“Every organism,

be it a bacterium, whale or person,

has an impact on the earth.

We all rely upon the products and services of nature, both to supply us with raw

materials and to assimilate our wastes.”

-Nicky Chambers et al.

Our Ecological Footprint:

• What it is:

Our Ecological Footprint:

• What it is: The land needed to support our current lifestyle of consumption, measured in land area per year

Our Ecological Footprint:

• What it is: The land needed to support our current lifestyle of consumption, measured in land area per year

• What it isn’t:

Our Ecological Footprint:

• What it is: The land needed to support our current lifestyle of consumption, measured in land area per year

• What it isn’t: It isn’t an indicator of social or economic well-being

Why use the Footprint?• Addresses constraints of measuring resources with

monetary value

• Respects limiting factor of nature’s productivity

• Decision making tool to compare and contrast alternative practices

• Easily understandable, interactive and FUN!»www.earthday.net/footprint

• Has been adopted on many levels: -Individuals -Governments-NGOs -Companies

…even Nike!!!

How Big is the

Footprint of a Nike Running Shoe?!!

But You Can’t Eat Shoes!

Good Question…

Getting Going: GRS Project Gone Wild!!

The Key Players:

Getting Going: GRS Project Gone Wild!!

The Key Players:

Brenda Sawada,

SEEDS Program Coordinator

Getting Going: GRS Project Gone Wild!!

The Key Players:

Nancy Toogood, Food & Beverage Manager

Getting Going: GRS Project Gone Wild!!

The Key Players:

Brent Skura, Supporting Professor, Food Guru

Getting Going: GRS Project Gone Wild!!

The Key Players:

Brenda Sawada,

SEEDS Program Coordinator

Nancy Toogood, Food & Beverage Manager

Brent Skura, Supporting Professor, Food Guru

Getting Going: GRS Project Gone Wild!!

Purpose of Footprinting the Pendulum:

1) Quantification

2) Recommendations

3) Re-evaluation

4) Education

The Pendulum – A leader in Sustainability!!

• Composts much of their biodegradable kitchen material

• Gives discounts for people who bring their own mugs

• Recycles bottles and cans

• Has many vegetarian and vegan menu options

• Attempts to buy locally where possible

• Makes most dishes in the SUB

Components of Our Ecological Footprint:

• Food Production

• Transportation

• Facility (Hydroelectricity and Water)

• Materials and Waste (Garbage and Recycling)

Land Use Categories:

• Fossil Energy

• Arable Land

• Pasture Land

• Sea

Category Fossil Energy

(m² per kg)

Arable Land

(m² per kg)

Pasture Land

(m² per kg)

Sea

(m² per kg)

Fruit, vegetables 0.50 0.56 - -

Beans 1.00 11.73 - -

Milk, yogurt 1.00 - 19.92 -

Cheese, butter, cream

6.50 - 199.19 -

Poultry 8.00 12.75 - -

Beef 8.00 58.33 - -

Fish 10.00 - - 551.75

Tea and coffee 7.50 17.67 - -

Production Footprint Multipliers

Category Fossil Energy

(m² per kg)

Arable Land

(m² per kg)

Pasture Land

(m² per kg)

Sea

(m² per kg)

Fruit, vegetables 0.50 0.56 - -

Beans 1.00 11.73 - -

Milk, yogurt 1.00 - 19.92 -

Cheese, butter, cream

6.50 - 199.19 -

Poultry 8.00 12.75 - -

Beef 8.00 58.33 - -

Fish 10.00 - - 551.75

Tea and coffee 7.50 17.67 - -

Production Footprint Multipliers

Category Fossil Energy

(m² per kg)

Arable Land

(m² per kg)

Pasture Land

(m² per kg)

Sea

(m² per kg)

Fruit, vegetables 0.50 0.56 - -

Beans 1.00 11.73 - -

Milk, yogurt 1.00 - 19.92 -

Cheese, butter, cream

6.50 - 199.19 -

Poultry 8.00 12.75 - -

Beef 8.00 58.33 - -

Fish 10.00 - - 551.75

Tea and coffee 7.50 17.67 - -

Production Footprint Multipliers

Category Fossil Energy

(m² per kg)

Arable Land

(m² per kg)

Pasture Land

(m² per kg)

Sea

(m² per kg)

Fruit, vegetables 0.50 0.56 - -

Beans 1.00 11.73 - -

Milk, yogurt 1.00 - 19.92 -

Cheese, butter, cream

6.50 - 199.19 -

Poultry 8.00 12.75 - -

Beef 8.00 58.33 - -

Fish 10.00 - - 551.75

Tea and coffee 7.50 17.67 - -

Production Footprint Multipliers

Production FootprintProduct Name

Total Mass

(kg/year)

Product'n

Footprint

(Krause)

Fossil

Energy

Land (ha)

Arable

Land (ha)

Pasture

Land (ha)

Sea (ha)

TOMATO2534.5 0.4 0.1 0.4 0 0

CHEDDAR 10LB BLOCK

1216.4 2.5 0.8 0 24.2 0

ROAST BEEF (TOP ROUND)

315.4 0.7 0.3 1.8 0 0

DARK ROAST Organic Fair Trade

170.1 0.3 0.1 0.3 0 0

Case Study: A Tomato Traveling From Navolato,

Mexico to UBC

• 3709 km from Navolato, Mexico to Vancouver

• 2535 kg of tomatoes consumed each year

• What does this mean?

On average:

1 Hectare of forest can sequester 1.8 tonnes of

carbon per year

A tomato traveling by truck has a footprint 7 times bigger than the same tomato traveling by ship or by train

Ecological Footprint Estimates for Freight Transport

Freight Footprint (hectare-years/1000 t-km)

Assumptions

Rail (train)

0.01An estimate for a diesel freight train. Includes fuel, manufacture and maintenance energy plus an estimate of apportioned rail space.

Road (truck)

0.07Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) embodied energy per t-km with a proportioned area of the road

Sea (ship)

0.01Energy footprint of a coaster – does not include any sea or land areas associated with freight

Facility Footprint

Counting light bulbs…

Watching microwaves…

Monitoring the dishwasher…

Playing phone tag with Jesse at U of T…

and hanging out with the AMS architect,

Michael Kingsmill

Waste Footprint

Collecting garbage, recyclables and compostables

Sorting through…

Weighing it!

The Total Footprint of the Pendulum is….

The Total Footprint of the Pendulum is….

340 hectares/year!!!

On Average, the Footprint of Each Meal Served is…

On Average, the Footprint of Each Meal Served is…

27 square metres!

Break It Down!

THE MATRIX

ENERGYLAND

ARABLELAND

PASTURELAND

SEA Total

FOOD PRODUCTION

16.0 19.4 224.8 18.5 279TRANSPORTATIONFood Consumer Goods

4.40.1

--

--

--

5

FACILITYHydroelectricity Appliances Lights Heating/CoolingWater

10.60.90.8

negligible

----

----

----

12

MATERIALS AND WASTE

GarbageRecycling

34.57.5

--

--

--

42

Total: 75 19 225 19 338

What Have We Accomplished?

1) Quantification

2) Recommendations

3) Re-evaluation

4) Education

Where Do We Go From Here?

• Re-Evaluation

• EDUCATION!!!

• Marketing of Sustainable Choices

• Footprinting Other Campus Restaurants

• Computer Model

“We must become the change we want to see in the world”

-Ghandi

PS: Sign The Sustainability Pledge!!!

www.sustain.ubc.ca/sustainable_u/

(jigga what!)