Ecofootprint

Calculate your ecofootprint at http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/. How did you fare? Print out your final report and bring to class. Click the explore scenarios button. What behaviors could you modify (be reasonable now!) to reduce your footprint? What is the resulting value? Assume the average American ecofootprint is 4.6 (earths). If everyone lived like you do, what is the maximum population that earth could sustain (according to this calculator)? 

The ecological break down shows that a majority is used towards services at 32%.  Following services is food , then mobility, then shelter, and the least is goods.  According to the footprint, if everyone lived as I do, we would need 6.2 planet earths to provide enough resources.  To support my lifestyle, it takes 27.6 global acres of the Earths productive area (32 tons of carbon dioxide).   

A majority of the global acres would be energy land, then crop-land and forest land.  Using the explore the scenarios option, I could possibly reduce the amount of animal products I currently eat by half and purchase products that use less packaging or recycled packaging.  The option of taking a local vacation to avoid flying this year would not be possible due to the distance between school and home not being close enough to drive.  I do not believe that flying should be as much of an issue since each air plane holds several passengers, and is most likely better for the environment than if each passenger got in a car and drove a certain distance.   

If I made the two changes stated previously, I could reduce my footprint by 0.8 planet Earths, changing the 6.2 to 5.4 planet Earths.  If everyone lived like me, the earth would have difficulty sustaining, being that am 0.8 Planet Earths above the average.