Reducing your ecological footprint

The Ecological Footprint was launched during the International Earth Day 2002 campaign. Every person on the planet needs a certain amount of productive land and water to provide the resources they consume and to accommodate the waste they make. The total amount of productive land and water we use from birth until death is our Ecological Footprint. It’s essentially a measure of our total impact on the planet. In the United States, the average ecological footprint is about 31 acres per person. In West Europe, the ecological footprint is about half as large. In terms of pure land mass, we only have about 5 acres per person available.

How can we reduce our ecological footprint? Earth Day seems like a great time to start, by simplifying our lives. This includes monitoring our use of natural resources, like water, gas, and electricity. We can also make our homes more energy-efficient by lowering our thermostats, not using incandescent bulbs, installing low-flow showerheads and aerators, etc. Below are a few sites you can visit to learn more.

Alliance to Save Energy website

Home Energy Saver website

Natural Resources Defense Council conservation tips

Natural Step sustainability information

Other ideas include buying products with recyclable packaging. Many items, from eggs to cosmetics, now use recycled paper, which can be added to our compost pile or recycled. Each person creates, on average, about 4 pounds of garbage per day. By eating less processed food, we also expend less water and create less CO2. One hamburger patty, for example, requires about 700 gallons of water to produce, start to finish. And by growing your own food on an 8 x 10 foot plot of land, say, you avoid food waste and fuel spent traveling to the supermarket.

It might seem like a small thing, but together, we can lessen our footprint, and keep our environment, and our lives, healthier.

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