Ecological Footprint

How Do we Get Rid of Our Waste? Landfills Incineration Recycling Composting Waste-to-Energy facilities

Where Does Toronto’s Garbage Go? Green Lane Landfill near London, Ontario Green Lane could reach its capacity by 2029. Before 2010 Toronto used to send its garbage over the border to a Michigan landfill

Incineration : Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants. Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is more scarce, as these facilities generally do not require as much area as landfills.

NIMBY Acronym for “Not In My BackYard” The opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them, usually the residents believe that the developments are needed in society but should be further away. Examples: housing projects, homeless shelters, fracking, wind turbines, landfill sites, prisons, cannabis dispensaries

Ecological Footprint: definition 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 + greenhouse gases produced by an individual

Map of Countries by Ecological Footprint Global hectares per capita 10-11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No data http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_countries_by_ecological_footprint.png

Global Hectare (gha) Used to measure ecological footprint "Global hectare per person" refers to the amount of biologically productive land and water available per person on the planet. Examples of biologically productive areas include cropland, forests, and fishing grounds; they do not include deserts, glaciers, and the open ocean

Biocapacity : The amount of resources the ecosystems can supply each year It is declining each year as population increases In 2005 the world’s population required the resources of 2.7 gha, but the world’s biocapacity was only 2.1 gha per person So our footprint is bigger than our biocapacity – this is unsustainable

Global Biocapacity by country China’s footprint matches its global biocapacity. The footprints of India, Indonesia and Bangladesh are fully sustainable. Australia and Canada both have footprints over 7 gha: their populations require more than 3 times their fair share of the world’s biocapacity. USA’s footprint is surpassed only by the United Arab Emirates.

Earth Overshoot Day The day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means: In 2011: September 27 In 2013: August 20 In 2015: August 13 In 2016: August 8 We now require the equivalent of 1.6 planets to support our lifestyles. We now use a year’s worth of capacity in less than 9 months. http://changingclimate.web.ca/node?page=3

https://youtu.be/XBHW3zlkY44 4:30 Earth Overshoot Day https://youtu.be/XBHW3zlkY44 4:30

Greenhouse Gases (GHG) : Any gas in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Without any greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C , rather than present average of 15 °C

Causes of GHGs Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) and is released as carbon dioxide (CO2) when they are burnt. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (i.e. emissions produced by human activities) come from: Combustion of fossil fuels Deforestation Soil erosion Animal agriculture

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Many CFCs have been widely used as refrigerants, aerosols, and solvents. They are a greenhouse gas They also contribute to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere The manufacture of such compounds has been phased out under the Montreal Protocol

Carbon Neutral It means achieving zero carbon emissions by balancing the amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount offset (ex: planting trees), or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference.

Reducing Your Footprint Eat locally grown foods Drink tap water from reusable containers Drink from the cold water tap so you haven’t wasted energy heating it Eat less meat (cattle produce methane, a major greenhouse gas) http://www.countmeinontario.ca/The-100-Ways-To-Conserve/index.aspx https://localforlent.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/revised-100-mile-diet.jpg

Calculate your footprint http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/