Ecological Footprint - how do you score?

I saw on PBS a couple weeks ago part of a program on the Ecological Footprints of a couple living in the Seattle area. It was quite interesting to see how they were living and commuting to work - anyone who lives between Seattle and Portland Oregon knows all too well the traffic issues in the area. I originally lived in NY, I never saw traffic this bad in NY. Most people drive alone.

This couple “thought” they were living pretty eco-friendly until they took the quiz and they scored rather poorly. If I remember correctly they scored around 40 acres. Once they made adjustments and moved closer to where they work I think they got it down to 20 acres.

I took the online quiz, I thought I’d score fairly ok - nearly everything I do is within 5 miles of where I live, I work my Young Living business fulltime from my home based office, I do a lot of my work online and over the phone, I own a Prius (get about 60 mpg, I love this car, will NEVER buy a regular car again), my boyfriend walks to work (which is 1/4 mile away), I buy as much local produce as I can find (quite often I won’t buy something when I know it’s traveled more than 100 miles), I do not use any chemical products (only Young Living oils, personal care products, and Thieves Household Cleaner for cleaning everything from my toilet to laundry to dishes), I eat only grass-fed meats (this I have shipped in bc the quality is amazing), free range eggs, I don’t have A/C, I do have a Bosch energy efficient washer & dryer (I highly recommend this pair, I have never seen any washer clean so well and efficiently with so little water and electric to dry! It puts ALL other models to shame!!).

Some other things I do to make less of an impact

I refuse to buy paper towels (I recycle old kitchen towels for cleaning rags, and use cloth dinner napkins), and I avoid buying things that have too much packaging (this over-kill with the packaging drives me nuts!), I use “glass” storage containers for leftovers (rather than plastic), I avoid buying produce that’s wrapped in plastic or putting my produce in plastic and food in plastic jars( I despise plastic, and prefer using brown paper bags for my produce - it keeps the produce good without poisons leaching into my food), I have sturdy canvas bags for shopping, I don’t buy sodas or juices (for 3 reasons: 1. look around at the poor health of the people, and 2. why would I want to buy and ingest stuff that’s slowly poisoning me? and, 3. the packaging.) Those are just some of the things that I do that make me healthier and keep the planet greener. I love that I’ve eliminated so much junk from my life, it feels very freeing!

The quiz is based on national consumption averages and is meant to give you an idea of your Ecological Footprint relative to other people in the country you live in. It is not highly detailed, but should give most people an idea of where they stand.

I think the most scary part is that if everyone lived like I do we would need 2.3 planet earths! The good news is, when I do get property I know my ecological footprint will be near zero because I plan to build a hybrid house, a cross between an off-the-grid Earthship and Cob house. With my landscaping experience, planting & growing knowledge (I can grow vegetables year round in a zone 5 climate in an unheated hoop-house, learn more with Eliot Coleman and his book, Four Season Harvest), etc. My plans are to be nearly 100% self-sustainable.

Here is my score (for two adults in the household):

FOOD 4.2 ACRES

MOBILITY 0 ACRES

SHELTER 3.7 ACRES

GOODS/SERVICES 2.5 ACRES

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 10 ACRES

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. [ths figure is absolutely disgraceful, 24 arces - yikes!]

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON. [I can grow and raise enough food on 5 acres to feed at least a couple families for a year]

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.3 PLANETS. [gulp!]

Take the quiz, and if you like - post a comment to let us know how you scored and your thoughts on what you think are good ways we can make a change.