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Eco-Footprint

Thu, 2008-05-15 13:22 — ezg

I just took this Eco-footprint Quiz: myfootprint.org.
I got a depressing score of 4.97 earths necessary to sustain my lifestyle. Ouch.
However, I am doing things to lower my impact on the environment. I started a garden with my girlfriend and joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group. I use compact fluorescent lights, try not to drive too much, live in a neighborhood where I can walk places, recycle, turn off lights and unplug electronics when not in use. All of these things seem like baby steps to me and apparently they are, since I'm only slightly less guilty than a Hummer owner.

I am willing to do a lot more, but I don't really want to drop out of society and join an eco-village. (or do I?) I guess the alternative is to help move the entire society towards more sustainable living, but it doesn't seem possible to make a big enough shift and maintain this culture as we know it. I am skeptical of the possibility that technology will save us from ourselves and that seems like the only push our society has been making towards change. Hybrid SUVs don't change the fact that our infrastructure (physical and ideological) is designed to create waste.

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Sat, 2008-05-17 05:25 — mhile

My test

I don't know of its validity but I tried the test as well and got a 4.39. The most interesting part was the graph at the end which compared my results with the rest of the country. In the places where we have taken action (goods and services and housing) we are substantially below the average for the US. In terms of carbon footprint, probably because I fly to DC a few times each year for work, we are significantly above the average.

The one problem I had with really understanding the results was that it compared my to others in the US. Since I know that we consume a large proportion of the world's resources, being much better than the rest of the US is probably not be good enough. I would have liked a comparison by category with what would be sustainable for all.

Matthew