That’s quite a footprint – an ecological one
During a recent weekend, we were about nine friends around the table, and suddenly we started enquiring on each other’s ecological footprint. We had a test received from the Brussels Institute for Environment about the food part of the ecological footprint, that counts for about a third of the total one. We each took it and, big surprise, we were only two out of nine people that didn’t use up more than the available resources in their eating habits…
Startled by this, I went and calculate my total ecological footprint. Big surprise, 1.7 planets Earth would be necessary if everybody was living the same way as I am today – and that is after having changed already quite a few behaviors. I’m tempted to say that the landlord of the apartment we’re renting is not fixing the dramatic isolation or that we’re just about to change electricity providers for a “green” one, but I don’t think the planet would care for such lame excuses: the result for it is the same. So here we go for keeping modifying habits and try to change that bad result…
So what’s this ecological footprint thing? In short, it is the total (earth) surface necessary to produce the products and energy used by each person and manage the trash it generates. How big a part of the planet we appropriated without realizing. Many things enter the calculations: electricity, cars or bikes, how much water, meat, etc. For the complete definition, check the Wikipedia entry.
Results tend to be shocking, but help to realize how we’re living. And at the end of the test is usually offered a few guidelines to change habits and reduce the footprint. It appears clearly there that saying “the industries and governments have to do the change, we have no influence whatsoever as single human beings” is not true.
So, are you ready to check the direct impact your way of living has on the planet? Here are some tests:
Earthday Network (by country and language)
Australian Conservation Foundation
Agir 21 (in French)
WWF Belgique (in French)
Bruxelles Environnement (in French)
Startled by this, I went and calculate my total ecological footprint. Big surprise, 1.7 planets Earth would be necessary if everybody was living the same way as I am today – and that is after having changed already quite a few behaviors. I’m tempted to say that the landlord of the apartment we’re renting is not fixing the dramatic isolation or that we’re just about to change electricity providers for a “green” one, but I don’t think the planet would care for such lame excuses: the result for it is the same. So here we go for keeping modifying habits and try to change that bad result…
So what’s this ecological footprint thing? In short, it is the total (earth) surface necessary to produce the products and energy used by each person and manage the trash it generates. How big a part of the planet we appropriated without realizing. Many things enter the calculations: electricity, cars or bikes, how much water, meat, etc. For the complete definition, check the Wikipedia entry.
Results tend to be shocking, but help to realize how we’re living. And at the end of the test is usually offered a few guidelines to change habits and reduce the footprint. It appears clearly there that saying “the industries and governments have to do the change, we have no influence whatsoever as single human beings” is not true.
So, are you ready to check the direct impact your way of living has on the planet? Here are some tests:
Earthday Network (by country and language)
Australian Conservation Foundation
Agir 21 (in French)
WWF Belgique (in French)
Bruxelles Environnement (in French)
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Mother Nature
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