Ecological Footprint

An ecological footprint is made up of 4 components: land energy, consumed land, farm land, and forest land. This is translated into the amount of fossil energy a person consumes, the amount of land or “built environment” a person occupies, the amount of land it takes to feed a person “food land”, and the amount of forest product consumed. The average North American uses an average of 20 acres. We went to myfootprint.org in class and I volunteered to take the quiz to see what my ecological footprint is. I thought that my family was relatively environmentally friendly, but if everyone on earth lived the way my family does, we would need 6.58 earths to provide enough resources to sustain our lifestyles. North Americans are accustomed to using much of the earth’s current resources. The problem is that developing countries see us as an example and want to be like us. As they develop, they use more and more resources. We, as Americans, cannot chastise them for wanting what we have! We must use more sustainable practices to reduce our impact on the planet.