Lesson 1.3 - Our Ecological footprint - What do you think about this Lesson's quotation?
‚Ecological footprint is not about ‘how bad things are.’ It is about humanity’s
continuing dependence on nature and what we can do to secure Earth’s capacity to support a human existence for all in the future.‛
~ Mathis Wackernagel and William E. Rees
(authors of Our Ecological Footprint)
- Take Action Now!! - What do you think about the Greenpeace quotation, calling for action?
This post was edited on: 2009-11-30 at 01:31 AM by: tgodwald
83 Replies
I think that the most important is understand that we are the problem. When the men lived to the Earth, everything was perfect... The problem started when the men thought that the Earth lived to them.
We are dependents of the Earth, but it needs to be conscious.
I think they are right about calling an action about it. What they are trying to show is that we are taking a path that leads to destruction and to turn that situacion around the only thing we have to do is to be conscious about the nature around us and what our actions cause to it. The problem is that the population doesn't measure the damages when it comes about what we want. We think we are above the nature, that we are better, but we're not. Because without it, existance just wouldn't be possible so we need to work that out by taking actions as the greenpeace does. Participating all the matters and making sure that the nature coexists with us, keeping it in balance.
I think that one person' actions today will decide the matters of tomorrow. We all have a role in protecting this planet, our only home. This earth is providing a home for billions and billions of people, it's holding more people that it should be. On top of that we are destroying the planet by poluting, wasting the resource etc. Our minds are prone to think that this earth will be here forever but that is a myth that will soon exlode in our faces. This earth is slowly deteriorating and earth that we call home will cease to exist.
No living being on this planet has caused as much damage to the environment as humans have. It is quite unbelievable that we, the very beings who have been endowed with a grand power to discern, are the ones who are to be held responsible for the atrocities performed daily against Mother Nature. Fortunately, it is rising among us an awareness about the interdependence which permeates our relationship with the Earth. The ecological footprint is an important tool which is now helping us measure how well we are caring for this precious relationship. May this be one of the many steps towards a more conscious way of living paecefully IN the world and not AGAINST.
Ecological footprint is about how you make a difference in the earth’s capacity. Humans keep depending on the nature of the earth which is true because if we didn't then we would have tried to stop or prevent what is happening to mother earth. We should all put forward our actions to make the earth more better then making it a lot worse. One of the most important is that we should understand the problem is happening. We are all to dependant of the earth.
i think that this quote is stating a very important fact. The quote says that ecological footprint is not about ''how bad things are''. I agree with this statement. the problem is that people dont realize that they have the power to change earth's capacity so that people can live in, and adapt to it.
i agree with this quote. we have to realize that there is a problem, and that it impacts every single one of us. we have to realized that we have the power to change or stop the things we are doing and inflicting on the Planet Earth. i agree with earlier points made, that we are dependant on the earth, and that we need to respect and take care of her.
Personally, I think that the term 'ecological footprint' is both about 'how bad things are' and how much reliance humans have developed on the environment. It puts a number to what is necessary to rectify the damage and how much damage is already inflicted on the world. With this information we are enlightened as to what we need to do in order to reduce our ecological footprints. With reduced ecological footprints we can all live a sustainable life in tandem with nature and all living things on this earth.
This post was edited on: 2009-12-08 at 12:14 AM by: SWYS
I beleive that nautre and humanity must have an equal balance in order for things to actually work out since we have been depending on the earths resources for so long. In order for humanity to exist there would have to be nature. Humanity has experienced nature for so long that it would be weird to not have with us side by side in the future. To keep nature as it is, we would have to reduce gas emissions and pitch in as a society on a large scale before its too late.
I think it is completly right. We as humans have intelligence and with the intellegence we have we need to use it responsibly. We know that we are draining the planets resources and we need to put a stop to it. Many try to take action and stop the impending doom that will one day inflict future generations. We rely on mother nature for our needs and pretend that she is well and healthy, but in reality she is ill and needs immediate treastment. In 50 years it will be to late for people to do anything, but we need to make a difference today while mother nature still has time to recover.
this lesson is showing our effect on the world in the world today. all the thing we do in our normal lives. all these things built on the earth's fragile enviroment.for example my ecologail footprint would need 2.4 planets to support everybody if they lived me. the lesson also warns us about our wastful spending and consumption.
Throughout the human race, we have needed this earth to supply resources, shelter, and a good living. As humanity increased so did the number of resouces we consume, and how much space we take up. To achieve those things forests needed to be cut down , animals were endangerd, and our earth was begining to perish. Now gas emissions have increased more than ever, and more animals are becoming entinct out of greed. Greed to own everything, to gain possecion, and to become wealthy. We have to stop being so greedy, and realize what we are doing to our earth, before it is to late to make a change. We better start now, you can make a difference simply by recylcing one bottle or using less water in the shower.
In my opinion, ecological footprints affect the Earth’s capacity and how we can support human existence on it. It’s not technically ‘how bad things are’, but it’s not something we need to make a huge fuss over. Of course the planet is important, but making everyone freak out and take drastic steps to get through it, is just hyping up the dramatic factor a little don’t you think? Overall, everyone’s ecological footprints are clearly important to the future of our Earth, but still, relax. It’s not like we’re all going to die in 2012.
Only an idiot doesn't learn from their mistakes. Ecological footprints show what we need to improve. Even so, people in general don't take action. I don't think most people do their "homework" or even consider the planet's future. Due to our constant reliance on technology and nature, we've basically dug our own graves. What can I say, people are selfish and lazy beings. For instance, we are aware of the recent climate changes that are happening, yet we haven't done much to fix that. 'Time is money'. Being environmentally friendly is costly and inefficient. This is exactly why most individuals don't take action. Our desires for efficience and luxury come in the way of saving the planet, and ultimately ourselves. Knowing and understanding your own ecological footprint is only one out of hundreds of steps towards a brighter future.
As humans, we depend on the earth a little too much that we are almost on the verge of destroying our lives and the earth. Ecological frootprint is about how much we humans depend on the Earth and if it continues to increase, only god know what will happen. I'm Glad that some people are starting to realize that it isn't too late to change our ways of living. Unfortunatley there are people who don't realize or just don't care, such as business owners.
I think this quote is significant because things (As it states) are all ready going down hill-the goal is stopping us from going any further and insuring our existence in the future. This is something many do not realize, they satisfy themselves by saying “It’s not happening” and “I don’t believe in global warming”. I think that we are past the point in saying “Awareness is number one on our list to decrease global warming”. We need to replace “Awareness” with “Action”-by doing so generations to come can at least have some hope for survival.
I agree with this quote because what we do today will greatly impact us in the future. Our footprints are causing permenent damage and will follow us like karma. Besides the earth was doing great before us humans came along. This earth which is our only home provides us with life so if we loose it we bascially loose everything. We owe it alot and we shouldn't take it for granted. So instead of just standing around and watching we should take action. By being responsible human beings and doing as much as is in your hands to try and reduce you print on earth.
I think this quote is very important and when people read it we should take action and change the way we are consuming things that is ruining our only planet, except people don't care about that because they are not taking it seriously and we need to do something to change that before it's too late and this whole earth will explode or something. We should take action by informing people how serious this is and it's no joke maybe if we put more commercials about the enviorment and how it's dying on us then more people will try to do something about it for example get a hybird car instead of a car that uses gases which pollutes the air, and kills animals. No but insted the goverment wastes their money on some army that only damages earth more and doesn't bring happiness anywhere while they could be using this money to repair the damage they already did on earth by trying to develop somethings that are efficient to us but in the same time doesn't really damage the enviorment, but evreyone is too obsessed with power and money to see the damage they are doing to where we are living.
I think that it's about time for humans to realize the effects they are doing on earth. Slowly, the large ecological footprints people have are destroying the earth. People are using more then what mother earth and nature is providing for us. For humans to live safely on Earth, they need to adapt to Earth and make sure to use ONLY what is provided for you, but instead, humans are using more then what is supplied for them and therefore, making earth polluted. It is slowly becoming a place where the environment of the Earth is going to be a place that is unsuitable for human society.
I think that humans have impacted the earth in a very negative way. If we continue this behavior, the earth won't be able to sustain us for much longer. We need to take action and reduce our impact so our babies and their babies and so on and so forth can live a happy life without fear of the earth dying. If everyone reduces their ecological footprint by a little bit, the world will be a much more smiling planet!
It's ironic. We consider ourselves so smart and have so much power yet we turn around and with our brains and power we create for ourselves so many problems. We ourselves are a part of nature. We have been given the power to rule over animals but with that we have the resposibility to weild our power with wisdom and to make choices to benefit the world as a whole. Instead, though, we yeild to our selfish wishes and desires and with that we turn a blind eye to the happenings around us. We know that people are poor and starving - we go out and buy a new computer or phone. There are people who are disabled, or unemployed and we complain about our job and how much stuff we have to do. We hear about how our impacts are affecting the climate but we can't let go of all our luxuries. Yes, we are very selfish and our selfishness is what destroys our compassion and replaces it with apathy and hardens our hearts towards others and their needs. Even our own existance on earth comes second to it, for if we really cared we would let go of being "on the cutting edge" and do a complete 180. It's not that we don't know about the problems or even how to solve them, it's that we don't like the solution to the problems, so we are reluctant to do anything. Being environmentally friendly comes at a high cost that many, those who have the luxuries, don't want to pay.
This post was edited on: 2009-12-05 at 01:10 AM by: alien-youth
I believe that it is about time that we humans should face the reality of the consequences that we have bestowed upon earth. No other generation has faced a challenge as daunting. We have already hit the point of no return, and we are doomed to global warming reaching its eventual ending. The best we can do is to try to slow it down. The generation before us should have done a better job to stop global warming coming to a reality. Now they must have to live with the fact that they, not the rest of us, led planet Earth as we know it to its utter demise.
I do agree, its not about how bad things are, but when you do calculate your ecological footprint, some people mayy get scared.The reason why it ISNT about how bad things are, is becuase things can always be better. The important thing is, that if everyone becomes aware of their own ecological footprint, good or bad, we can make changes that will help us all live a better life. A "leaner, greener" kind of life.
i think that we need to learn that what we do will have always an effect later on Earth!! That theres always a cause and effect going to happen. I just wish people would smarten up and make wiser choices!
I agree with the quote. I believe that if everyone did a little bit to help like recyling or if fast food industries found a different way to serve foods without using as much waste like the paper and plastic bags then we might be able to save the earth but we need to take action soon. The longer we take to do something about it, the less our chances are of saving the earth.
I think that humans need to be more conscious about the way they treat the earth. If humans where then we wouldn’t be leaving any footprints at all. But instead we are leaving a giant one and need to fix it before its too late and we will believe in a desert, because then it would be too late and we could never go back to the way it use to be.
It’s true that an individual’s Ecological footprint is not about “how bad things are”, but looking at my ecological footprint makes me think quite the opposite. Looking at my ecological footprint, which is 5.2 earths, I feel devastated! It makes me feel terrible that our future generations, our children and grandchildren will never be able to live in this earth with the necessities they need to survive if we continue to use the earth’s resources to more than we need.
Rees and Wackernagel’s second statement is true. For us to change, we need a wake up call of reality. Seeing my ecological footprint result made me change even if it is not a huge change. Once we all change before earth reaches its capacity, we have a good chance of securing the human existence in the future.
It's one thing to reduce what we consume for our wants, but it's rediculus to have to go out of our way to try and reduce for our needs too. something like that should be met by the producer. they sell us the product, and if they want to do better buisness, they should take the action and advertise that. us as consumers can only do so much, it's time the companies take some responsibility too.
Man (and woman) has always relied on the earth to sustain us. But now, we the earth is relying on us to sustain it. We are constantly thinking that we have this huge earth that is going to live and it's going to be here forever, but the reality is that it is slowly diminishing from human interaction with nature. We only have one earth in this universe. When it is gone we have no where else to go.
-ToastyXD
I think that its is true, everybody needs to act as soon as possible or the world will become a place none of us can recognize. In order to take effective action the entire world must unite to tackle the environment problems. In my case, I got 3.2 planets needed to support mankind, that is near the U.k's average. If we dont change this, all of mankind will probably eventually go extinct or move to another planet, eventually wrecking that too. I think that it is right that we should take action now.
I agree with the quotation. I believe that we should be past the mind set of "how bad things are". We need to move on to a more productive mind set, one where we are moving forward with rehabilitating the Earth. Our environmental impact in comparison to to our impact in the past is astounding. We are beginning to depend on our natural resources for useless luxuries like electronic devices and wasteful spending habits, but our demands have reached a rate so high that our demands will soon no longer be able to be met. This quotation is correct in saying that it is we humans who have the power to secure our existence on Earth. If we do not reduce our environmental impact, people will die due to preventable causes, and it will be no ones fault except for our own.
The quote is accurate in the fact that we, as humans, created the problem. Our ecological actions have harmed the environment of this planet. However, it is important to understand that the damage has already been done. There is no use in trying to pass the blame onto other countries or individuals. A call for action is significant. Instead of blaming others and discussing the issue further, we must learn from our mistakes and the world must initiate action to ensure a reduction in our ecological footprint. It is crucial that the world becomes motivated to go green to ensure the sustainability of our planet.
i believe that the quote is quite accurate because we as humans are dependening and in turn damaging the enviroment. we dont understand the impact we are creating when we take away from the planet for our own personal gain. But all of this can be avioded as long as we can reduce our emmisions and thus reduce our impact on the enviroment. we must learn from our previous actions if we want to ensure a bright future for ourselfs and the planet.
In away, it is about how bad things are. 
however, i beleive that its all about humans admitting that they are doing something wrong and living the fact that they want to change it for the better 
Thus to know where we start and to know what we can do to stop what is happening, is most important. Wether we start now or later, its never too late
, its just that starting now rather than later will be waaaaaaaay easier to handle. As such, its about what you can do to change it. In that sense, the Quote is True.
I found this lesson a big eye opener because it showed me how much I need to improve conserving the environment. If everyone lived like me I don't know what would happen but I can change my lifestyle and do the small things that will change by ecological footprint by a lot and do my part. I don't think the world realizes what there effect is on the earth but when they do I think that we could change things around and work on preserving the planet that has provided us so many things.
This lesson opened my eyes to the fact that it takes a lot of work to reverse climate change. I realized that if everyone lived like me, we would need much more than what we currently have at our disposal. This dependence on Earth has everything to do with the fact that people are greedy, and only think about themselves and what is going to get them through the day. I believe that unless people can drastically change their ways, we cannot do anything to stop or reverse global warming. We will just have to take it as it comes and deal with what happens. 
In my opinion I think that my ecological footprint reflects my contribution to greenhouse gases and clmiate change. To a point it also symbolizes our need for a healthy planet, but I think its more or less a reflection. It's something that remains constant, even if you change our lifestyle dramatically because the damage is already done. You can't reverse climate change, only slow it down. It'll eventually come with amazing force.
We as humans have a continuing dependence on the resources the earth is providing us with, but we don’t tend to realize the negative impacts this has on the earth. We aren’t paying attention to the threats the loss of these resources could take on our environment. People need to work towards decreasing their individual ecological footprints if we want really want to preserve the earth’s resources and in return receive a sense of security and sustainability regarding the future.
I personally think that saving the environment should only be done for money-saving / profitable purposes, instead of slowing down climate change for future generations. First off, ALOT of money that is wasted into environmental protection could be used for important matters, like caring for the ill and needy people. All actions against global warming should be done to sustain our CURRENT population, because if the current generation is bad off, it will not be much better for the future ones. Our planet will not last forever, and wasting resources to save more will not get us far.
"Ecological footprint is not about ‘how bad things are.’ It is about humanity’s
continuing dependence on nature and what we can do to secure Earth’s capacity to support a human existence for all in the future."
Most western countries have reached the point where they can sustain themselves in a effective way, but other countries ( global south ) have not yet reached the point for sustainable life. Developed countries need not worry weather or not they will have food for survival but the sad fact is that most of the worlds people cannot live a sustainable life. We need to break out of the arrogant hole we dug ourselves in and actually attempt to save our world’s people.
The thing that people need to realize is how bad things are going to be in the long run. How long is the earth going to take our abuse? We all know that the earth isn't going to be around forever but what we are doing is speeding up the process. We need to find a balance between our rapid use of resources’ and the earth's supply of it. We need accommodate both our needs and the earth’s needs.
Ok I agree with the quote up to a point. It represents our (Humanity) dependence on nature. But this also represents how bad things are getting. It shows that the ecological foot print of a few can end the world as we commonly know it as which is generally viewed as being a BIG problem. So if we could some how convice everyone with a huge foot print we could then help slow the process of gobal warming and prehaps save a few people while we're at it. How ever this is most unlikley becuase humanity is least likely to change untill the last minute and by then it'll be a little late. In short the ecological foot print is just a marker for what is to come.
I agree with the Greenpeace quotation. I strongly believe that humans are becoming too dependent on natural resources and using them up at a strong rate. Soon the planet will loose most of its resources and then we'll begin to panic but it will be too late. I think that people should start becoming more energy conservative. These small changes may change the outcome of life as we know it. We need to discover a balance that will accommodate our needs and the earth’s needs to survive.
I think that people depend on nature to live and that if we do not take care of what we depend on we will have nothing. Everything we do affects the world and if we do not take action to change the way we live, it will lead to destruction. People need to reduce their ecological footprint so the earth will last longer. We can still save the planet if we do small things in our everyday life to better the planet.
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This post was edited on: 2009-12-12 at 05:26 AM by: mfurdyk (Moderator)
I agree that ecological footprints are a way to teach people about our dependence on nature, and not making them feel bad or trying to scare them about how bad the situation really is. I think governments should have everyone calculate their ecological footprint, so that they can become aware of their impact on the environment. I believe that this would be very effective in helping to stop people from making poor decisions that harm our planet. People would realize that certain things they do daily are contributing to global warming, and might make an effort to change them.
Our Ecological footprints show us how big of an impact we are having on the environment. But it does not just concern our over exposure of natural resources, and how we are hurting our Earth but it makes clear how we can fix our mistakes. It shows us where we are over using certain aspects, like electricity, so we may try and turn ourselves around to help better the planet. Ecological footprints map out what we are doing wrong, and what consequences we will have to face if we do not change.
An ecological footprint is important in telling us what we need to do to. It tells us how the way we are living is impacting our environment. We do need to take action to ensure that our future generations will have the same planet we did in good condition. I do however think that it is about how bad things are because it opens our eyes to how we are affecting the planet. When we examine our ecological footprint we can really see and understand that it is humans who are in a sense ruining the planet. This quote is partially right but I do think it is important to see how bad things are really becoming. Understanding that will move some to action to help lower our footprint and in turn help the planet.
I do not think that having a large ecological footprint is something that people should worry about. Although it may look displeasing to see that you "would need 2.9 planets to support us", you must think: Canadians as a whole are very lucky that we have a descent energy source. If you compare this number with a "Global South" country, such as Malaysia, their power and energy usage are definitely lower; therefore their footprint is lower. Although Canadians are on the high-end of the world’s average, these countries like Malaysia are on the low end. Therefore, I do not feel guilty for having a high economical footprint.
In my opinion this quote is asking humanity to STOP depending on nature when everything that we make depends on nature’s goods in the first place to create our own. I do agree that we have to slow down and even stop some types of consumption to keep our Earth in tip-top shape. The quote is also talking about if we keep destroying and consuming the Earth’s bountiful amount of resources, the Earth will become a barren wasteland and will no longer be able to support human life. It may recover many centuries after it was destroyed but the human race will become extinct or in a constant war for the remaining resources of the land.
I believe that it is essential that people have an idea of the size of their ecological footprint. Canadians, being the biggest users of energy (per capita), we should definitely be aware of our ecological footprint. Before the rapid increase of technology and great usage of energy, people would be careful and almost feel as if it were a privilege to use many new technologies (computers, television). But now, it would be second nature to use any of these technologies. I think that raising awareness of ecological footprints is a great idea, especially for the teen population.
Humans as a species are dependant on many resources to survive, but as decades have passed, we have all taken these provided to us by the Earth for granted. The size of your ecological footprint is just a small example of how many planets there would have to be just to sustain you as an individual and the many needs that you have obtained through life. People should begin to take public transportation, eat organically to reduce the use of pesticides, and take showers and not baths. These are just a few of the possiblities that are a small step to a better world. Because at the rate the citizens are going, the Earth may not last much longer and whether your ecological footprint be 1 or 4 there is always more you can contribute to help sustain life as we know it.
I think that we do have a major problem in depending too much on the Earth. Our Earth has given lots to us but all we care about is making a profit and then in return, give nothing back. If we planted more trees, reduced our carbon footprint and learned to not take so much if we can't give it back! This should be a cry out for help if you are using, as they say, "3 Earths" as your footprint. Esspecially for teens becuase us using technology now is a second nature.! Hello, I sure don't want to burn up when we destory the ozone to much, do you? =)
This post was edited on: 2009-12-07 at 04:58 PM by: ebaines
I agree with the author of this quote about how our ecological footprint is about “humanity’s continuing dependence on nature” but I do not support his optimism about Earth lasting “for all in the future” even if we do change our ways and finally respect the environment. Our ecological footprint is forever more about how much and how fast we use up the resources, but the rate that we are using up these resources is getting faster and faster as our world becomes more advanced in technology and science. Species are becoming extinct, and nature is apparently becoming less important to business as more and more nations are trying to join the “Global North” club. Many no longer turn to nature to solve our problems; we turn to our technology; if not then we try to come up with ideas, which sometimes leads us to use up or buy natural resources. We are all humans and we all have an unlimited “want” list; but we need wake up and see that our wants and selfishness is causing us to ignore the damage to nature we are causing. Many times we are forced to pick between money and nature; and unfortunately in the business world we all pick money over nature. It would be too much of a change in our daily lives, and some of us simply cannot afford to change our ways to save this planet.
We in the industrialized world are the cause because our ecological footprint our impact on the condition of the environment, isso muchlarger than that of people in the developing world because we use factories heat cars we are independent polluting machines and until that changes there is nothing we can do.
Human demand is slowly beginning to overwhelm Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate. if we start by merely doing a few simple things like recycling or taking the bus to work instead of driving, even turning appliances off when were done using them we can make a change. If we all take action at once we can dramatically change our ecological footprint and slowly begin to make the world a greener place improving our health and quality of life.
This is true. We do depend on nature a lot. People dont seem to understand that if we dont take care of it all properly, its going to eventually die out and not be here anymore. All the carbon and other harmful products we are putting in the air continually destoy the natural habitats the earth has created for us, and if we dont stop its gonna be a bit hard to keep depending on everything else. WE need to make a difference, WE need to find ways to adapt to the Earth, not the other way around.
Greenpeace’s quotation makes sense. Our Ecological Footprint makes us aware of our continuing dependence on Earths resources so that we can take action and try to save our planet before it’s too late. Now is the time to take action to save the future. If we wait any longer things might get too much to handle too fast. If we learn from the information given to us by our Ecological footprint we can learn what we need to do to change/reduce our effect on the environment. If we learn from our mistakes we can save Earth for the future generations.
I believe that it is true that if everyone lived like us then we would need 3 earths to sustain all the resources that humans are using. However, all people have never been equal and unless we get some crazy powerful dictator, everyone never will be. Life just doesn't work like that. So yes, maybe we should cut back, but the earth has so far supported all of us and our ecological footprints, and hey, nothing lasts forever. I am sure that by the time we have used up the planet we will have the technology to either travel to another or find some other way of surviving. Yes, we need to cut back, and yes, we each need to work together to save the planet, but my personal economical footprint doesn't have that much effect on the demise of the planet, and if everyone doesn't work together to save earth, then it doesn't matter if I do or do not cut back. Because to put it simply, we're all gonna die anyways, so if you're not gonna try then we're all gonna die, so why would I bother.
The Ecological footprint shows how much or how little we use. Based on how effciently we use things affects us and the envirroment. It causes poeple to pay more, which is not good. Poeple need to start using less of things in order to keep up a living. Again, it's not just us, we need to act, in order to help the envirroment. Like when we recycle, don't just throw stuff awaya because it's very harmfull to animals and plants. We all need to cooperate, and save our selves from the destruction were already causing by not helping!
I agree. Ecological footprints aren't about how bad things are – it shows us how we use and depend on natural resources, and overall nature itself. We have always needed nature, and will continue to need it for as long as our civilization exists, so why are we sucking it dry, damaging, and ruining it? Well, we pretty much have to in order to sustain our current lifestyle. The only answer, it seems, is to be more energy efficient and think about what our small actions may cause. I believe it is possible to achieve more energy efficient devices, vehicles, homes, etc. A lot of scientific research may be needed, but the effect will be good for us, and better for the planet.
I couldn't agree anymore. Our ecologic footprint is basically logic about our ecosystem and what we leaving on our ecosystem. It is true that it is human nature to leave somesort of imprint on our ecosystem, but could we call it INhuman to leave as big as a footprint as we do, when it has taken millions of years and billions of people to to have the fraction of the impact as a single person of today's society.
I believe our "Ecological Footprint" is not just about how bad things are but also humans reliance on Earth and it's natural resources. We as humans are taking it for granted and because of our greed and demand, we are paying the price. We just take and take and take, but now it's time to give back.
I agree, I think that people shouldn't be relying so much on nature’s resources as a constant need. I think that people should be finding new and different ways of using products that are energy efficient. A persons footprint in my opinion is a sign that they need to make a change in their lifestyle, even if their footprint is okay. There is always something more people can do to give back to the earth. Like, for example, using more green products, recycling everything that can be recycled and turning off all electronic things when not using them.
This post was edited on: 2009-12-08 at 01:09 AM by: CCourt
I think that we should take action like greenpeace says but to a certain extent. i mean it wont kill us to cut down on carbon emmissions a bit but a total halt is a really unprobable course. we as humans have grown too dependant on technology, this is true but to deatach ourselves from technology to quickly we would cause a worldwide ''quake'' as it were, the outcome of the sudden withdrawl from technology could possibly be horrendous.
Blondie15 wrote:
I believe our "Ecological Footprint" is not just about how bad things are but also humans reliance on Earth and it's natural resources.
This is a very good point, Ashley. Particularly in resource-rich countries like Canada, natural resources like oil are relied upon heavily for not only energy use but also for economic development (through the oil industry). But oil use and development not only cause a lot of greenhouse gases to be emitted, it is unsustainable for energy use anyway (since oil is a non-renewable resource).
We need to do ourselves and the environment a favor and find cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy.
I believe that the measure of our ecological footprint would be a waste of time if we were not willing to take the information provided to us and change our ways. Our reliance on the earths resources has exploded recently and not a lot has been done to remedy this situation. At this rate, there would not be anything left to save for future generations. So "[Our] Ecological footprint is not about ‘how bad things are" it is just a blueprint for how good things could be if we were not so careless as to how to protect our home.
This quote explains that our ecological footprint isn’t bad, it just is what happens as the population grows. I think that our ecological footprints aren’t bad, but if we continue our habits they will worsen and the Earth will not be able to support us as much as we would like it to. What our society needs to do is try to lessen our ecological footprint by recycling and car pooling. Those little things will lessen our ecological footprint and make it easier on Earth to produce things for us.
i also agree, i didnt have the time or atention span to read the five pages or my thoughts might over lap oter peoples thoughts. well anyways, being green cost more money and is harder to do than live out our lives as we are to day. goverments and people around the world are pushing underdevoloped countries to devolpe and soon everyone on our planet will be living wastefully.we would turn the world into a trash can and live in our own filth, but there are ways to reduce our foot print. we could all reduce reuse and recycle. but if we got a mojority of the people in the world to do this it would be due to devine intervention. the ecological foot print of all people is growing at a astounding rate and the ones who control it sit back and increse its size in exchange for cold hard cash. in order to go "green" and reduce our dependancy one all of mother natures land, we have to put pressure on these big companies. if we get them to produce everything in a green manner and have everything they make resuable or recycleable the world would be perfectly safe and as othere countries devolop, they will not quadruple our green house gas emissions and kill us all in smoldering hot temptures and when people go to trips to alaska, they wont be brining shorts and bathing suits.
Yes it isn't about how bad things are but about what we can do to change our society from this industrial age and era that are causing are downfall. Yet we do not have to reverse it but act on it to use eco-friendly equipment so we can reduce the pollution in our world.
This post was edited on: 2009-12-14 at 01:27 PM by: JustinKurosaki
Humans have lived on Earth since the beginning, so we are totally dependent on the Earth. What we do to the Earth affects waht happens to us in the future. The ecological footprint we place on the Earth is a guide as to how we are able to use the Earth and be able to co-exist with her. If we don't change our ways in being just consumers of resources, sooner or later we may see the error of our ways. By then, it may be too late. Sustainability is the key in which we balnce our need for prosperity and survival.
In order to effectively reduce one’s environmental impact, it is important to have an understanding of
what that impact is in the first place. An "Ecological Footprint" is the measure of how much land it requires to sustain the needs of your household. The average per person needs to be 1.89 Hectares for the Earth to sustain everybody. Unfortunately, many of the "well off" countries, or, 1st world as some refer to it, are reaching and in some cases exceeding 7.5 Hectares. Such astonishing numbers are completely un-acceptable! At this rate, our planet cannot support all of us, in fact, it will require over 4 Earths to support this amount of wastefulness and greed in our lives. I highly encourage ALL of you to realise the damage we are doing to our planet and change our wasteful ways. Most of us have no idea how good we have it, and how much we are taking for granted. That all stops NOW! http://www.myfootprint.org/ <- Take this quiz and see how you compare to the rest of your country, and the action required to manufacture a more stable and prosperous life for all on this planet. Think of others, the children and the eternal well being for all, greed is one of if not the worse qualities of man.
Looking at our ecological footprint should serve as an awareness for us all and hopefully, use it as a guide on what we can improve on to reduce emissions and maintain a good amount of our planet's resources. We are aware of how important resources are in our lives, yet we take advantage of them and take more than what we need. The resources we have now not only provides us our daily needs but also soothes our desires for luxurious materials. With our growing population and peoples' needs and wants, it is safe to say that it won't take long until all our resources deplete and we are left with nothing because we have been way too irresponsible to take care of our planet when we had the chance to. Lowering each and everyone's ecological footprint will surely make a great impact in our environment and help sustain our resources so that the future generation can also benefit from our planet.
Well that's the thing, when the WANTS>needs it is impossible to correct our faux pas. The first thing on the agenda has to be to get our priorities straight, which is obvious what they should be, the troubling issue is what they are not.
I agree with the quotation. Before that, I was a bit narrow-minded. This quotation brought up a good point that I had not thought of. Our ecological footprint doesn't only tell us how much we are wasting the Earth's resources but a beacon that we need to start taking action now. It only brings us so far to firstly know what the problem is but doesn't solve anything until we take initiative and take the take future into our own hands.
This is true, as soon as global warming or climate change become a discussion topic, people always seem to make it a negative thing, that is why an insignificant value is placed on it in order to prevent or stop it. Reflecting on mother nature's incapacity to support us, I find this very true as well. We are coming up with our own materials and chemicals instead of what is already provided for us, everything about us is artificial or plastic. What happened to "healthy" agriculture, or real, non-astronaut food like packaged, precooked frozen meals that are made of chemicals, possibly hazardous ones. Humans are incapable of keeping things simple and safe, it is because of the theory of complete human control on everything we do or make, eventually leading us to our downfall when we can't nuke something or plasticize something that's gonna kill us.
I think the obvious answer is population. With the earth's population rising exponentially the consumption will only increase with time. If we can't harvest resources from the earth then where should get them from? Recycling and reusing will work to a certain extent because I highly doubt everyone will or can embrace the idea. This does not mean we should turn to apathy on the subject and simply ignore the issue but rather do the most we can.
The problem is not only that it is our fault it is that we refuse to own up seriously we can think "you know what i'll save the enviroment later."but what we fail to realize is that we are not going to have a later.In fact we can call this our own JUDGEMENT DAY. But the reality satys at we dont have a terminator to protect us but ourself.Also what can we a bunch of kids do to help our Environment the truth is actually alot or alt least we could try. Right.
YA sure so what you are saying is that we should be aware of our ecological footprint just cause we are one of the biggest producers of pollution.Our footprint no matter how big or small should just strengthen our resolve so i say we should do what it takes no matter the cost.
I think that it is not all about saying and looking at the world like it is "doomed", it is about finding ways to live with nature not against it. Being aware that some of the things we are doing are harming the environment and then acting and changing what we are doing.Its saying we need to do what we can to conserve our world for future generations , and we can do this simply by doing all we can to preserve and live with nature.
The fact of the matter is that the Earth can not support the world's population. If we equally shared the world's food, there still wouldn't be enough to feed everybody. So it is almost impossible to reduce the amount of nature's resources, you can't synthesize everything.
I think people really need to take a look at their ecological footprint. We all need to do our part in ensuring that our world flourishes.
Ecological footprint is not about ‘how bad things are.’ It is about humanity’s
continuing dependence on nature and what we can do to secure Earth’s capacity to support a human existence for all in the future.
Our ecological foot print is dependent on a lot of things, but they all have one thing in common. They tell us how well we've been using our planet and if we even get to give a sustainable planet to our children and grandchildren and so on and so forth.
I think that our ecological footprint can be bad because it reflects how much we dont care about our planet and it shows how we unconsciously believe that all resources are infinite and we use them up without thinking about how it could effect our childrens children. As many people have realized, We are the problem and unless everyone realizes this, we will continue on this road we have built towards our own destruction of planet Earth.
Calebe Dias Gonçalves
Dec 2, 2009 at 8:20 PM