Ecological Footprint is a resource management tool that measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes under prevailing technology. Essentially, it measures human demand on nature.The science is actually pretty robust which gives it tremendous merit. Right now, humanity’s Ecological Footprint is over 23% larger than what the planet can regenerate. Ecological Footprint accounting shows that, as of October 6, 2007, humanity has consumed the total amount of new resources that our planet can produce this year.
Figure out what your personal ecological footprint is. Full disclosure of my own personal Ecological Footprint can be found after the jump (and no, I’m not proud of it).
Q: Assuming that (a) Tom Cruise’s level of consumption is in parallel with his annual salary, and that (b) everyone on earth has the opportunity to live like Tom Cruise: How many Earths would we need to sustain this level of consumption?
A: About 2700 Earths. 2700 fricking Earths!
Food: 4.2 acres
Mobility: 2 acres
Shelter: 6.9 acres
Goods/Services: 5.9 acres
TOTAL FOOTPRINT: 19 acres
In comparison, the average ecological footprint in the United States is 24 acres per person. Worldwide, there exist 4.5 biologically productive acres per person. If everyone live like me we would need 4.3 planets.
thanks for the stats… now here’s my 2Centsworth:
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-action-day-2007-salute-to-al-gore.html
Thanks for stopping by Dave. You might be the only person with their own wikipedia page to have ever commented on my blog. Some interesting comments on Gore in that post – many I agree with.
My total is only 16, but that’s still pathetic. I also think the quiz is not the best. Too many variables not taken into account.
Anyway. We all have a long way to go!
Nice number rg. That’s pretty good considering the State we are in. Colorado is not impressive when it comes to the per capita ecological Footprint for the state. Do you eat seafood? it’s horrible for the EF in Denver (I love sushi, this definitely increases my EF). Living in a house by yourself is pretty bad too. Aren’t you a pretty big traveler too? Did you know that driving around the world has a smaller EF that flying to Europe? So you’re definitely doing something right by having such a low number. Good job!
The quiz is indeed not perfect. It’s just a quick internet tool that is used to get people to think about how much of an impact their lifestyle has on the planet. Determining your Ecological Footprint is a science (see the links in the post) not a quick question of how often you carpool.
Here’s my score :
CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 2.5
MOBILITY 1
SHELTER 18
GOODS/SERVICES 12.8
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 34
As Hubs mentioned, not a perfect test. For example, I live by myself. That’s not changing anytime soon if at all. To get where I want to go, I need to drive. No transit that works for me other than my vehicle. Again, with the living on my own, no one to drive with for the most part. The good thing that might counterbalance that is I work from home so zero commute miles.
Funny thing is I took this type of test on another site and that one said I use the equivalent of 3.3 earths.
Well, don’t be too impressed… I included my roommate, before… now that she’s moved out, it looks like I really am not good… went up to 27!
Yikes! Apparently things would be better if we shacked up with someone!
Which is why I despise McMansions for all they are. Shoddy construction, high ceilings (wasteful to heat and cool) and 4-5 car garages? Please. A family of 4-6 people doesn’t need all that space with four master suits and six bathrooms.
My partner and I have a 1900 sq foot townhome. (And share a car) To me THAT feels like a castle and I can’t imagine needing to live in anything bigger. A kitchen where a 2-3 people can gather and cook is nice, but a kitchen that necessitates 8 steps between fridge and stove? No Thanks.
My parents did just fine raising two kids in a 3 bed 1.5 bath ranch house. I can’t see the needs being that much different today.
james…