a measure of how much land and ocean area is required to sustain a particular consumption pattern. This is related to, but not the same as [environmental-impact]
An ecological footprint estimates how much land and ocean area is required to sustain the consumption pattern of one person or a particular group of people. For example in 2007 it was estimated that mankind's total ecological footprint was 1.5 planet Earths, i.e. humanity uses 1.5 times more of the available resources than the Earth can renew them. In 2016 this world average was calculated to be 1.6 Earths.
Usage: Use this tag for questions on how to derive an ecological footprint, or for questions about the exact ecological footprint of a country or of a particular lifestyle.
Note that ecological footprint is sometimes confused with environmental-impact which describes all effects (positive or negative) of the production, consumption or disposal of a product or service on the environment. Also note the difference between ecological footprint and carbon-footprint which only considers the emissions of greenhouse gasses.
Online personal or family ecological footprint calculators:
- Footprintnetwork.org
- Henkel.com
- Ecologicalfootprint.com (very basic calculator, aimed at UK residents)
- Easycalculation.com (very basic)
