Unit A Lesson A13 Ecological Footprints
Completion requirements
Lesson A13: Ecological Footprints
Video Lesson
Watch this video to learn how your effect on an ecosystem can be calculated and how you can reduce that effect.
Lesson A13: Ecological Footprints
A Footprint Larger than Earth
In 2007, the Global Footprint Network estimated that our global human ecological footprint exceeds 1.5 Earths. This is not good news. It means that we are using Earth’s ecological services at a rate faster than they can be renewed. Our demand on the global ecosystem is unsustainable.
In 2007, the Global Footprint Network estimated that our global human ecological footprint exceeds 1.5 Earths. This is not good news. It means that we are using Earth’s ecological services at a rate faster than they can be renewed. Our demand on the global ecosystem is unsustainable.
Reading and Materials for This Lesson
Science in Action 7
Materials:
Science in Action 7
Reading: Pages 78–79, 82
Materials:
No other materials are needed for this lesson.
Figure A.4.13.1 – Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
Figure A.4.13.2 – Modern homes require a lot of resources from the planet.
Calculating Our Ecological Footprint
An ecological footprint can be calculated for a single person, a business, a city, a country, or even the entire global population of humans. Our modern lifestyles have a cost to the ecosystems we live in. Our ecological footprint is a way to estimate this toll.
An ecological footprint can be calculated for a single person, a business, a city, a country, or even the entire global population of humans. Our modern lifestyles have a cost to the ecosystems we live in. Our ecological footprint is a way to estimate this toll.
Several methods for calculating an ecological footprint are used, but most total our consumption of energy, biomass (food and fibre), building material, water, and other resources. That total is used to estimate how much area is needed to produce these
goods and services.
A top predator such as a grizzly bear needs a certain minimum area to find food to live. That area is its range. Our ecological footprint is our “range”. One very important difference between our range and a bear’s range is that our range is much larger than we need just to live. It is stretched wide by our wants and our wasted resources.
If we want Earth to continue to sustain us, we must shrink our footprint. How do we do this? Can we maintain our modern conveniences at the same time? Must we abandon our cars, cell phones, imported foods, and heated well-lit homes? Can we use technology to preserve our unsustainable lifestyles?
A top predator such as a grizzly bear needs a certain minimum area to find food to live. That area is its range. Our ecological footprint is our “range”. One very important difference between our range and a bear’s range is that our range is much larger than we need just to live. It is stretched wide by our wants and our wasted resources.
If we want Earth to continue to sustain us, we must shrink our footprint. How do we do this? Can we maintain our modern conveniences at the same time? Must we abandon our cars, cell phones, imported foods, and heated well-lit homes? Can we use technology to preserve our unsustainable lifestyles?
Figure A.4.13.3 – Many of the things we take for granted in our everyday life have a large ecological impact.
How Big is Our Ecological Footprint?
Before we calculate our footprints, consider some numbers. Experts recommend that the average person’s ecological footprint be no more than 1.7 hectares. How much area is that? A hectare is about the size of a football field. Imagine a football field or so of productive land and sea. That area can produce a certain amount of ecological resources. That is how much each person can use and still keep the Earth ecosystem intact.
If everyone on Earth had a footprint of 1.7 hectares or less, Earth’s ecosystem would sustain all of us. However, we have a big problem. The average actual human ecological footprint is 2.2 hectares. Most of us use more ecological resources than the Earth can restore. How large is your footprint?
Before we calculate our footprints, consider some numbers. Experts recommend that the average person’s ecological footprint be no more than 1.7 hectares. How much area is that? A hectare is about the size of a football field. Imagine a football field or so of productive land and sea. That area can produce a certain amount of ecological resources. That is how much each person can use and still keep the Earth ecosystem intact.
If everyone on Earth had a footprint of 1.7 hectares or less, Earth’s ecosystem would sustain all of us. However, we have a big problem. The average actual human ecological footprint is 2.2 hectares. Most of us use more ecological resources than the Earth can restore. How large is your footprint?
Figure A.4.13.4 – Our ecological footprint refers to how much our actions impact Earth's environment.
Think • Interpret • Decide
Figure A.4.13.5 – Not all countries share the same ecological footprint. The red shading on each country tells you how large the footprint is per person. One of the darkest red countries is Canada. Canadians, on average, consume a lot of ecological
resources.
Calculating Your Ecological Footprint
This activity uses an online calculator to find your ecological footprint.
Instructions:
Warning!
You may be very shocked by how high your footprint value is! The average Albertan ecological footprint is 5 Earths (we would need 5 Earths if everyone lived like the average Albertan). Energy consumption contributes a lot to this. Alberta produces a lot of energy. However, we consume a lot of energy as well.
This activity uses an online calculator to find your ecological footprint.
Instructions:
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Go to footprintcalculator.org. Click "TAKE THE FIRST STEP". You will be asked to enter an email address to continue as a guest. It is safe to do so, but it if you don't want enter your own email, the page will accept any generic email address such as "student@adlc.ca". Click submit (twice if it does not work the first time).
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Answer all the questions using the sliders, and click the arrow on the right side of the page to continue to the next question.
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Follow all the instructions. At the end, you will be given your footprint (you will be told how many Earths would be needed if everyone else on Earth had a similar footprint to yours. Click the See Details button beneath your result to see more specific information on what contributes to your ecological footprint. Pay close attention to the "Consumption Category" chart, this shows how much you consume for food, shelter, mobility, goods, and services.
Warning!
You may be very shocked by how high your footprint value is! The average Albertan ecological footprint is 5 Earths (we would need 5 Earths if everyone lived like the average Albertan). Energy consumption contributes a lot to this. Alberta produces a lot of energy. However, we consume a lot of energy as well.
After you have finished the footprint activity:
The ecological footprint quiz gives you a quick look at how you and your family's actions impact the environment.
Depending on your answers you may be smaller, larger, or equal to the average Albertan footprint of 5 Earths. Your biggest consumption category will also depend on your answers, but Albertans tend to have high numbers for shelter and mobility because we have big homes, and we have big vehicles and do a lot of driving.
Immediate changes are most easily made in behaviours like how you get to school, how much you recycle, and the food and products that you buy. The size of your home is difficult to change, but how you use energy and utilities can be modified.
Figure A.4.13.6 – Buying local can reduce the resources required to bring you your food.
Figure A.4.13.7 – Working together on
community eco-projects can help the environment.
The Alberta government has a responsibility to minimize its ecological footprint. Industries and companies must use resources responsibly as well. Responsibility also rests on each of us individually.
You can do many things to reduce your ecological footprint. Here are ten easy ideas. You may be able to convince your family to help.
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Walk or ride your bike as often as you can to get where you want to go. If your destination is too far away, take the bus if possible. If not, try to share a car ride with others. These choices reduce your energy consumption.
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Set up a compost bin. This reduces the amount of waste that goes in the landfill, and it will improve the productivity of soil in you garden or flower beds.
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In summer, minimize the use of air conditioning in your house. Open windows at night and early morning to cool the house; close them during the day. Use heavy curtains or blinds over south and west windows. In the winter, turn down the thermostat just
1 or 2 degrees. Wear warm clothing instead. This reduces energy use.
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Buy fewer goods, and when you do buy, choose quality goods that will last longer.
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Buying one good pair of running shoes and using them for two years is better that buying two or three pairs that wear out quickly. (Of course, you need shoes that fit, and your feet are growing!) This reduces the amount of goods that are manufactured
and transported. It saves energy and material use. It also saves at the landfill. You can use only so many items at the same time anyway.
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You have heard this before but reduce, reuse, and recycle. Look for recycled goods to buy. Give goods you no longer need a new life by selling them, donating them, or giving them away.
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Buy local. An apple grown in Alberta consumes far less energy and produces far less pollution than an apple grown in South Africa and shipped to Alberta, for example. Chances are, it’s fresher, too.
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If you can, use solar panels to charge items. The panels can be expensive, but in a few years, their cost can be recovered -- a penny saved is a penny earned! Then, they will save you money as well as the environment.
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Select the meat you eat with care. Perhaps reduce the amount you eat, too. Much fertilizer and energy go into raising animals for meat. The process pollutes water with fertilizers, growth hormones, and animal waste. A more plant-based diet is much easier
on the ecosystem.
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Fly less to vacation spots. Jets have huge ecological footprints. They consume lots of energy and they leave lots of pollution. Even a driving vacation is better for the ecosystem. Consider a stay-cation or a hiking, walking, or biking holiday.
- Lead by example and teach others. When family and friends ask what you are doing, let them know you are reducing your ecological footprint. Explain to them why this is important.
You and your family can make some simple changes to reduce your effect on the ecosystem. Can you think of other lifestyle changes that might reduce your footprint?
Watch More
Reduce Your Ecological Footprint
From this video, you will learn about some new ways to reduce your ecological footprint.
From this video, you will learn about some new ways to reduce your ecological footprint.
What is an Ecological Footprint
This video explains what an ecological footprint means and why it is a valuable tool.
This video explains what an ecological footprint means and why it is a valuable tool.
How Do We Fit On Our Planet?
Explore in depth how an ecological footprint works by watching this video.
Explore in depth how an ecological footprint works by watching this video.
Make sure you have understood everything in this lesson. Use the Self-Check below, and the Self-Check & Lesson Review Tips to
guide your learning.
Unit A Lesson 13 Self-Check
Instructions
Complete the following 6 steps.
Don't skip steps – if you do them in order, you will confirm your
understanding of this lesson and create a study bank for the future.
- DOWNLOAD the self-check quiz by clicking here.
- ANSWER all the questions on the downloaded quiz in the spaces provided. Think carefully before typing your answers. Review this lesson if you need to. Save your quiz when you are done.
- COMPARE your answers with the suggested "Self-Check Quiz Answers" below. WAIT! You didn't skip step 2, did you? It's very important to carefully write out your own answers before checking the suggested answers.
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REVISE your quiz answers if you need to. If you answered all the questions correctly, you can skip this step. Revise means to change, fix, and add extra notes if you need to. This quiz is NOT FOR MARKS, so it is perfectly OK to correct
any mistakes you made. This will make your self-check quiz an excellent study tool you can use later.
- SAVE your quiz to a folder on your computer, or to your Private Files. That way you will know where it is for later studying.
- CHECK with your teacher if you need to. If after completing all these steps you are still not sure about the questions or your answers, you should ask for more feedback from your teacher. To do this, post in the Course Questions Forum, or send your teacher an email. In either case, attach your completed quiz and ask; "Can you look at this quiz and give me some feedback please?" They will be happy to help you!
Self-Check Time!
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Self-Check Quiz Answers
Click each of the suggested answers below, and carefully compare your answers to the suggested answers.
If you have not done the quiz yet – STOP – and go back to step 1 above. Do not look at the answers without first trying the questions.
An office-based business can do several things to reduce its footprint.
- Turn off all lights, computers, equipment, coffee maker, and microwave every night before going home.
- Introduce “Vegetarian Monday”.
- Encourage working from home.
- Set up recycle bins and perhaps even compost bins.
- Calculate the company’s footprint and then measure its progress.
- Switch to energy-efficient lightbulbs.
Processed food adds to your ecological footprint in many ways. Packaging consumes both energy and materials to make. It adds to the landfill after being used just once. It may not decompose for thousands of years, and as it does, it releases
polluting gases into the air. If the food must be frozen, additional energy is consumed. Processed food travels an average of 2000 kilometres before it is eaten. Transport consumes a great deal of energy and produces pollution. Processed foods
contain ingredients that contribute to deforestation and agricultural pollution. For example, a store-bought cookie may contain palm oil, refined sugar, fructose syrup, and lecithin to improve its shelf life, taste, and texture. These ingredients
come from plantations that were clearcut from native rainforest ecosystems. Processing can include heating, sterilization, flash-freezing, and canning. These machine processes require energy and produce pollution.
The bonus of avoiding processed foods is your health. You can avoid a lot of the sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats that come with them. By choosing fresh foods, you will consume more vitamins and healthy fibre.
Clever marketing tries to convince us that we can consume our way to a smaller ecological footprint. If we purchase solar panels and renovate our homes to put in low-flush toilets and new low-energy light fixtures, then we are being “green”. These changes do help, but they also result in additional waste when the old stuff is thrown away.
The bonus of avoiding processed foods is your health. You can avoid a lot of the sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats that come with them. By choosing fresh foods, you will consume more vitamins and healthy fibre.
Clever marketing tries to convince us that we can consume our way to a smaller ecological footprint. If we purchase solar panels and renovate our homes to put in low-flush toilets and new low-energy light fixtures, then we are being “green”. These changes do help, but they also result in additional waste when the old stuff is thrown away.
Even an old drafty energy-inefficient one-bedroom apartment produces a far smaller footprint than a large detached “green” house. The apartment requires far less material to build. It loses much less heat because, often, it is enclosed on five
of six sides. Far less electricity and natural gas are needed for light and heat. Far fewer items are needed to furnish and decorate a small apartment. The apartment has no yard or garden to water and fertilize. That eliminates additional
water use and fertilizer pollution. If your apartment is close to where you work, then you have little or no commute every day. That is a huge reduction to your footprint.
To omit resources accidentally is easy when we calculate an ecological footprint. Also, many experts think we underestimate our ecological footprints because we do not realize our needs are growing in ways we cannot see easily. For example,
overfishing (to provide the fish we eat) in some areas has reduced biodiversity so much that those ecosystems are collapsing. This reduces the productive sea area every year, so ocean area is needed every year to provide the same amount of
fish.
Ecological footprint is a simple calculation that often does not include the complex effects of ecosystem damage we cause.
Ecological footprint is a simple calculation that often does not include the complex effects of ecosystem damage we cause.
Technology can help reduce the oil sands footprint. However, new technologies take many years to develop and put to use. The oil sands industry is growing so fast that technology may not keep up. Its ecological footprint is expected to continue
to increase. However, as oil extraction technology improves, various processes can be made more efficient. As they do, they will consume less energy. The oil sands also invests money in new technologies that could reduce gas pollution. Carbon
dioxide is a major gas pollutant. Experts are trying to find ways to capture carbon dioxide before it is emitted. One possibility is to turn the carbon into solid pellets that can be buried. This would keep it from the atmosphere.
Oil sands companies have done some work to reduce their ecological footprints. Some environmental, First Nations, and citizen groups think that much more work must be done by the oil sands industry to minimize further its ecological footprint.
Oil sands companies have done some work to reduce their ecological footprints. Some environmental, First Nations, and citizen groups think that much more work must be done by the oil sands industry to minimize further its ecological footprint.