AVTIVITY 15.5.1 Comparing, Examining and Reducing Ecological Footprints
a). All of the following will have an effect on the per capita ecological footprint of a country: Population
size, Quality of life, and Population growth rate (as the population grows, cities expand and consume
more energy)
b) The countries' total footprint do not repeat the pattern of the per capita footprint because of the
population size of each country. India for example has the second highest total footprint of the countries
but the second lowest per capita footprint. This is because of their very high population. When their
high total footprint is divided by their high population size, India has a relatively low per capita footprint.
Similarly with Canada, Their low Total footprint gets divided by their also low population size resulting in
a relatively high per capita footprint.
c) As stated in part b) : it is because of their relatively small population size. The United States
population size is so large, that when the per capita footprint is multiplied by it, the result is a very large
total footprint whereas Canada and Australia have much smaller populations resulting in their total
footprints being significantly lower than the US.
d) As stated in b) India has such a large population that the large total footprint no longer seems like a
large value when expressed in a per capita. Canada has a small population but a large per capita
footprint so it's total footprint does not seem so large comparatively.
e) Of the countries studied, the US ranks high on population size and quality of life. Generally when a
country has a high quality of life they consume more energy, leaving a larger ecological footprint per
capita. This rate is then multiplied by the large population size to get the total footprint, which then will
be much higher than all of the other countries with high qualities of life but comparatively small
populations.
f) There would be more of a beneficial impact if a small portion of people reduced their resource
consumption by a large amount, rather than a lot of people reducing theirs by a small portion of what it
was.
g)









Old textbook-paper recycling
Paper from 3-ringed binder-paper recycling
Cover of 3 ringed binder- plastic recycling (or waste basket depending on the binder)
3 pop cans-recycling
Apple core-compost
ham sandwich-compost (bag stays in waste basket)
marked tests- paper recycling
plastic water bottles- plastic recycling
coffee cup- paper recycling
h)





foil gift wrap-waste basket
cling wrap - waste basket
pop can-recycling
drink box- recycling
tape from poster- waste basket (as well as poster depending on material)
i) This is an indication of the classroom's ecological footprint because it shows the resources that are
being wasted. If everything were put in the right place, the classroom's footprint would be significantly
reduced.
j)




Give your bio notes to someone else who will be taking the course if you do not want them
anymore
Use Tupperware and reusable water bottles instead of plastic bags, plastic water bottles and
juice containers
Don't go out to eat every day, you'll save gas taking a homemade lunch
Give the running shoes to a charitable cause
l) Schools and Businesses should not hold contests to see which institution recycles the most because
people would start to be sly in order to win. They would do things like put their garbage in their bags to
take home to dispose of so that it would appear that there was little garbage for their school or
business. Even worse, people might take their garbage and throw it out the window on their way home.
When a reward is offered by a second party, it generally causes people to obtain it through unfair
means. People need to be urged to make the decision to change by themselves and then they will work
towards their goal whole-heartedly.
m)










n)
orange pealing-compost
egg shells- compost
cat food tins- recycling
used paper towels- paper recycling
chicken bones and skin-compost
cereal box-recycling
batteries-battery recycling
jars and lids-recycling
carrot tops-compost
orange juice can-recycling







take shorter showers
Walk to destinations more
Carpool
Boil down the chicken bones to make stock for soup
only run the heater, AC when it is needed.
Turn lights off when they are unneeded
Unplug devices if they are not being used
o)To prove whether or not you are right, you could take a quick look into their garbage. typically, if they
are that bad at recycling you'll be able to see something out of place without having to rummage
through it. You could also tell them that you're doing an anonymous survey about recycling, but only
survey them (It's a lie, but if you're that interested you might resort to it. Also they can lie just as well as
you which makes this not as good of an option). You're observations might be wrong because they
might reduce the amount of recyclable materials they use by reusing a lot of it (like tupperwear). They
also might hardly waste any food; some people eat apple cores, use the skins of vegetables and fruits in
their meals or feed unwanted parts of safe foods to their pets.
p) Examining the recycling and waste basket components of families and businesses allows a good
comparison of their ecological footprint because you not only get to see what they are putting in the
wrong place, but also what they are failing to reuse. Additionally, you get an idea of whether or not they
are reducing the amount of un-reusable items that they use. All of these have an impact on the
ecological footprint of the community.