ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

Beyond Recycling 2010

NATURE??

SILICA

BORON

COPPER

GOLD

OIL

LEAD

COAL

NATURE??

LEATHER

OILCOAL

LATEX

COTTON

NATURE??

OIL

RUBBER

BAUXITE ORE

IRON

Its all from nature

EVERYTHING we use comes from, and is returned to nature…

…but how much can

the Earth handle?

Definition: ecological footprint

The amount of productive land

needed to produce all of the things we use and all of the waste

we create

What exactly is an ecological footprint?

It is the IMPRINT we leave on the Earth when we use land for:

- Food - Energy- Waste- Water- Transportation

What would beincluded in your ecologicalfootprint?

So, how much land is there??

Earth

51 billion hectares

What is a hectare (ha)?

•Unit of measurement•Commonly used for measuring land•100m x 100m•2.47 acres•Approximately one official soccer field

Earth

51 billion hectares

PARTIAL LAND

PRODUCTIVE

Let’s Do the Math…• 51 billion hectares

LAND:

• 18% of that is productive land

• How many hectares of productive land?

WATER:

• 5% of that is productive water

• How many hectares of productive water?

Not a whole lot of room!

There are over 6 BILLION PEOPLE

who live on the Earth

That means there’s only 1.9 hectares

available for each of us!!

- no car- no water- no electricity- live off the land

- no car- no electricity- markets for food- well for water

- two cars- 45 lights and 3 TVs- heated swimming pool- grocery stores- two plane trips a year- weekly garbage pickup

Every lifestyle has a different footprint

Not all Footprints are the same…Every lifestyle has a different footprint,

and on average, so does every country…

Available

1.9 ha

Canada

8.8 ha

India

0.5 ha

United States 10 HA

In Canada, our footprint is

That means we are using more land than is available to sustain our lifestyles

8.8 hectaresper person

Canada

What if everyone

lived as we do?

What if?

The planet mapped by footprint size