FootprintsFromAroundtheWorldHandoutMapYourEco-FootprintlessonplansupportmaterialGreenStar!
NewsletterMay/June2006 Handout:EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorld (Adaptedfrom:“Howbigisyourfootprint,”EnergyforaSustainableFuture—EducationProject,/) EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorld:WhereDoYouFitIn?
HowMuchLandDoYouNeedtoLive?
Ifyouhadtoprovideeverythingyouusefromyourownland—howmuchlandareawouldyouneed?
Thislandwouldhavetoprovideyouwithallofyourfood,water,energyandeverythingelsethatyouuse.TheamountoflandyouwouldneedtosupportyourlifestyleiscalledyourEcologicalFootprint.Theecologicalfootprintisonewayofmeasuringtheimpactapersonhasontheenvironment. IstheWorldBigEnoughforAllofOurBIGFeet?
Thesizeofaperson’sEcologicalFootprintwilldependonmanyfactors.Doyougrowyourownfood?
Doyouwalkordrive?
Doyouuserenewableornon-renewableenergysources?
Everyonehasanecologicalfootprintbecauseweallneedtousetheearth’sresourcestosurvive.Butwemustmakesurewedon’ttakemoreresourcesthantheearthcanprovide. Differentpeopleinthesamecountrywillhavedifferentsizedecologicalfootprints.Differentcountriesalsohavedifferentecologicalfootprints.Forexample,apersonwiththeaverageCanadianlifestylehasanecologicalfootprintof8.56hectares.ApersonlivinginEthiopia,Africa,hasanaverageecologicalfootprintof0.67hectares. ExamineTable1belowtoseeEcologicalFootprintsfortheaveragepersonfrommanydifferentcountriesoftheworld. Table1:GlobalEcologicalFootprints Country EcologicalFootprint (hectaresperperson) UnitedStatesofAmerica9.57 Canada 8.56 France 5.74 UnitedKingdom 4.72 ElSalvador 1.72 Ghana 1.23 Vietnam 0.76 Ethiopia 0.67 Source:EcologicalFootprintofNations,2004. -1- EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorldHandoutMapYourEco-FootprintlessonplansupportmaterialGreenStar!
NewsletterMay/June2006 Tableparessomeinformationforfourcountries.Howwouldfactorssuchaspopulationdensity,electricityuse,andoilconsumptionaffectthesizeofaperson’secologicalfootprint?
Table2:2005CountryComparisonStatistics CountrySize(km2) Canada9,985,000 Ghana239,000 Vietnam330,000 Ethiopia1,127,000 Population(million) 32 21 83 73 PopulationDensity 3.2 87.9 251.5 64.8 (people/km2) YearlyElectricityUse 487.3 6.2 32.0 2.0 (billionkilowatt-hours) OilConsumption 2,200,000 38,000 185,000 23,000 (barrels/day) Highways(km) 1,408,800 46,200 93,300 33,300 GDP*percapita $31,500 $2,300 $2,700 $800 Source:TheWorldFactbook,2005.www.cia.govforallfiguresexceptthosemarked. *GrossDomesticProduct:Thevalueofcurrentproductionofgoodsandingfromwithinacountry(doesn’tincludeallthegoodsandservicesbeingimported). -2- StudentWorksheet EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorldHandoutMapYourEco-FootprintlessonplansupportmaterialGreenStar!
NewsletterMay/June2006 CalculatingYourEcologicalFootprint OnemethodofcalculatingyourecologicalfootprintistheEcologicalFootprintCalculatorhostedbyEarthDayNetwork.Thiscalculatorhassomesimplequestionsthatareusedtocalculateyourecologicalfootprint. GotoandclickonYourEcologicalFootprint(onlinesurvey). Completetheon-linesurveyfortheecologicalfootprintcalculationsandthenanswerthequestionsbelow.
1.HowdoesyourparetotheaverageCanadian?
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2.Listthreethingsyoudocurrentlythathelptominimizeyourfootprint.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.Listthreethingsyoudothatincreaseyourecologicalfootprint.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4.Whatarethreethingsthatyoucoulddodifferentlynowtoreducethesizeofyourecologicalfootprint?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ -3- StudentWorksheetcon’t. EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorldHandoutMapYourEco-FootprintlessonplansupportmaterialGreenStar!
NewsletterMay/June2006
5.HowdoesthesizeofyourparetotheaveragepersonlivinginGhana?
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6.HowmanyEthiopianswouldusethesameamountofresourcesasfoundinyourEcologicalFootprint?
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7.WhataresomeofthefactorsthatmaycontributetoCanadianshavinglargerEcologicalFootprintsthanpeopleindevelopingcountries,suchasGhanaorVietnam?
Explainhowthosefactorswouldaffectthesizeoftheecologicalfootprint.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ -4- EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorldHandoutMapYourEco-FootprintlessonplansupportmaterialGreenStar!
NewsletterMay/June2006 TeacherAnswerSheet CalculatingYourEcologicalFootprintOnemethodofcalculatingyourecologicalfootprintistheEcologicalFootprintCalculatorhostedbyEarthDayNetwork.Thiscalculatorhassomesimplequestionsthatareusedtocalculateyourecologicalfootprint. GotoandclickonYourEcologicalFootprint(onlinesurvey). Completetheon-linesurveyfortheecologicalfootprintcalculationsandthenanswerthequestionsbelow.(Note:Youmaychoosetocheckthislinkaheadoftime,sincewebsitesdosometimeschangeovertime.) Completetheon-linesurveyfortheecologicalfootprintcalculationsandthenanswerthequestionsbelow.
1.HowdoesyourparetotheaverageCanadian?
Answerswillvarybasedonstudent’secologicalfootprintcalculation.TheaverageCanadianecologicalfootprintis8.56hectaresperperson.
2.Listthreethingsyoudocurrentlythathelptominimizeyourfootprint.Sampleanswersinclude:walkingtoschool;eatfeweranimalproducts(meat,cheese,eggs);eatlocallygrownfood;eatunprocessed/unpackagedfood;don’ttravelonairplanes;useenergyefficientproductsinthehomesuchasenergyefficientlightbulbs;turnofflights,putersandelectronicswhennotintheroom;minimizewastedwater(e.g.,turnoffthetapwhenbrushingteeth,haveshortshowers).
3.Listthreethingsyoudothatincreaseyourecologicalfootprint.Sampleanswersinclude:driveinsteadofwalktoschool;putersandelectronicsturnedonwhennotinuse;eatmeatproductswithmostmeals;eatprocessedfoodsorfoodnotlocallygrown(e.g.fruitfromChileratherthanCanada).
4.Whatarethreethingsthatyoucoulddodifferentlynowtoreducethesizeofyourecologicalfootprint?
Sampleanswersinclude:walkortakepublictransitmoreinsteadofdriving;eatmorelocallyproducedfood;eatfeweranimalproducts(e.g.,meat,eggs,cheese);useenergysavingproductssuchasenergyefficientlightbulbs. -5- EcologicalFootprintsFromAroundtheWorldHandoutMapYourEco-FootprintlessonplansupportmaterialGreenStar!
NewsletterMay/June2006
5.HowdoesthesizeofyourparetotheaveragepersonlivinginGhana?
Thestudent’secologicalfootprintwillbelargerthantheaveragepersonlivinginGhana.Theexactdifference(inhectares)canbecalculatedbyeachstudentbytakinghis/herecologicalfootprintsizeandsubtractingtheaverageGhanaianecologicalfootprintof1.23hectaresperperson.
6.HowmanyEthiopianswouldusethesameamountofresourcesasfoundinyourindividualEcologicalFootprint?
Tofindtheanswer,divideyourecologicalfootprintbytheaverageEthiopianfootprintsize(0.67hectares/person).Forexample,theaverageCanadianecologicalfootprintof8.56dividedby0.67equals12.77.Therefore,12peoplelivinginEthiopiaonanaveragelifestyleforthatcountrycould/wouldusethesameamountofresourcesasoneCanadianlivinganaverageCanadianlifestyle.
7.WhataresomeofthefactorsthatmaycontributetoCanadianshavinglargerEcologicalFootprintsthanpeopleindevelopingcountries,suchasGhanaorVietnam?
Explainhowthosefactorswouldaffectthesizeoftheecologicalfootprint.•Resourceconsumptionsuchaselectricity,oilorwaterhigheraperson’secological footprint.Therefore,electricityconsumption,oilconsumptionandwaterconsumptionareallfactorsthatcontributetoecologicalfootprintsize.Theamountofhighwaysinacountrymaybeafactorthatcontributestoecologicalfootprintsize.Itislikelythatacountrywithmorehighwayswillhavemorepeopledrivingordrivinglongdistancesinpersonalvehicles,ratherthanpublictransportation.Drivingisonefactorthatcontributestoaperson’secologicalfootprint.CanadahasmorelengthofhighwaythanGhanaorVietnam.Likely,morepeopleinCanadaowncars,drivedaily(e.g.,mutetowork)anddriveonholidays,creatingademandformorehighwaysandintheprocesscreatingrelativelylargeecologicalfootprints.•Populationdensitycanaffectthesizeoftheaverageecologicalfootprintofaperson.Alowpopulationdensitymeansthatthereisalotoflandareaperpersoninthatcountry.Morelandareaandresourcesmaybeavailableforapersontouseinhis/herlifestyle.However,ifthelandisveryresourcepoor,alowpopulationdensitymaynotincreaseecologicalfootprintsize.CanadahasaverylowpopulationdensityandmostCanadianshaverelativelylargeecologicalfootprints. -6-