What is the Ecological Footprint?

The Ecological Footprint is a way to measure the ecological impact of a particular person or community. By measuring our Ecological Footprint, we can begin to pinpoint ways to reduce environmental impact.

The Eco-Footprint is calculated in global acres, which represent the total amount of land necessary to provide the resources used and absorb the pollution produced by a community. There are 4.7 acres of bioproductive land available for each person on Earth, which means that a sustainable society would have an Eco-Footprint of 4.7 global acres or less.

Instead, many countries have higher Eco-Footprints, showing how they extract resources from all over the world. The United States, for example, has the highest Eco-Footprint in the world, of 24 acres per person. If everyone in the world lived like the average American, we would need five more planets!

The Eco-Footprint addresses six main areas:

•   Energy
•   Housing
•   Food
•   Goods and Services
•   Transportation
•   Recycling

These are the major ways in which a community consumes resources and creates pollution and waste (except for Recycling, which is a negative calculation of waste reduction). This data is used to pinpoint ways to improve our community's ecological impact.

The Eco-Footprint helps us to visualize the ways in which our everyday actions affect people and the environment throughout the world. Measuring our Ecological Footprint is the first step towards looking at how we can become a more sustainable community. 

The Ecological Footprint and Its Uses
A Sustainable Sarasota report (January, 2004)

Ecological Footprint of Nations
A Redefining Progress special report addressing the Ecological Footprint of communities and nations across the globe. (March 2004)

Redefining Progress
A non-profit research institute in Oakland, CA that performs the Ecological Footprint calculation.