Personal Eco-Footprint Calculation Summary Report

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A personal ecological footprint, also known as an eco-footprint, is the demand that an individual person puts on the Earth’s natural resources; such as land, ocean, and the waste that the individual produces. A person’s consumption of the Earth’s resources and how that individual impacts the earth help to create a personal eco-footprint calculation. At http://myfootprint.org/, I calculated my personal ecological footprint and discovered my impact on the Earth’s resources and its ecosystem. The ecological footprint quiz results were that if everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle we would need 3.86 Earth’s to sustain the world’s population.
The personal ecological footprint calculation quiz results are divided into four consumption categories, carbon, food, housing, and goods and services. The results are also broken down into four ecosystem types, cropland, pastureland, forestland, and marine fisheries. The calculation results take all of these categories into account to come to a final result. The ecological footprint is expressed in global acres. The personal ecological footprint quiz results compared my footprint to the country average.
The country’s average for carbon footprint is 91.43 global acres. My personal carbon footprint is 42.71 global acres. The country’s average carbon footprint is nearly double of mine. My carbon footprint is smaller than I expected. The country’s average for food footprint is 65.74 global acres. My personal food footprint is 52.59 global acres. I have a garden, as well as compost, which may have contributed to my lower number. The country’s average for housing footprint is 31.58 global acres. My personal housing footprint is 28.18 global acres. I live with three other people, which contrib...

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...gin to use, or reuse, more items in my home. The numerous reusable shopping bags I own are sadly forgotten at home when I do the grocery shopping. Making an effort to remember to utilize the reusable shopping bags I can cut down on my household’s consumption of petroleum byproducts.
In conclusion, the impact I personally have on the planet has surprised me. My personal ecological footprint is much larger than I expected. However, there are measures I can take to drop my current consumption rate, such as altering my recycling choices, making better purchasing decisions, and adopting the reduce, reuse, and recycle concept throughout my household. By altering my habits and consumption rate, I can affect my local community tremendously in a positive way for the planet Earth.

Works Cited http://www.answers.yahoo.com http://www.myfootprint.org

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