Amberdeep Chugh, BM Section A, Roll B14008

My Ecological Footprint

As we can see in the observed trends my ecological footprint in terms of required planets regenerative

capacity has increased substantially (133%) from the last year I stayed with my family (2010) to the

present state. Most of this increase is attributed to my increased mobility and extensive use of transport

which have increased the fuel (resources) consumption and the Carbon dioxide emissions. The required

global hectares to support my lifestyle was much lower 5 years back, 1.1 as compared to 2.5 of worlds

average; but now it has jumped up to 2.6 in just 5 years (a substantial proportion of this land is the

energy land required to support my energy needs). This means my changing lifestyle after I have set out

from my native place (a tier 3 city) to college is putting pressure on the earths resources and its

capability to regenerate them at a sustainable pace.

This would imply that if all the people on earth live like my current lifestyle/aspirational future lifestyle,

we would be exhausting the earths resources pretty quickly, at a much larger pace than the earth

regenerates them. This could result in extensive competition for resources in the future and thus result in

ever increasing prices. The extensive competition may result in conflicts amongst nations, among states

of a country and aggressive and potentially harmful tactics employed by everyone to acquire those

resources. This could result in civil wars and world wars.

A major negative consequence to which my current and aspirational lifestyle contributes to is to

ecosystems losing certain species due to dearth of resources. This will also have the potential to disrupt

the food chains and food web networks. Land degradation will also occur due to its overuse, pollution

and deforestation and thus its ability to support the people will keep on declining as compared to the

ever growing population.

All this can result in an apocalyptic scenario shown in the recent movie Mad Max, which now certainly

seems believable after this exercise.

In my opinion, I should embark upon reducing my ecological footprints by focusing on the components

which contribute the most to my ecological footprint and have increased substantially. Mobility is that

component for me. I should strive to use public transport as much as possible rather than personal

vehicles. If I have to travel by cars and bikes, I should share my drives with other people. The emerging

ride sharing apps and carpooling services are a brilliant way to achieve this. More use and emphasis on

shared economy will certainly help in reducing our pace of consumption of resources of the earth. In

conclusion, everyone should be able and encouraged to use this footprint exercise to have a check on the

impact they are making on earth and to employ changes in their lifestyles for achieving sustainability.

0.6

1.41.7

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

The last yearthat I stayed

with my family

Present Five years fromnow

Planet Regenerative capacity required/year

1.1

2.63.1

0

1

2

3

4

The last yearthat I stayed

with my family

Present Five years fromnow

Required Global Hectares to support lifestyle