What's the Size of your Ecological Footprint?

You might think that the amount of land you need only includes where you live, where you play, and where you go to school. But it really is much bigger, because it includes the land where the food you eat is grown, where your garbage goes, and much, much more.

Instructions:

  • Think about your actions for today or yesterday.
  • Choose one answer to each question.
  • Check your results!

Transportation:

How did I travel today? Think about each time you went somewhere...

  • I was driven in a car
  • I took a bus
  • I rode my bike
  • I walked

Water Use:

How much water did I use?

  • I did not shower
  • I had a shower for 1-2 minutes
  • I had a shower for 3-6 minutes
  • I had a shower for 7-10 minutes
  • I bathed in a full tub
  • I bathed in a half-full tub
  • When I brushed my teeth:
    • I let the water run the whole time
    • I turned off the tap
  • When I use the toilet:
    • I flush every time
    • I use a low-flow toilet or put a 1 litre plastic container full of water or rocks to displace water in the toilet, so each flush uses less water
    • I sometimes let the "yellow mellow," especially if other people will be using the toilet soon (i.e. first thing in the morning and before bed time)

Clothing:

I am wearing:

  • Only brand new clothes
  • Some second-hand or hand-me-down clothing>
  • Almost all second-hand or hand-me-down clothing

Play:

In the sports and games I like to play, the equipment I need is:

  • A lot (full jersey and pads, computers, etc.)
  • Not so much (balls, hoops, game boards etc.)
  • None or very little
  • This much land was made into a field, arena, pools, ski slopes and parking lots for the sports and games I like to play:
    • Lots (more than the area of a football field)
    • Some (about the area of a football field)
    • None or very little
  • In general, I spend this much money a day on recreational activities:
    • $20 or more
    • $10
    • $5

Food:

When I eat a meal there is this much left on my plate:

  • Half of the food there was to begin with
  • A bit of the food
  • I clean my plate
  • In a typical day, I eat meat:
    • At every meal
    • At one or two meals
    • Never
  • In my lunch, this much food is wrapped in paper or plastic that I throw away:
    • All of it
    • Some of it
    • None of it

Lights:

When my class leaves the classroom for recess or another activity we turn off the lights OR when I leave my room or house, we turn off all lights.

  • Never
  • Sometimes
  • Always
  • My classroom/home recycles:
    • Nothing
    • Some paper
    • All of our paper, cans, and drink boxes

If all humans had an ecological footprint like yours, the number of Earth's we'd need to sustain this would be: Earths.

Unfortunately, we all know that there is only one planet Earth!

Earth

The average Canadian requires about THREE PLANET EARTHS.

People who live in North America are using up more than our fair share of natural resources and space.