An ecological footprint, according to the Active Energy Club of the University of Minnesota @ http://www.tc.umn.edu/~aec/glossary.html is "a person or organization's cumulative impact on natural resources." It is possible to calculate this footprint. Many ecological footprint calculators can tell you how many planet Earths are needed if every human used as many resources as you. Please find the link of an ecological footprint calculator: http://www.myfootprint.org/en/visitor_information/
The average footprint in the United States is 4.7 planets, about 24 acres per person--one of the highest, if not the highest. The average global footprint is 1.3 planets.
Above Image Source: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/tupp0008/environment/2008/02/
Footprint by Nation
Click on image for an enlarged view
Below Image Source: http://www.rprogress.org/publications/2004/footprintnations2004.pdf
Feel free to leave comments, questions or replies. It would also be interesting if you calculate your footprint (you may need help from others who live with you) and post your footprint. What parts contributed the most to your footprint. Are there things you can do to reduce your footprint?
Posts
What an interesting article. I went onto the website and thought it was a kind of sad how the US consumes so much. I also found it sad that if everyone lives a life style like an average American global warming would be horrible and every thing would be on the verge of going extict.
ReplyDeleteAlso i was quite proud that if every one lived a life style like me we would need 2.25 worlds. It is still kind of bad but it is better than most of America. Lastly i think that it is because all the poverty in the world i.e. in most of Africa people do not even have electricity.
This was a really interesting article. When I went onto the website and saw my results, it made me determined to try and get rid of all of my bad habits. It really showed me how important it is for one person to make a difference. I was shocked when I saw that if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.63 planet earths. Now, whenever I am at the supermarket, I will be sure to buy organic foods and energy saving light bulbs!!!
ReplyDeleteIf everyone lived like me, they would need 2.21 earths. I think that calculating a footprint is interesting. I don't get how they can figure out how many earths a bunch of people who lived like you would take. I agree with booker about poorer places in the world who don't have that much resources so they have to use natural resources and conserve more. But then again, they have some electricity if they have computers to calculate their footprint.
ReplyDeleteChuma Here. The number of earths I received was 4.54 earths. I was surprised because my mother is always keeping my household organic. This was very confusing for me.
ReplyDeleteMy footprint was 4.77 :( I will be more energy conservant now. It's crazy how the US has the highest footprint. Bangledesh only has .50! If only more Americans cared about the enviorment...
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to the website and found out that I was not doing as well as I thought, it made me want to change. I thought that the website was very interesting. I did not get how it could calculate your footprint. It was also very interesting how it could do that. I was supprised when I saw that if everyone lived like me, it would take up 4.83 earths. It made me want to change how I live and buy energy saving products. GO GREEN!!!!! =D
ReplyDeleteI think that the sad thing about this is that the richest countries people that live the most comfortably are the ones that consume the most energy. I was shocked that for the earth to accommodate everyone living what I consider a normal and comfortable life like me, there would need to be 4.96 earths! And, as the article said, the most poverty stricken countries consume the least. This is obviously a big problem and I am going to try to lower my footprint!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog and taking the quiz, and it is very useful knowing how many plants the world would use if everyone lived like you. I also think the richest countries consume the most energy because we use the most resources. I found it amazing that we would need 4.7 earths for everyone in the U.S.A., but if everyone lived like me we would only need 3.82 earths. 3.82 earths is better some, but worse then others and I know that if i tried I could do a lot better to the environment.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe that the U.S. needs 4.7 earths! If everyone lived like me, we would need 3.92 earths. I felt extremely selfish when I saw my results. I also feel bad for all of those countries that aren't even over 1 earth. I am definitely going to try to be greener. It was terrible to see our country at the top of that list. If I saw this website earlier then I would have started being more green a long time ago. All this time I thought I was saving the planet, but the website just changed my mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Booker. I think that it is sad that the US has the largest footprint. Compared to Bangladesh who only has .50 our footprint is crazy. If everyone lived like I do, we would need 5.41 planets. I do not understand this because my dad does everything we can to be green. I will try to improve.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Booker. I think that it is sad that the US has the largest footprint. Compared to Bangladesh who only has .50 our footprint is crazy. If everyone lived like I do, we would need 5.41 planets. I do not understand this because my dad does everything we can to be green. I will try to improve.
ReplyDeleteFinding out my footprint was very fun! Except that if everyone lived a life like me they would need 4.66 planet earths. It is very interesting to see how everyone lives differently and has different results. Now I know that my family should save more energy and be more environmental friendly.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a interesting article. Its amazing how much the United States' ecological foot print was. If everyone lived like i did we would need 2.87 earths. Its scary! When i compared mine to other countries, i was amazed! I will show my family my results and we will try to conserve more energy.
ReplyDeleteThis article was interesting! I had a lot of fun discovering my footprint. I was horrified in the end. It everyone lived like me they would use 2.46 planets! The fact that some countries use less then half of what america uses was surprising. I will tell my family my results and we'll all try to "go green" a little more!
ReplyDeleteWhen the page loaded and i saw my results i was shocked. If everyone in the world lived the way i did then we would take up 3.61 earths! This was surprising to me because my mom is all about organic and energy saving. Even my dog's toys are made from recycled soda bottles! But then i remembered the world population graph that we did in class (SOO DEPRESSING!) and i thought that if there were that many people then they were bound to use a lot of resources. Not that its a good thing, but just that its predectible. But that doesnt mean that we shouldnt try to reduce our eco footprint. I want to try for one earth or maby two and a half. But somthing A LOT lower than three almost four earths!
ReplyDeleteI think that everybody who lives in New York City has a much lower carbon footprint than other people. First of all, apartments have very efecctive heating systems; i know that my building is using Cogeration. Second, people in New York City don't need to drive, and that reduces our carbon footprint. If more people used public transportation the city's carbon footprint would go way down. I think that the people who use their cars everyday make America's carbon footprint so high.
ReplyDeleteIf everyone lived like me we would need 3.11 planets. However, I don't think that this test is really accurate because most of it doesn't apply for the city. As I said before cities are incredibilly energy efficient, and, well, in my house we don't buy much. We recycle everything we can and we don't use airconditioners or heaters that much. Windows and sweaters are preetty good too, you know!
ReplyDeleteI think this article was interesting. If everyone was like me, we would need 2.95 earths. Calculating my ecological footprint was fun, but I felt bad about my results.
ReplyDeletei think this article was interesting. if everyone lived like me, we would need 2.95 plants. Taking the quiz was fun. I will try to lower my ecological footprint
ReplyDeleteThis is Sammie
ReplyDeleteI think this is very interesting. I could not believe that if everybody lived like me we would need 4.70 earths. I was surprised that i wasted so much energy because my family recycles and tries to be green. I am going to get my family to do a lot more. I agree with Cathrine because most of these the questions can not be applied to city life. It also depends where you live. My apartment is older so it can not be as eco friendly. However, some of the newer apartments have better devices for helping the earth.
This article really makes me want to become more footprint-concious. If everyone on the planet lived like me, we would need 7.59 earths. That is astounding. I noticed that the countries with lower average footprints live simpler lifestyles. It got me to think that f we all lived simpler lifestyles, it would be better for the earth.
ReplyDeleteLike Savannah, after i took the quiz i really wanted to reduce my foot print. But that is very hard for if everyone lived like me we would need 4.5 earths! So far i have got my dad to stop letting the water run while brushing his teeth. I know that does not make such a difference but we have to start somewhere!
ReplyDeletei think it is very shameful about our carbon footprint. 4.7 earths is the average of U.s.a how could we..
ReplyDeleteif every one was like me we would use 3.16 earth!!!! i thought i cared about the environment. now i know what i can do to help.
It was amazing to hear all of your comments because for my footprint, if everyone was like me, we all would be just using only 1/4 of the earth's resources (25%). I think that i am doing pretty good, but i do think that i can still do more, i did realize that i should do some more fuel-efficiant things but i know that i don't drive around at all, only about 190 miles in a year.
ReplyDeleteI can not believe my score. I thought I was green. In the process, I learned a lot of information about my house.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Esther. If you look at how many people there are in this world it's a good thing some people use less than they could. Otherwise we would have run out of resources long ago.
I think many questions in that test were oriented towards suburban people, like the ones about landscaping and drying your clothes outside.I got 4.41 earths, which I find suprising as I frequently eat organic food and try to save energy.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Elinor that it is terrible how our carbon footprint is 4.7 of the entire earths average. I think it is a big problem and that we need to start using less electricity and try not to ride in cars as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Elinor that it is terrible how our carbon footprint is 4.7 of the entire earths average. I think it is a big problem and that we need to start using less electricity and try not to ride in cars as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danny on that this test was specified more for suburban areas. I too am shocked at my carbon footprint. I think that I should do more eco-friendly things, but i also think that I will get some of my neighbors to be more eco-friendly also.
ReplyDeleteI am deffinetly going green after reading this article! I am shocked my by score. I thought I would get 3.6 earths but instead I got 4.12. I agree with Elinor. Americans should give back to their eniviorment more because we have some the most advanced science and technology in the world. We have the biggest oppirtunity to help.
ReplyDeleteAlex, you should teach us how to be like you!! My results showed that if everybody was like me, we would need 3.82 earths. But, I have a question, when they say if everybody lived like you you would need _____ earths, how long are that amount of earths supposed to last you? For example if everybody lived like me, would 3.82 earths sustain them for a year, a day, a century, a month, etc.?
ReplyDeleteMy foot print was 2.85 earths, I really want to take this quiz again in a year, and see if I did worse, or better. I agree with Sofe, I'm going green! I think America wastes to mush of everything. Maybe if children went green, the adults would say "hey, I have such a smart child, I think I will inspire him/her by doing what he/she is doing, to show I am a good parent!" And then they will help out and tell their friends with out children, or something like that and it will spread! Though, it might not be so simple/easy. By the way, Jacob, you wrote on this page really early!
ReplyDeleteby the way, Mr. Wilson, or whoever is approaving my comment, my wikki acount stopped working again!
ReplyDeleteWow. I just took the quiz, and if everybody lived like me, we would need 4.49 planets, and I would just like to point out that that is a LOT more than we actually have. I noticed that Alex said he only travels about an average of 190 miles per year, which is very impressive. But then in class, he said that he travels to about seven different states and two countries per year, which, if I’m not mistaken, would be closer to about 6000 than 190…just saying. Anyways, I think that it is essential for us to all try to reduce out carbon footprint by doing as many of the small, but important things listed in the ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
ReplyDeleteWow. I just took the quiz, and if everybody lived like me, we would need 4.89 planets, and I would just like to point out that that is a LOT more than we actually have. I noticed that Alex said he only travels about an average of 190 miles per year, which is very impressive. But then in class, he said that he travels to about seven different states and two countries per year, which, if I’m not mistaken, would be closer to about 6000 than 190…just saying. Anyways, I think that it is essential for us to all try to reduce out carbon footprint by doing as many of the small, but important things listed in the ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
ReplyDeleteEarlier today, I was thinking about how much energy I use at camp vs. how much energy I use here at home. At camp, we can only take two-and-a-half minute showers every other day. Surprisingly enough, that is actually enough if you turn off the water in between washing your hair, rinsing your hair, etc. I also realized that at camp, we only have one light bulb and one outlet per cabin (five or six people usually live in a cabin, they’re not very big). If everybody lived the way we do at camp, in just a year or so, we could cause the amount of water and energy used to plummet.
Wow. I just took the quiz, and if everybody lived like me, we would need 4.89 planets, and I would just like to point out that that is a LOT more than we actually have. I noticed that Alex said he only travels about an average of 190 miles per year, which is very impressive. But then in class, he said that he travels to about seven different states and two countries per year, which, if I’m not mistaken, would be closer to about 6000 than 190…just saying. Anyways, I think that it is essential for us to all try to reduce out carbon footprint by doing as many of the small, but important things listed in the ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
Earlier today, I was thinking about how much energy I use at camp vs. how much energy I use here at home. At camp, we can only take two-and-a-half minute showers every other day. Surprisingly enough, that is actually enough if you turn off the water in between washing your hair, rinsing your hair, etc. I also realized that at camp, we only have one light bulb and one outlet per cabin (five or six people usually live in a cabin, they’re not very big). If everybody lived the way we do at camp, in just a year or so, we could cause the amount of water and energy used to plummet.
Wow. I just took the quiz, and if everybody lived like me, we would need 4.89 planets, and I would just like to point out that that is a LOT more than we actually have. I noticed that Alex said he only travels about an average of 190 miles per year, which is very impressive. But then in class, he said that he travels to about seven different states and two countries per year, which, if I’m not mistaken, would be closer to about 6000 miles than 190…just saying. Anyways, I think that it is essential for us to all try to reduce out carbon footprint by doing as many of the small, but important things listed in the ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
ReplyDeleteEarlier today, I was thinking about how much energy I use at camp vs. how much energy I use here at home. At camp, we can only take two-and-a-half minute showers every other day. Surprisingly enough, that is actually enough if you turn off the water in between washing your hair, rinsing your hair, etc. I also realized that at camp, we only have one light bulb and one outlet per cabin (five or six people usually live in a cabin, they’re not very big). If everybody lived the way we do at camp, in just a year or so, we could cause the amount of water and energy used to plummet.
My ecological footprint took up 3.99 earths. The main reason why my ecological footprint takes so much space is because I take a cab home everyday. I need to take more public transportation.
ReplyDeleteWow. I just took the quiz, and if everybody lived like me, we would need 4.89 planets, and I would just like to point out that that is a LOT more than we actually have. I noticed that Alex said he only travels about an average of 190 miles per year, which is very impressive. But then in class, he said that he travels to about seven different states and two countries per year, which, if I’m not mistaken, would be closer to about 6000 than 190…just saying. Anyways, I think that it is essential for us to all try to reduce out carbon footprint by doing as many of the small, but important things listed in the ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
ReplyDeleteEarlier today, I was thinking about how much energy I use at camp vs. how much energy I use here at home. At camp, we can only take two-and-a-half minute showers every other day. Surprisingly enough, that is actually enough if you turn off the water in between washing your hair, rinsing your hair, etc. I also realized that at camp, we only have one light bulb and one outlet per cabin (five or six people usually live in a cabin, they’re not very big). If everybody lived the way we do at camp, in just a year or so, we could cause the amount of water and energy used to plummet.
My ecological footprint took up 3.99 earths. I need to take more public transportation; because I ride a cab nearly everyday.
ReplyDeleteMy ecological footprint took up 3.99 earths. I need to ride more puclic transportation, because I ride a cab everyday.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that even a person like myself, who uses florescent lightbulbs and didn't eat meat still would need 2.15 planets if everyone lived like me. It is sad how many resources the average American uses. Without third world countries we would take up way to many resources and die off.
ReplyDeletei see what sasha was saying but the only thing is is that i didn't go to all of those states and countries through car or train, instead, i do it through plane. For plane, i would estimate about 14000 miles.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting activity! It really put a prospective on how I take my life for granted. If everyone lived like me we would need 3.62 planets!I agree with Tim it is terrible that our country was at the top of the list. I think however if everyone helped out in one small way each day that we could be so much greener! It was also interesting to see other ways i can be more environmentally friendly. GO GREEN!
ReplyDeleteMy Ecological footprint was a total of 125.82. If everyone lived like me, we would need 3.24 planets. This was surprising to me because I thought I did a lot to help the environment and to save electricity, but by looking at my ecological footprint I obviously have to do more.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that I took 4.8 planets even though I don't have a car, uses florescent light bulbs, and recycle. I also think it is sad how many earths the would take up. I think the main problem for me was that my house is so big that was the main thing
ReplyDeleteHello everyone!!!!! So, I found this article to be very interesting. If everyone lived like me, we would need 3.18 earths. I am a little disappointed in my self because I am very into going green and community service, so I found this number a little high. I was surprised to see that America needs 4.7 planets, because I know we as Americans are doing better, so I wonder what the number was before we started helping the environment! I am happy to see the average for the globe, which means we are doing better as a world wide community! Keep up the good work guys and GO GREEN. YAY GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good article. I found out that if everyone lived like me, it would take 2.80 earths. Pretty low compared to America. I think it is fun and interesting to find the amount of earths. Then you can really tell what you are-and aren't-doing.
ReplyDeleteI took the quiz, and if everyone lived like me we wud need 3 earths. I thought my footprint would be a lot higher because I travel during the summer, but I guess the rest of the thhings my family does partially makes up foor it, because 3 earths is stil pretty high.
ReplyDelete