Sustainability & Ecological footprint

Miss D . Dr. O

Year 8 Society and Environment

What does sustainability mean?‘Sustainability’ means living within the limits of what the

environment can provide.

It’s about taking what we need to live now, without jeopardising the potential for people in the future to meet their needs.

Living SustainablyExamples of things people do to live sustainably include

the following: - reduce the use of physical resources (eg. water and

energy) - recycle - increase the use of renewable resources (eg. solar power)

What is an Ecological Footprint?

Humanity needs what nature provides, but how do we know how much we’re using and how much we have to use?

The Ecological Footprint measures humanity’s demand on nature. It measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resource it consumes and to absorb its wastes.

The Ecological FootprintMEASURES

how fast we consume resources and generate waste

Food and fibre

SeafoodEnergy Settlement

Timber and paper

COMPARED TOhow fast nature can absorb our waste and generate

new resources

FisheriesCropland and pasture

Forest

Built-up land

Carbon footprint

Did you know?It now takes the Earth one year and five

months to regenerate what we use in a year!

Take action... If we live in a sustainable way, we can combat the threat to human well-being and the health of the planet.

How to calculate your ecological footprint?

Ecological footprint calculators are tools designed to help people calculate their own environmental impact.

There are many different ecological footprint calculators freely available on the internet.

Some ecological footprint calculators can be quite complex and take a long time to use, whereas some ask simple questions about your everyday life and can take just 10 minutes.

Why calculate your ecological footprint?

Through calculating our ecological footprint, we are forced to consider the impact of our lifestyle has on the earth.

After calculating your ecological footprint, you should take time to consider what you can do to tread more lightly on the earth.