Geography of Canada Sustainability

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not every man's greed” - Mahatma Gandhi

Nature provides us with many resources Which of these resources do you think we absolutely need in order to live ?

Human’s cannot live without: Oxygen Fresh Water Food Proper Temperature Atmosphere

Ecological Footprint Ecological Footprints are a measure of human impact on the Earth. The footprint equals the Earth’s cost to sustain one person. It’s measured in global hectares. It represents the land area needed to provide resources and absorb waste and greenhouse gases produced by an individual.

Footprint by Consumption Category

Ecological Footprint (2007) World Average  2.2 hectares Biggest Footprint: United States  9.6 hectares Smallest Footprint: Bangladesh  0.5 hectares Average Canadian Footprint  7.6 hectares Why is Canada’s average footprint so big?

Carrying Capacity What is Carrying Capacity? Carrying Capacity  The number of individuals who can be supported in a given area within natural resource limits, without ruining the environment for present and future generations.

Carrying Capacity Currently we are overshooting the Earth's capacity by nearly 50%. To sustain present levels of consumption, we would need:

What is Stewardship? The responsibility we all have to the environment and resources that has been left to us by our ancestors. We are all stewards to our planet.

Stewardship & Sustainability If we are not all following our role as stewards in the global village, then we will not have a sustainable environment for our future children. “We do not inherit the earth from our grandparents, we borrow it from our children.” - What Does that Mean?

Brainstorm… What is the definition of sustainable? At home? As a human? In the natural environment? At School?

What is Sustainability? The ability to be maintained or be renewed indefinitely into the future. To provide for the needs of the world's current population without damaging the ability of future generations to provide for themselves. Identify some ways you can be more sustainable…

Sustainability We must all do our part to keep our consumption of resources to a minimum and the environment around clean. Are we as sustainable as we claim to be? What examples can you provided to support your answer?