MyFootprint.org

[keith]

Got this from Readers Digest:

...the average American uses 24 acres of land to support what he uses and throws away everyday. If everyone in the world did that, we'd need five more planets!

There's an interesting quiz at www.MyFootprint.org that tells you how much land you require to sustain you. 21.7 acres was the answer for me, meaning if everyone on the planet was similar, we'd need 4.7 planets.

This from MyFootprint.org:

The quiz is based on national consumption averages and is meant to give you an idea of your Ecological Footprint relative to other people in the country you live in. It is not highly detailed, but should give most people an idea of where they stand.

If you already live a sustainable lifestyle, do not be discouraged by your results. There are some portions of your Footprint that are not the direct result of your consumption habits. For example, each resident of a city is ‘responsible’ for a portion of the city’s infrastructure, such as roads, schools, and government offices, regardless of whether the resident uses those services. In addition, some options that could make your Footprint smaller are not available to you as a result of choices on the part of local decision makers, such as reliable and efficient public transportation as an alternative to driving. Therefore, an important path to reducing your Footprint is to advocate for more sustainable decisions at all levels of government. This will make it easier for you and many others to reduce Ecological Footprints.

Ecological Footprints document a given population's consumption and waste production expressed in biologically productive land and ocean areas necessary to maintain these services. By aggregating data on the consumption of various resources and on the ability of the earth to provide them, the Ecological Footprint accounts provide a means to compare various components of consumption and ultimately serve as an indicator of sustainability - or, in the case of deficits, of unsustainability

Regards,
Keith

[pk]

OK, I gave honest answers and this is the results:

CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 4.2
MOBILITY 0.2
SHELTER 4.2
GOODS/SERVICES 4.9

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 14

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 3.1 PLANETS.

8O

[Crys]

CATEGORY - ACRES
FOOD 2.2
MOBILITY 1.2
SHELTER 4.4
GOODS/SERVICES 4
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 12

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.7 PLANETS

Ugh. I'm not sure why goods/services is so high. I do everything that I can for myself, and buy products with the least amt of packaging and produce far less waste than the average American. Shelter is so high because I'm in an apartment, which means I have no control over anything beyond the kind of lightbulbs I use and whether or not I turn on the heat.

[j10asen]

My Results

CATEGORY GLOBAL HECTARES

FOOD 0.8

MOBILITY 1.9

SHELTER 1.5

GOODS/SERVICES 5.4

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 9.6

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 2 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

[Crys]

How many acres are in a hectare?

[pk]

hectares A unit of area equal to 10,000 square meters. Equivalent to 2.471 acres

acres A unit of area (4840 square yards) used in English-speaking countries

are we doing a new trivia game?

[Crys]

No, I'm just curious how the two relate. It seems a little extreme to me because based on the avg ecological footprint being 2 global hectares or 24 acres per person, it looks like it's a twelve-fold difference of scale -- which is wrong because you're talking about area not length. I don't know why but I'm having trouble equating 24 square acres to 2 square hectares.

So say 24 is 4 wide by 6 deep = 1.66 wide by 2.5 deep = 4.17 hectares, not two...

Yes, I'm enough of a geek that this is going to BOTHER me until I figure it out...

If I do it the other way around, make it 2.4 acres wide by 10 acres deep, that's 1 hectare wide by 4.167 hect. deep... which still leads me back to 4.17 hectares, not 2...

8O :?

[rudedog]

of course i had to play alittle bit to see if i could get the highest score.

CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 6.9
MOBILITY 23.5
SHELTER 5.4
GOODS/SERVICES 32.9
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 69



IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.



IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 15.4 PLANETS.

thats it people! this planet isnt big enough for all of us! everyone off my planet!!

[pk]

we let rudedog off his chain thinking he was finally ready for society and see what he does..he kicks us all out! :?

[DevenMarie]

FOOD 4.7
MOBILITY 0.2
SHELTER 6.7
GOODS/SERVICES 6.2
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 18



IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.