Introduction to Environmental Studies
Ecological Footprint Analysis
Our daily activities and our lifestyle choices have an affect on the Biosphere.
What we eat, drive, choose to buy or not to buy, where we travel and vacation, how
many children we have: All of these come with an ecological cost. Energy and matter
are moved around to satisfy our needs, wastes are generated and disposed of, and as
Americans we maintain one of the highest standards of living on Earth. How much
impact does our lifestyle have on the rest of the Earth? How much space do we each
need in order to live at our current lifestyle? How much of the Earth’s resources are
we individually using?
The Ecological Footprint is an estimate of the amount of space on the Earth that
an individual needs given their consumption patterns. The Ecological Footprint
includes the biologically productive land and water needed to produce the
resources consumed by that individual – including food, water, energy, clothing,
building materials – and the amount of land and water required to assimilate the
wastes generated by that person. The concept of the Ecological Footprint was
developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees and described in their book,
Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. 1996.
About the Redefining Progress Ecological Footprint Quiz:
SOURCE: http://www.myfootprint.org/en/about_the_quiz/what_it_measures/
“The Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates the area of land and ocean required to
support your consumption of food, goods, services, housing, and energy and
assimilate your wastes.
Your ecological footprint is expressed in "global hectares" (gha) or "global acres"
(ga), which are standardized units that take into account the differences in
biological productivity of various ecosystems impacted by your consumption
activities. Your footprint is broken down into four consumption categories: carbon
(home energy use and transportation), food, housing, and goods and services.
Your footprint is also broken down into four ecosystem types or biomes: cropland,
pastureland, forestland, and marine fisheries.”
1. What is the average world citizen’s (per capita) Ecological Footprint?
______(in global hectares ) ______(in acres – calculate this) _____ (in “Earth’s needed”)
2. By what percent is humanity currently exceeding (overshooting) the biosphere’s
ecological capacity?
3. Do you think the calculated footprint tend to be an overestimate or an
underestimate?
4. Carbon dioxide is an important gas related to global climatic change and will be
discussed more in a few weeks. How is the CO2 footprint part of the Ecological
Footprint calculated?
[Hint: look under Absorbing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Components of the
Ecological Footprint at:
http://www.rprogress.org/newprojects/ecolFoot/methods/components.html
Use the Ecological Footprint Calculator at http://www.myfootprint.org/ to
calculate your own footprint.
[You can calculate your Footprint for your current residence (e.g. ,for dorm,
apartment -- measure or estimate your living square footage) or for your permanent
family residence. Google up help on other items, e.g. to estimate air travel, try:
http://www.webflyer.com/travel/milemarker/ , Use your browsing skills to help you
make any other estimates you may need.]
IMPORTANT: KEEP TRACK OF THE VALUES YOU ENTER AS YOU DO THE QUIZ
(for use in question #6)
5. What is your current Ecological Footprint? ______ (in acres) ______ (in “Earth’s”
needed)
How does your footprint compare with that of the average person from the
United States? The world?
What category(ies) account for the largest part of your
footprint? Why?
What components account for the smallest part of your footprint? Why?
6. Start the quiz again and pick another country, but enter in the SAME VALUES for
your Footprint as you did for #3 (when you selected the U.S. as your country). The
Results page will show you how your Footprint values compare to the average of the
country you’ve selected if you lived there instead of the USA.
Country selected: _______________________
Ecological Footprint? ______ (in acres) ______ (in “Earth’s” needed)
7. What are three changes you could make right now to lower your footprint?
(Examples: mode of transportation, type of food you eat, housing situation, etc.)
Change A: ______________________________________________________
Change B:______________________________________________________
Change C:____________________________________________________
8. Recalculate your ecological footprint, one at a time making each of the three
changes listed above. Record the new footprint values below.
Change A: ______ (in acres) ___________ (in “planets” needed)
Change B: _________ (in acres) __________ (in “planets” needed)
Change C:. _________ (in acres) __________ (in “planets” needed)
9. Evaluate your future global footprint. Recalculate your global footprint using
answers you predict will reflect your life in 5 to 10 years – Try to be realistic!!
What is your estimated future global footprint? _________ (in acres) ______ (in
“planets” needed)
10. Briefly describe your predicted changes in lifestyle. Do they increase or decrease
your global footprint? How and why?
11. Try another ecological footprint calculator online such as this one
(http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/) or any
others that you find. How do they compare?
12. What other factors which may contribute to an ecological footprint were not
included in this calculation?
13. What general aspects of your lifestyle contribute to your footprint? What do you
think you do well in terms of your ecological footprint?
******Additionally be sure to complete the ESA21 food and land assignment