Ecological Footprint Many people use more than their share of
the Earths Natural Resources. SUSTAINABILITY natural resources are
being replaced or renewed at least as quickly as they are being
used. Many of our resources are shrinking forests, fish
populations
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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT-calculation of the total area of land and
water needed to supply all of the materials and energy that we use
as well as absorb all of the waste that we produce. Includes food,
water, housing supplies, products, and energy we use. Which
countries do you think have a large ecological footprint?
Small?
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Surface of our planet = 51 billion hectares -ocean -desert
-mountain tops-land covered by pavement or concrete... =8.9 billion
ha of useable land for 6 billion people. Our ecological footprint
will get bigger depending on the kind and amount of energy,
products, disturbances and pollution we are associated with.
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http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp?bmUID=12710521 43652
http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp?bmUID=12710521 43652 Right now,
most Western countries use more resources, more energy, and create
more waste and then is sustainable. HOPE: we can still reduce our
ecological footprint and impact on our prescious environment by:
1.Be aware of natural resources we consume 2.Reduce the amount of
energy we use 3.Reduce the amount of products we buy 4.Reduce the
amount of waste we produce
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Ways we could reduce our ecological cost of food: Use food
grown locally Use food grown organically Reduce the amount of meat
in our diets (vegetarian meals have a smaller ecological footprint
because it is not consuming all the resources used in processing
the meat) Reduce the amount of processed foods in our diets (lots
of resources to get to us, energy, packaging)
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3 Rs: REDUCE Limit the amount of garbage you produce Avoid
buying overly packaged, disposable or unnecessary products Use
cloth re-usable bags
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3Rs: REUSE Rather than throwing products away, find another use
for them. Buy products that you can use again and again rather than
disposable ones Plastic containers rather than saran wrap or foil,
wash ziploc bags, buy or sell/donate used clothing
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3Rs: RECYCLE If you can not avoid buying a product that there
is no other use for, look for ways to recycle them. Compost kitchen
scraps Blue bag or boxes, recycle centers If you can, buy products
made of recycled products PET Cycle Polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) makes up plastic beverage containers 10 million pounds/year
are sent from Alberta to Georgia and is mostly used to make
residential carpet and fleece!
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Humans do not usually intend to cause harm to their environment
Why do we have sustainability problems?