How ecologically are you living compared to anyone else on this planet? It sounds like something impossible to express. Actually it is possible, if you can calculate all human activities back to the amount of land and water used for them. The Ecological Footprint is a tool that gives insight into the amount of land and water that people use to be able to produce all their food and other supplies and to be able to process their waste. At the end you can bring back all human activities to the amount of land and water used for it. How much land is needed to grow your food? How much water do we use? How much land do we use for our energy supply, for fossil fuels and for all raw materials? How much land do we use for our houses and roads, etc.?
In this way all our activities have been calculated and quantified. Of course, it is of major importance where on earth you live. For instance, in Europe we use considerably more energy and land for everything we do than, for example, in Africa. What costs for instance something like a mobile phone expressed in the amount of land? It has been produced, raw materials, energy and water have been used. Then the mobile phone is packaged, documented, transported, sold and finally used. To be able to use it, GSM base stations are needed, which are also manufactured etc. etc.
To a large extent the possible accuracy of the results of the test is therefore determined by the amount of details you provide about your lifestyle. Below you find links to three different tests. They mainly differ in the level of detail and the amount of questions which you have to answer.
We invite everyone to do one of the more extensive tests and to send us the results. We will then compose a list that we will publish on the site. In this way we can all get an impression of our use of land compared to others. Perhaps even a challenging stimulus to improve your score!
Do you want to remain anonymous, make up a pseudonym under which you want to be included in the list. Please include your family-composition and global living situation, for example, in a family house in the city or on a farm in the countryside or in an apartment in the Algarve.
Have fun!
A very simple test is done in half a minute by www.bestfootforward
Do you want to get to know something more and spend some time on a more extensive test, have a look at www.ecofoot.org or do the same test at www.myfootprint.org
The most detailed and very beautifully made test, in Flash, is carried out by the Swiss. This test was established in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund. This test also includes some more questions that apply to people living and working in modern west-European society. Go for this test to www.footprint.ch