amount of available biologically productive space will drop to 1 hectare per capita once the world population reaches its predicted 10 billion. If current growth trends persist, this will happen in only a little more than 30 years.

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Methods / Procedures

Your Ecological Footprint

1) For this exercise, use the on-line ecological footprint calculator at: http://www.myfootprint.org

a) Take the quiz on the website for the following lifestyles: i) your present lifestyle ii) lifestyle of a flamboyant businessperson who flies weekly to meetings, where the

clients are wined and dined in high style, eating lots of meat, lives in a mini-mansion one several acres of land, constantly shops and always replaces items for the latest and newest technology, does not recycle thinking it takes too much time, overall a person who is extremely consumptive and has little incentive to conserve resources..

iii) lifestyle of a person who lives in a house with several roommates, and rides a bike or uses public transportation, eats no meat, recycles as much as possible, and regularly shops at thrift stores, overall this person tries to have as little impact on the planet as possible,

b) Make a column or bar graph to show the various ecological footprints you calculated. Show the number of hectares (or acres) required for food, carbon footprint, housing, and other factors as well as the total footprint for each lifestyle. Include your graph on you laboratory write-up.

Analysis / Discussion Referring to your graph, thoughtfully answer the following questions:

1. What factor (food, housing, etc.) had the greatest impact on the footprint for each of the lifestyles? Which factor do you think has the greatest impact overall? Which lifestyle had the largest footprint?

2. Obviously, this calculator did not take every aspect of a lifestyle into account. Present your ideas of other things (not taken into account with this calculator) you think could significantly affect an ecological footprint and explain why?

3. What about your own footprint? Were you above or below the level of the average American? How many planets would be needed if everyone lived your lifestyle? What lifestyle changes could you make to reduce your footprint? Explain why such changes would result in a reduction of your footprint.

4. Based on your personal ethics and environmental viewpoint, fully explain your reaction to this activity?

DO NOT TURN IN PRINTOUTS FROM THE WEBSITE.