More than ever before, we as consumers can be aware of our footprint. Earth’s resources are being depleted and the climate crisis is upon us.
But what can really make a difference at the individual level? Information is widely available but often confusing.
As Peter Drucker said, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. So the best place to start is to analyse our individual consumption of goods and services.
Ecological footprint
A person, group or country’s demands on global natural resources.
This includes both personal (e.g. mobility, food, consumed goods) and societal impacts, such as government assistance, infrastructure and public services.
The Global Footprint Network calculates the overshoot day, the date on which the earth’s resources for the year would be exhausted if all of humanity consumed like the population of a specific country.
In 2018, Earth Overshoot Day for humanity was August 1. Quite shocking, isn’t it? And the average in industrialized countries is much higher.
Carbon footprint: the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community.
The average carbon footprint per person in EU countries in 2018 was about 7 tons per person, while in the US it is close to 16 tons. Food, housing, clothing, transportation and services purchased account for most of it.
Source: Song K. et al. (2019)
So how do we know how much resources we consume or how much carbon we emit?
There are several user-friendly tools freely available on the web that can help with that.
I calculated both my footprints using two different calculators, the Global Footprint Network available here and one by Mossy Earth (available here).
Well, for starters, if everyone lived like me humanity would require 2.2 earths. Also, my yearly carbon footprint is about 4 tons CO2e.
I like to think of myself as someone who is pretty aware about the environmental impact of my consumption choices and, in general, I feel quite good about it.
I’ve shifted to a mostly vegan diet a couple of years ago and avoid processed foods. Also, I use public transport to get to work, try to avoid unnecessary plastic packaging and sort my trash.
However, I live in a large house, whose energy consumption could be improved and I could make an effort to purchase more local produce.
Being aware of our consumption choices’ impacts is the first step and there’s no need to give up all our habits at once. Whatever we change has to be easy enough for us to stick to it.
It’s OK to start small, maybe just eating less processed and packaged foods, going to work by train, bus or bike and switching off lights and electronic devices when not using them.