An ecological footprint is a measure of the amount of the earth needed to sustain your presence. It is an indication of your effects on the environment, the way you use resources, and of the pollution, greenhouse gases, and waste for which you are responsible. The ecological footprint is usually measured in a number of planets there would have to be in order for everyone in the world to live the lifestyle you have, but can also be calculated in global hectares that would be needed to sustain you.
Ecological footprints can be calculated for individuals, but also for nations as a whole, and show whether a nation is exceeding its biocapacity. According to http://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/gallery/life_sciences/ footprint_mx_2005.swf the ecological footprint of the USA is 9.6 hectares, Australia and Canada 5.9, UK 5.5, Mexico 2.4, Indonesia 1.2. This shows clearly that people in the US on average use eight times as much of the earth's resources than an average Indonesian.
The best way to calculate your ecological footprint is online, because after you have calculated your footprint for the way you live now, you can do the quiz again with different answers, to find out how a few simple changes to your lifestyle will change your ecological footprint. There are a number of websites that enable you to quickly and easily calculate your ecological footprint, and most take around five to ten minutes or so to complete. See the listing at the end of this article. These websites differ, but they all look at a number of ways your lifestyle affects the environment.
How You Eat
The way you eat affects the environment because meat is a less efficient way of obtaining protein than eating lower in the food chain. Much more food can be produced in an acre of grains, for example, than an acre with a few cattle pasturing on it. If you eat meat/fish or chicken every day, your ecological footprint will be higher than if you eat these foods only occasionally or not at all.
Eating locally produced organic food lowers your footprint because fewer resources are used in chemical inputs and in transportation.
How You Travel
The way you travel has a big effect on your ecological footprint. If you drive or fly a great deal your footprint will be much higher than if you use public transport, walk or cycle, because the use of resources generally and fuel is much greater. If you drive a big gas guzzler, your footprint will be higher than if you drive a fuel-efficient and economical small car.
What Kind of Dwelling
Your ecological footprint will be much higher if you live in a big McMansion than if you live in a modest, smaller home. The footprint is lower if there are more people sharing the home. Other factors around the home that affect the ecological footprint include how the home is heated, cooled, and insulated, and whether or not you turn off lights when rooms are empty, and turn off appliances instead of leaving them on standby. The more resources your home uses, the higher your footprint, and so the more stuff you have, the more often you replace items like TVs and refrigerators, and the less you recycle, the higher your footprint will be.
Ecological Footprint Calculators
Websites that enable you to calculate your ecological footprint include:
Earth Day (US and Australia): http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.html. This is an excellent website with great graphics, but the graphics do slow it down a little.
Europe: World Wildlife Fund: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk. This also calculates the carbon footprint.
Best Foot Forward: http://www.ecologicalfootprint.com/. This calculates ecological footprint in global hectares, and also calculates the carbon footprint.