March 17, 2025
Ecological Footprints or,Today, We are Giants
An ecological footprint is a way of visualizing how what we choose to consume impacts our environment. Basically, our ecological footprint illustrates how much land is needed to sustain our current level(s) of consumption. Often, nearly every aspect of our daily lives is taken into account.
Ecological footprints include our choices in diet, transportation, consumption of goods, and use of appliances. For each section of our ecological footprints, land has to be added to create the things we use (pasture and farmland for food, for instance). Then, more land has to be added to show the ecosystems around us that provide clean air and water and suck carbon back out of the atmosphere. The more we consume, the larger our ecological footprint.
Ecological footprints can be calculated at any level. Individual people can calculate or find a website to calculate their ecological footprint, but similar calculations can and have been done for regions, countries, and the world. As a general rule, the more developed a country, the larger its ecological footprint. Developed countries use more fossil fuels for farming, transportation, heating, cooling, etc. The U.S. has one of the largest ecological footprints in the world; to supply everyone in the world with enough resources to match the lifestyle of someone in the U.S. or Europe, we would need about six Earths.
Calculating your own ecological footprint is a great starting place to find ways to lower your individual impact. To get you started, try this Ecological Footprint Calculator. One thing I’ve discovered, however, is that a large part of my ecological footprint as a Wisconsin citizen comes from my use of electricity — not because I use too much electricity, but because Wisconsin relies heavily on coal as a source of electrical power.
Keep in mind that you can only do so much as an individual and be kind to yourself. Personally, I know that while I don’t really eat meat, giving up cheese and butter is not something I have the willpower to do. Look for the things that you can do something about and don’t feel guilty about things you can’t or aren’t ready to tackle yet.