Ecological Footprints:
How is your ecological footprint like a bank account?
Step 1: Calculate how much you “spend”
Bank Account / Ecological FootprintEveryone with a bank account has money and spends money.
Some save more than they spend.
Some spend more than they have.
Often, those with more spend more.
Adam / Eve
Savings / 100 / 500
Spending / 150 / 350
End Balance / -50 / +150
Spending within your budget is a “sustainable” practice.
But not all of us do it!
Sustainable: / Everyone on planet earth has access to their share of earth’s resources. Just like a bank account:
Some use less than their share
Some use more than their share
Those with access to a particular resource tend to use more of that resource.
Gaining Access:
Money:
Geography:
Earth’s resources are just like money but come in a variety of forms: Collectively, they are referred to s “Natural Capital”.
Energy:
Land:
Food/water:
Manufactured goods:
Just like with paper money, people in some places have a bigger bank account of “Natural Capital” than people in other locations.
How much “Natural Capital” do you spend?
Go to http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/
Calculate your ecological footprint:
# of earths needed if everyone spent like you do? / # of global hectares you spendBased on your footprint, do you think you have over or underspent your share of earth’s natural capital?
Step 2: Calculating how much you “earn”
Bank Account / Ecological FootprintEveryone has a job that earns a wage or salary.
Lebron James makes $31 million/y
Paper Boy $500/ year
Lebron and the Paper Boy have very different earnings which impacts how much they can sustainably spend. / Every location on planet earth has a “biocapacity” which is the ecological equivalent of a salary.
Biocapacity:
Some places have a huge biocapacity and in others locations it is extremely low
Example location that would be the “Lebron James” of biocapacity:
Example location that would be the “paper boy” of biocapacity:
Step 3: Analyzing your spending habits
Go / follow the link on the class website to:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/trends/canada
Canada United States
Canadians and Americans have similar spending habits but very different earnings of natural capital. Canada and the USA are experiencing decreasing biocapacity over time.
Which country is the Lebron James of natural capital? The Paper Boy? How do you know?
What might cause a country’s biocapacity to decrease over time?
What implication does a decreasing biocapacity have on the future?
Step 4: Managing your “Capital” Finances
Bank Account / Ecological FootprintWhen you have spent more money than you have or are able to earn you are in deficit and can do one of the following:
Borrow Money
Start spending less
If you spend less than you make you will always have a reserve, there will always be enough money to support your lifestyle. / When your use of natural capital exceeds your biocapacity you are in Ecological overshoot. Countries in ecological overshoot can:
Take resources from other location
Start using fewer resources
If you use less natural capital than the earth can regenerate there will always be enough resources to support your lifestyle.
Go to http://www.footprintnetwork.org/ecological_footprint_nations/
Check out a bunch of countries by clicking on the map. Are any of those countries improving their biocapacity? How do you know?
Which countries are in the biggest ecological overshoot or deficit?
Which countries have the largest reserves?
Is any country showing a sustainable biocapacity /ecological footprint balance? Support your answer
Extension Question:How does where you live on the planet impact your ecological footprint and the sustainability of your lifestyle?
Global Resource Consumption: How Much Natural Capital Is Left?
In a group of 4, you will be assigned one statistic below. You need to calculate how many year the resource has left at current consumption and create a small informative poster outlining your resource.
Oil reserves 1. 68 trillion barrels usage 104 million barrels a day
Forest reserves 40 million km2 used each year 130 000 km2
regrowth = 41 000km2 / year
Natural Gas reserves 187.5 trillion cubic meters 3.2 trillion consumed each year
Coal reserves 892 billion tons reserve 6.63 billion tons consumed each year
Uranium reserves 5 900 000 tons 66,000 tons per year usage
Iron ore (steel) reserves 3 062 000 000 000tonnes 2.8 billion tonnes produced/year
Aluminum reserves 29 billion tonnes of (bauxite) 47 300 000 tonnes produced/ year
18 000 000 tonnes recycled each year