Ecological Footprint

The general definition of an ecological footprint is the measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems and natural resources. Your own personal ecological footprint is the measure of demand your lifestyle puts on the Earth’s ecosystems and the footprint size compares the results of human activity with the earth’s ability and ecological capacity to regenerate. The larger the ecological footprint, the more destructive and damaging your lifestyle is to the planet as a whole. In the matter of ecological footprints, smaller is always better.

The ecological footprint concept assumes that anyone or anything that consumes energy, land, water and other natural resources leaves waste behind as a “footprint.” The more someone or something consumes, the larger the ecological footprint will be. The size of your ecological footprint represents the amount of equivalent unspoiled land and sea areas required to replenish the resources you consumed and used up. The footprint measurement can also include the amount of energy needed to negate the effects of a particular human activity.

A mathematical analysis of the human demand upon natural resources is used to measure the consumption of those resources. The ecological footprint is assigned a number value that represents an estimate of how much of the earth it would take to support humanity if everybody lived the same standard of lifestyle. In 2006, the ecological footprint of all humans on earth was estimated at 1.4 and indicates that humans were using up the earth’s resources 1.4 times faster than the earth could replenish them that year. In order to calculate an ecological footprint accurately requires massive amounts of data and many complicated calculations. There is no international standard for the calculations though, and today most scientists publish estimated ecological footprints based on reasonable assumptions.

As a result, different countries, communities, regions, industries and individuals can all have different ecological footprints, and the numbers may not be comparable. The United Nations now publishes a “total” ecological footprint number for all of “mankind” each year, but it can take up to three years to digest and publish the data and by the time an overall footprint number is released, it is already out of date. There is no doubt that ecological footprint calculations have increased the world’s level of environmental awareness. Keeping an eye on the environmental sustainability of lifestyles, goods, services, organizations, industries, neighborhoods, cities, regions and nations is critically important to the planet as a whole.