The Concept of the Ecological Footprint - Assignment Example

The Concept of the Ecological Footprint Introduction The concept of the ecological footprint is one that is essential for the assistance of the health of the earth. Currently, there are several who are seeing significant problems with the environment with the understanding that there are added problems with sustainability in the environment. The only way in which this can be altered is for individuals to take actions that will reduce their individual footprints and which will provide them with new alternatives to saving the environment and reducing waste. The more individuals can understand about their ecological footprint, the easier it will become to begin reducing the amount of waste used per year while enhancing the environment. At the same time, communities and society need to grow in their concern and understanding about the environment while providing more access to resources that provide sustainability and lower numbers in ecological footprints. Concept of the Ecological Footprint There are several concepts and factors that are attributed to the ecological footprint. The main concept is based on the behaviors, social expectations and trends that are within a culture. The amount of knowledge that one has about the environment also creates a different approach to the ecological footprint that is used. The first factor that determines an ecological footprint is based on the capacity that a human has to use different types of resources and how this directly impacts the environment. The main concept that has to be looked into is based on the amount of resource consumption that an individual uses per year. As economic growth continues to emerge and as rising material standards rise in demand are also problems with ecological deterioration. The more in which one demands to have specific resources available, the more it contributes to environmental changes as a use of resources on the planet (Wackernagel, Rees, 1996). Even though it is required that each individual uses a specific amount of resources, there is also a rising concern with the way in which these resources are impacting the environment. If the ecological resources that are available continue to rise, then it will create unsustainable communities. The first places that are affected are urban settings, which require substantial resources to work with agriculture and to produce resources for different nations. If this increases, then the percentage of resources needed also increase. At the same time, the environmental needs don’t match the amount of resources that are needed within a community. Even though the demand will continue to rise, the environment won’t be able to sustain different regions of the earth. This will create two main problems. The first is that it will deteriorate the environment and natural resources that are a part of different regions. The second problem is that sustainability in different regions will begin to decrease, making it difficult for different communities to have the same available resources in the future, which leaves sets of waste in different regions of the earth (Rees, Wackernagel, 2008). To determine how much is being used in terms of the ecological footprint is the ability for individuals to measure how much they consume and how this is affecting the Earth. The advantages of this are based on the ability to create a stronger understanding and educational level that is available for those interested in providing a sustainable environment. Individuals have the ability to reduce their ecological footprint while changing their lifestyle so they can change the way they live and contribute to healthier living within the environment. Since small changes are required, the measurements can provide a basic guideline of what one can do to reduce the amount of consumption that is used. However, the measurements also have several disadvantages for both individuals and a larger population. There are limitations in what defines the ecological footprint and what is needed for complete measurements. The definition not only includes the defining aspects and resources, which have to be determined before giving the ecological footprint. There is also not the ability to create a deeper understanding of what is being used in a given area as a resource, as opposed to what an individual uses. There is also a lack in the available countermeasures that can be used. For instance, if one uses electricity in an apartment, it is dependent on the apartment, as well as the needs of the individual. Few countermeasures can be taken to change the resources used. There is also a lack of relevance if the measurement is based on communal living, expected lifestyles and surrounding conditions in society, making the footprint one that can only be determined theoretically and with basic ideologies (Zhong Min et al, 2001). Analysis of Current Ecological Footprint The current ecological footprint that I measured showed a set of valuable resources that I use per year. My activities concluded that if everyone lived the same lifestyle that I did, it would take 4.8 planets to sustain the earth. The consumption was food at 21%, shelter at 9%, mobility at 10%, goods at 19% and services at 41%. It was also stated that there would need to be 21.5 global acres to support my lifestyle. The highest amount of land needed was for energy, followed by crop land. Grazing, forest, built up land and fishing grounds all took the same amount of space, which was not above 1-2%. On average, the sustainability of my lifestyle would take 21.9 tons of carbon dioxide (Global Footprint Network, 2010). When looking at this specific analysis, it can be seen that several lifestyle patterns that I carry can be changed. In terms of crop land, this can be changed easily by using local providers, as opposed to others. However, this is also limited by the available resources in my surrounding area as well as the supported lifestyle that I have. Time considerations, available resources and the lack of providers make it difficult to find different areas to support the resources that are needed for development. The areas of consumption that could be changed the most are the goods and services. Good consumption can easily be reduced by not buying the latest fashions and by finding clothing and other household products that are more sustainable. The services provided could also be changed by recycling more products, using fewer physical resources and by looking into alternative sources for sustainability. Even though there are different aspects that can be changed in terms of goods and services, this is also limited by the available options. For instance, most of the services consumption was for electricity. Being in an apartment building and having a lack of access to resources, such as alternative energy, makes it difficult to change into different types of sustainability. At the same time, the goods that are available are designed to be disposable and have to be changed through different periods of time. Each of these problems with the available resources makes it difficult to change the ecological footprint. Other types of sustainability were also not considered, such as smaller changes and things that are used for sustainability. Using energy friendly resources, other recycling methods and awareness of consumption was not considered in detail for this quiz, which limited some of the possibilities in determining the ecological footprint. Conclusion The ecological footprint is one that is essential to understand for the health of the environment. However, to change this, individuals and communities have to change social trends and available resources that are more environmentally friendly and which make less of an impact. When looking at my ecological footprint, as well as the analysis of the basic trends, it can be seen that, while resources are lower, there are also difficulties in creating a sustainable environment. By altering available options for individuals and through gaining more knowledge about footprints, individuals will be able to change their ecological footprint at both an individual and societal level. References Global Footprint Network. (2010). “Your Ecological Footprint.” Retrieved from: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/. Rees, William, Mathis Wackernagel. (2008). “Urban Ecological Footprints: Why Cities Cannot be Sustainable – and Why They Are a Key to Sustainability.” Urban Ecology (5). Wackernagel, Mathis, William Rees. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on Earth. Canada: New Society Publishers. Zhong Min, Xu, Cheng Guo Dong, Zhang Zhi Qiang. (2001). “Measuring Sustainable Development with the Ecological Footprint Method – Take Zhangye Perfecture as an Example.” Acta Ecologia Sinica. Read More