Ecological Footprint Reflection
Page 15 of the course textbook has a section about ecological footprints. After you
calculate your ecological footprint, write a short reflection paper (around 500 words, double
spaced) exploring answers to at least four (4) of these questions:
How did the different models effectively (or ineffectively) calculate your
footprint?
Do you think there were other areas that were not appropriately addressed in
the model(s)?
What struck you the most as you completed your ecological footprint?
What are the most important steps you could take to reduce your footprint?
Which step(s) will be easiest and which one(s) will be hardest for you to achieve?
How much should we rely on individuals making small/medium changes to
reduce their individual ecological footprints?
How much should we rely on technological advances in reducing the
populations ecological footprint?
Which technology(ies) do you think innovators should focus on?
How much should we rely on policy changes in reducing the populations
ecological footprint?
Which policies do you think companies or lawmakers should focus on in order to reduce the populations ecological footprint?
There are different ways to estimate your ecological footprint. It can be helpful to look at
more than one eco-calculator to get a useful sense of your impact on the environment.
To calculate your ecological footprint, go to the following two websites:
https://www.footprintnetwork.org
https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator
