Ecological footprint: know your limit
It’s 2021, it’s time to start living on an ecological budget.
We only have one Planet Earth, but we are currently living as if we have the resources of two planets. As years go by, human impact on Earth has exceeded the available natural resources from agricultural land, livestock, and aquatic ecosystems, which translates into our Ecological Footprint.
A person’s Ecological Footprint includes both personal and societal impacts. Every action we do represents an impact on the planet. In 2020, all the natural resources of the world that were available for the year were used up by the 22nd of August.
This is known as the Earth Overshoot Day, and it is based on the ecological footprint of humanity. The Overshoot Day of a country is the date on which the resources offered by the planet as we know it would end if all humanity adopted the same consumption habits and it is recalculated every year.
People have very different ecological footprints depending on the countries they live in and their lifestyles. However, it is possible to enhance our quality of life while reducing our consumption habits to a One Planet level.
If you want to know your footprint click here:
Take action
Some key factors that could help us to reduce our Ecological Footprint by making some changes to our lifestyle choices are the following:
Food: eat sustainably - buy local, unpacked, and unprocessed food, opt for a vegan/vegetarian diet at least once a week.
Mobility: walk, bicycle, or carpool instead of driving solo, travel responsibly - reduce the number of flights you take a year.
Energy: incorporate renewable energy into your household, change to energy-efficient electric appliances, turn the lights off when leaving a room.
Goods: reduce your waste, recycle and buy second hand, become a minimalist, choose green construction materials.
City: support sustainability policies and smart urban planning.
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