Green Practices
Ecological Footprint
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An ecological footprint is the total amount of environmental impact an individual, organization, or country has, including direct and indirect impacts. Across the planet, our collective ecological footprint is a comparison of human demand (to regenerate the resources we use and to absorb our waste) with planet Earth’s ecological capacity.
Calculate your individual ecological footprint here.
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Global Footprint Network
How Big is Your Ecological Footprint? |
Consumer Consequences |
Earth Overshoot Day
Globally, our collective ecological footprint used the resources of 1.3 Earths to support our lifestyles in 2007, and yet we only have one planet Earth. Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when we begin living beyond our ecological means each year. By October 6, 2007, humanity had consumed the total amount of new resources that our planet produced for the entire year.
Life Cycle Analysis—Natural Resources Used in Day-to-Day Products
The complete ecological footprint involved in manufacturing products can be determined through a life cycle analysis (e.g. to get ice cream, you start with feeding and housing cows and growing sugar cane, etc.). You can determine some of the environmental impacts of product manufacture from the Carnegie Mellon Green Design Institute’s Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIOLCA) model.
This online tool calculates conventional air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and toxic releases for numerous products. [Click on the “food, beverage, and tobacco” industry, then select "ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturing.” The model defaults to economic impact. Click on “change inputs” to get the environmental impacts.] To see how much water it takes to make some common products, go to Water Footprint website (~1 gallon = 4 liters).
