You no doubt know your shoe size and pants size. Now it’s time to add your ecological footprint size. Go ahead. Be brave. Even if you find out information you don’t like—you know, like stepping on the scale after a holiday festival—you need to know where you are … NOW. You may like it better than you think. Calculating it will take about 10 minutes if use the help of the Earth Day Ecological Footprint Network calculator. Just click here and you’ll go directly to it. Or, use the one at the Global Footprint Network (here). You can compare the two results.
Knowing your ecological footprint size gives you your baseline from which to make new choices for OneEarth living. Without that knowledge, we will inevitably make assumptions and live without putting our feet down firmly on Earth.
Early in the process of writing my book, Blinded by Progress, I calculated mine. As a result, the opening sentence to the book is “My lifestyle is too big for this planet.” But that’s all I’m going to reveal here. To know exactly how much too big, … well, you’ll have to read the book. Coy, huh? More important to know your own anyway. But if you learn that yours is also too big for this planet, know that you have company.
“Just how scientific is the footprint calculation?” you may wonder. The Global Footprint Network is the site for you. They tell you all about the science of what they do and how their research continually updates their calculator and calculations. Their mission is to give the best information possible to decision-makers in countries throughout the world. Or, in their own words:
Global Footprint Network provides tools and programs that can help countries thrive in a resource-constrained world. More than ever,decision-makers are employing Ecological Footprint accounting to manage their ecological capital, both now and for the future.
Be sure to check out their site. I easily get hooked when I go to it because of the easy way they present the results of their scientific research. I like seeing their roster of scientists too.
Want to contribute something simple to the movement for OneEarth living? Know your footprint size and, in every appropriate conversation, ask people about theirs.