What is an ecological footprint?
Be led by the following science: The planet is finite. It only has so much ability to supply what we need and absorb our pollution.
If we divide this ability by the number of people on the planet we get a fair amount each. This is measured in ‘global hectares’ (a hectare is the size of a football pitch) per person.
(A ‘global hectare’ has the average productive ability of all Earth’s land area from forest to desert.)
Humanity’s ecological footprint is increasing, driven by population growth, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. We have been in deficit for fifty years:
If you have a mortgage deficit the bank can take your property away.
Ecological deficit means our planet is being taken away: our land and seas are dying: fire, flood, soil loss, species loss, drought, dead zones.
If everyone in the world were to live how we live in the UK we would need about three planet Earths. Clearly unsustainable.
To scale your impact down to one planet is challenging. It helps not just to reduce your negative impacts such as waste and pollution, but to improve your positive ones. Ask us about solutions: we have a comprehensive library.
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