Ecological Footprints: Measuring and Reducing Students' Consumption of the Earth's Resources1

NACTA Journal, Mar 2005 by Haque, Mary Taylor, Roper, Cindy

Abstract

Ecological footprint calculators enable individuals to more easily assess the impact of their lifestyle on the earth's resources. These calculators can be accessed through the World Wide Web and provide information on the utilization of food, transportation, housing and other areas. Results are reported in an easily understood format. This study investigated the changes in student scores, expressed in number of acres, over the course of a semester and found that there were significant positive changes both in the overall scores as well as subscaie scores.

Introduction

With the beginning of the new century, many are finding that the increased ecological awareness brought about by Rachel Carson and others in the 1960s is just as important, or perhaps even more so. As a result, Many institutions of higher education are looking for effective ways to integrate environmental sustainability into their curriculum (Perrin, 1992; Svejcara, 2002). Colleges and universities provide stimulating settings for producing and shaping beliefs, and can provide opportunities for envisioning change (Chafy, 1997). Changes in perceptions about affluence, consumerism, and environmental management are needed to avoid exceeding the carrying capacity of the Earth (Goodland et al., 1994; Chambers et al., 2000; Simmons and Lewis, 2003).

The Sustainable Universities Initiative (SUI) in South Carolina has established a network of faculty, staff, and students who share an interest in incorporating environmental considerations into their work. With funding support by grants from SUI and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), research and action on sustainability issues have been incorporated into landscape appreciation classes through pedagogical uses of ecological footprint calculators. Eco-footprinting is considered to be the "the most comprehensive measure of environmental impact to date" (York et al., 2003) and the "best method available for making a quantitative assessment of the extent to which consumption, by a specified human population, is exceeding biocapacity" (Ferguson, 2002, p.303).

Component footprinting methodology provides an exciting new way of measuring and communicating sustainability using an area-based indicator. Ecological footprint calculators enable students to quickly assess the demand or imprint their lifestyle or "ecological footprint" has on the earth's resources. First coined about ten years ago by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, the term "ecological footprint" is defined as "the area of land required to sustainably provide the required resources and absorb any wastes" (Simmons, 2003, p.4). Though a relatively new concept, ecological footprinting is widely used for public policy development, environmental awareness campaigns, and in education (Simmons, 2003; Chambers et al., 2000). Footprint calculators represent both human demand and the biological capacity of the planet to replenish and renew itself. This concept is expressed in the number of acres (or hectares) per person. By redefining consumption and capacity in easy to understand numbers, Footprint accounts help to present sustainability, not as an elusive concept but as easily comprehensible units (Redefining Progress, 2004).

Scores are calculated for the number of acres needed to support the student's lifestyle in four sub-areas: 1) food; 2) housing; 3) transportation; and 4) "other" areas (such as goods and services). Scores are also calculated for the total number of acres utilized per person. In presenting the results, the calculator also shows the average footprint for the participant's home country (for example, 24 acres in the U.S.) as well as the number of biologically productive acres per person (worldwide, that number is 4.5). Lastly, it graphically illustrates how many Earths would be necessary to support everyone on the planet at the student's standard of living. For example, a student may have the following scores: food = 4 acres, transportation = 0.7 acres, housing = 2.7 acres and other = 2.5 acres for a total footprint of 10 acres. If everyone enjoyed the same standard of living as this student, 2.5 Earths would be necessary to support the world's population at a similar level.

The wide-spread availability of computer technology on college campuses makes the application of ecological footprint analysis very feasible as a homework assignment for college students. The continual development and refinement of user-friendly computer interfaces makes the assignment easy, informative, and powerful. In addition to encouraging discussion and reflection on sustainability issues, this methodology promotes personal engagement and action.

Most Americans, even those who consider themselves environmentalists, use more than their share of the planet (Todd, 2003). The average American has an ecological footprint of 24 acres while the average world citizen has a footprint of 5.6 acres. According to 1999 data, humanity is exceeding the biosphere's ecological capacity by over 20%. (Redefining Progress, 2004). By using the following methodology, which can be easily adapted in classrooms across the country, participating students at Clemson University successfully and significantly reduced their ecological footprint.