Ecological Footprint

Thanks to Dry Bones Dance, I found an easier ecological footprint calculator. One that didn’t require me to find my electric bill and enter how many kilowatts I use per month, etc. That also means it’s not as accurate, but these things are all approximations, so this is close enough for my purposes.

Here are my results:

CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 3.5
MOBILITY 0.7
SHELTER 2.7
GOODS/SERVICES 2.5
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 9

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.1 PLANETS.

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

So I’m doing way better than most US residents, but my life is still unsustainable.The biggest thing is my food consumption, I think mostly because I eat dairy products every day and meat a few times a week. The smallest thing is my transportation, but maybe that’s true for most people. I drive a car, but not very far and almost never alone. We live in a multi-family building, with new, highly efficient appliances and windows.

What could I improve?

• I could eat more locally and less packaged food.
• I could eat less meat.
• I could be more strict about recycling.
• I could put a worm bin on our balcony to compost our food waste, but I’d have to find somewhere to give the compost away.
• I could also hang a small clothesline surreptitiously on the balcony, where it wouldn’t be seen from the ground, since we’re not supposed to have one.
• I could lobby the homeowners’ association to change the rule about clotheslines and to dedicate part of the landscaped area to a community garden.

What am I not going to change any time soon (honestly)?

• Having hot running water indoors (my all time favorite luxury!).
• Eating meat and eggs and dairy products, at least some of the time.
• Buying my chicken already plucked.
• Driving my kids to and from school.
• Purchasing the occasional pineapple or banana, which at least have the advantage of not being highly packaged, even if they do come from far away.

Dear God,
Help me find the courage to change the things I can;
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Amen.