According to the Global Footprint Network, the Ecological Footprint is an accounting tool used by institutions and governments. The tool measures how much of the biological capacity of the planet is required by a certain activity or a population. By biological capacity meaning the ability of an ecosystem to produce useful biological materials and to absorb carbon dioxide emissions. Every year there is a date for the ecological overshoot of our planet. This means that by that certain date we have used all the natural resources our earth can produce in that year. It is sort of like the budget of the earth for each year. And that is the date in which we finish it. You can check more about how to calculate it on the Global Footprint Network website.
Now you might ask yourself what do you have to do with all that if it’s a global average. Well, your personal activities and consumerism tendencies affect this number even just a little bit. We all have our small contribution to the issue of climate change, even if its big companies that do most of the damage. But, if you think about it we are the ones that support those companies.
The number the Ecological Footprint gives us and the overshoot date we have should make us more conscious about the resources we are wasting on earth. This gives us an insight into how many planets we would need to support our species and our activities.
This should make us more aware of our decisions in our daily life and the impact they are having on Earth and our atmosphere.
The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. – Robert Swan
– Robert Swan
Our choices clearly have an impact on the planet. Recycling and buying more eco-friendly products clearly does help, but we need to know that this damage on earth is coming more from larger companies than from individual people. Therefore to stop supporting these companies is something that we can do to reduce the mark we leave on this earth. Most importantly we need to acknowledge and be conscious of what we do. We need to accept that all of our actions have consequences and that they are directly related to us and we can’t hide at the end.
To better our personal Ecological Footprint we need to first learn a lot about what it means to be someone that helps the earth heal and provides it with what it needs instead of throwing to it what we don’t use anymore. We need to be conscious of our choices and of what we consume especially. This doesn’t only help the earth heal but also helps us heal from the inside. Doing something for our home allows us to grow as people and it provides us with an opportunity to give and contribute to this world.
You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.
– Jane Goodall
Talking about contributing to the world, using reusable products can not only save you so much money on buying the same products over and over again, but also it helps the environment by reducing waste.
Check out this brand that offers reusable products to help you with your journey in becoming more ecologically conscious.
Green Up is a great subscription box that offers you a lot of options to become plastic-free and earth friendly!
Here are some resources so you can further investigate on your own on the impact you can have on earth (in a bit more scientific way)
These are some cause you can join to move the earth overshoot day: https://movethedate.overshootday.org/
This website explained thoroughly what the ecological footprint means:
https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/
To calculate your personal footprint (I was scared): https://www.footprintcalculator.org/
Some main ways to reduce your footprint: https://en.reset.org/act/reduce-your-ecological-footprint-0
We can all start becoming conscious about the decisions we make daily and how we carry out our lives. Start by calculating your Ecological Footprint and get informed on what can you do better to help our Earth.
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