Ecological Footprint
Name: __________________________________________________ Period: _____ Date: __________
Essential Question: How do we lessen our ecological footprint?
Your ecological footprint measures the total amount of land and resources you use in your everyday life. Where do
your food, electricity, car fuel, water, school supplies, clothes, shoes, toys, etc. come from? They all come from Earth
resources, lands, and bodies of water. Where do your trash go? It goes to dumpsites or landfills. The total land area
and resources that you use is your ecological footprint.
During the 1970s, humanity as a whole passed the point at which the
annual Ecological Footprint matched the Earth’s annual biocapacity.
This situation is called “ecological overshoot”, and has continued since
then.
In 2007, the Earth’s people used about 50% more natural resources
than the planet could regenerate.1
An overshoot of 50% means it would take 1.5 years for the Earth to
regenerate the renewable resources that people used in 2008 and
absorb CO2 waste. Put another way, people used the equivalent of 1.5 planets to support their activities. CO2 and
other greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are far more than ecosystems can absorb.
Different countries have different footprints
An individual’s Ecological Footprint varies significantly depending on a number of factors, including their country of
residence, the quantity of goods and services they consume, the resources used and the wastes generated to provide
these goods and services. If all of humanity lived like an average Indonesian, for example, only two-thirds of the
planet’s biocapacity would be used; if everyone lived like an average Argentinean, humanity would demand more
than half an additional planet; and if everyone lived like an American, a total of four Earths would be required to
regenerate humanity’s annual demand on nature.
How can you lessen your Ecological Footprint and achieve a sustainable development?
 Reuse means use materials repeatedly. Move away
from disposables!
 Recycle means using used materials to create new
products.
 Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Reducing consumption by reusing and recycling helps lessen our ecological footprint and gives time to our planet to
replenish its renewable resources. Lowering our ecological footprint lessens the stress on our planet and gives time for
it to restore itself. Making resources available to future generations, this is what we call as sustainable development.
Clarifying Questions:
1. What is your ecological footprint?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What is an ecological overshoot? When did this happen?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What happened to our ecological footprint in 2007?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What does it mean by an overshoot of 50%?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What are some ways than can help lessen the amount CO2 gas ( greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere? Think!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6. How do you compare the ecological footprint of Indonesians, Argentineans, and Americans?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Why do Americans have one of the highest ecological footprints? Think!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
8. How can you lessen your Ecological Footprint and achieve a sustainable development?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Give one example of an object that you can reuse. Explain how you reuse it.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Give one example of an object that you can recycle. Explain how you recycle.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
11. How can you reduce consumption?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
12. How is our planet affected when we reduce consumption?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
13. What is sustainable development?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
14. How do we attain sustainable development with our ecosystem? Think!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Why is reducing consumption the best way to lower our ecological footprint? Think!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Multiple Choice: Write the letter of your answer the blank.
____ 16. measures the total amount of land and resources you
use in your everyday life.
____17. Your properly disposed trash goes to ___.
____18. a place to dispose of refuse and other waste material
by burying it and covering it over with soil, especially as
a method of filling in or extending usable land.
____19. Is the capacity of a given biologically productive area to
generate an on-going supply of renewable resources
and to absorb its spillover wastes.
____20. are ways to lessen your ecological footprint.
____21. are gases that traps heat on Earth.
____ 22. is development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
__23. Which is a major source of air pollution created by humans?
A. hydroelectric plants B. industrial factories C. reforestation
A. Biocapacity
B. Greenhouse gases ( CO2, CH4)
C. landfill
D. ecological footprint
E. Reuse, reduce, and recycle
F. dumpsites or landfills, and
some are recycled
G. Sustainable development
D. nuclear power
__24. How could the exponential growth of the human population impact regions throughout the world?
A. It could lead to a decrease in the amount of pollution in the regions.
B. It could lead to an increase in the demand for food in the regions.
25. Why do countries such as the United States and Germany potentially have a greater ecological impact
on the world than many other countries? Think!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
R. Angat
Key:
16. D
17. F
18. C
19. A
20. E
21. B
22. G
23. B
24. B
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/demands_on
_our_planet/
http://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2012/08/ecological-footprint-by-country.html
A. ecological footprint
B. dumpsites or landfills, some
are recycled
C. landfill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhwBvnQdLWI&safe=active
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmyYpWW8GeU&safe=active
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bus1p-24gzg&safe=active
Ecological footprint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0&safe=active Sustainability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLyfernZQ4&safe=active
D. Biocapacity
E. Reuse, reduce, and recycle
F. Greenhouse gases ( CO2, CH4)