How the World Works | 10 comments (10 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Aargh ! Where do I start ?

PAR CATÉGORIE      HECTARES GLOBAUX
    ALIMENTATION     1.2
    TRANSPORTS     0.5
    LOGEMENT     0.6
    BIENS ET SERVICES     1.2
    VOTRE EMPREINTE TOTALE     3.5

EN COMPARAISON, L'EMPREINTE ECOLOGIQUE MOYENNE DANS VOTRE PAYS EST 5.3 HECTARES GLOBAUX PAR PERSONNE.

IL Y A 1.8 HECTARES GLOBAUX PRODUCTIFS PAR PERSONNE DANS LE MONDE.

SI TOUT LE MONDE VIVAIT COMME VOUS ON AURAIT BESOIN DE 1.9 PLANETES

by balbuz on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 08:10:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How the World Works (none / 0)

I know where I can start: Stop eating meat and packaged food almost every day!

The questionnaire is painless, but a bit too brief, making too many assumptions based on too few data points, I think.

But it's a good idea. What if everyone fretted about their eco-footprint as much as their waistline, or even their cholesterol level!

I encourage you to go shopping more. -- George W. Bush

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 08:22:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How the World Works (none / 0)

Where to start...

I tweaked my answers as follows:

--I became a vegetarian and ate almost no dairy
--I only bought from local sources
--I stopped flying completely
--I decided I have a lot less waste than my neighbours (didn't understand that one, btw, what if all my neighbours are very eco-conscious?)
--I decided I conserve energy and use energy saving measures...

and...

CATEGORY GLOBAL HECTARES

FOOD 0.7

MOBILITY 0

SHELTER 0.8

GOODS/SERVICES 0.5

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 2

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 5.3 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 1.1 PLANETS.

Without the changes I came in at 1.8. (I cylce. I tried it with me travelling 25-100km week in a car with others and added 0.8 planets.)

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 08:26:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How the World Works (none / 1)

Well, I'd assume that they're not taking the most optimistic view of your results - they're an advocacy group after all.

But what that does show is the weakness of the personal change approach to ecological footprint: it is not enough for individuals to do the right thing if the system around them is a mess. If I answer choosing Ireland as my country I come in around the 1.6-1.8 planets mark, depending how I fuzz my answers. If I set it to the US with San Francisco-like weather (which seems about right) I get 2.6 planets, just for living in the US.

We need action at all levels, not just personally.

As I've said before, I'm pretty relaxed about my results, on the basis that there are clear technological and efficiency fixes - improving public transport for instance - that should easily knock 30% off my usage. And if the whole planet lived as well as we do it'd be a pretty well-off place!

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 08:46:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How the World Works (none / 1)

14 billion horses!

But yeah, their weightings are strange. I tried giving the greenest possible answers. I had seven people living in a 30m square green-design residence. I was a vegan who never used any form of transport apart from a bike etc...

Then I tried mucking about with the housing, reducing people, changing sizes, moving to an apartment block...

For all of them, I got this:

FOOD 0.5

MOBILITY 0

SHELTER 0.1

GOODS/SERVICES 0.1

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 0.7

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 5.3 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 1.0 PLANETS.

SO I think their beef (ha!) is with transport and food production.

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 08:57:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How the World Works (4.00 / 2)

See these comments from an earlier discussion of eco-footprint quizzes.

They leave me, er, sceptickal, skeptikle, you know what I mean... sceptical.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 12:01:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How the World Works (none / 0)

Heh. I was in good form that day.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Jan 31st, 2007 at 12:08:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

How the World Works | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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