1. Calculating Your Ecological Footprint

2. Definitions
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Ecological footprint is the amount of productive land needed on average by each person (in the world, a country, etc..) for food, water, transport, housing, waste management, and other purposes.

3. Part I - HOME

4. 1- How many people live in your household
1- How many people live in your household? Points a) 1 30 b) 2 25 c) 3 20 d) 4 15 e) 5 10

5. 2- How is your home heated?
a) renewable (solar, wind) 0
b) wood stove 15
c) natural gas (furnace) 30
d) electricity (baseboards) 40
e) oil (oil tank & furnace) 50

6. 3- How many individual faucets and toilets do you have in your home?
a) less than b) c) d) e)

7. Part II - FOOD

8. 4- How many meals per week do you eat with meat or fish (out of 21 meals)? Points a) 0 0 b) c) d) e)

9. 5- How many home-made meals do you eat per week, including lunch (out of 21)? a) under b) c) d)

10. 6- When purchasing your food, does your family try to buy locally produced goods?
a) yes
b) no
c) sometimes
d) rarely
e) don’t know

11. Part III - TRANSPORTATION

12. 7-. If you or your family own vehicles, what type are they
7- If you or your family own vehicles, what type are they? Add points for each type of vehicle.
Points
a) motorcycle (2 cylinders)
b) small-compact (4 cylinders) 35
c) mid-sized (6 cylinders) 60
d) full-sized (8 cylinders) 75
e) SUV or van
f) truck

13. 8- How do you get to school/work?
a) car
b) public transit
c) school bus
d) walk
e) bike or roller blade

14. 9- How many trips do you make per week on by car instead of by public transit?

15. 10- Where did you go on vacation (longer than a weekend) in the last year?
a) no vacation
b) in the province
c) another province 30
d) to the US
e) outside North America 70

16. 11- How many weekend trips do you take by car?

17. Part IV - PURCHASES

18. 12- How many large purchases (e. g
12- How many large purchases (e.g., stereo, TV, DVD, computer, car, furniture, etc.) has your household made in the past year? Points a) 0 0 b) c) d) 6+ 45

19. 13-. Have you bought any energy efficient products in the past year (e
13- Have you bought any energy efficient products in the past year (e.g., light bulbs, fridges, stoves, toilets)?
a) yes
b) no

20. Part V - WASTE

21. 14- Does your household try to reduce the amount of waste created in the house (e.g., buying food in bulk, refusing junk mail/flyers, using reusable containers for storage, using natural cleaners?
a) always
b) sometimes
c) rarely
d) never

22. 15- Does your household compost?
a) always
b) sometimes
c) rarely
d) never

23. 16- Does your household recycle newspapers, cardboard/boxboard/pizza boxes, fine paper, aluminium cans, glass/plastic bottles and other materials?
a) always
b) sometimes
c) rarely
d) never

24. 17- How many garbage bags of waste do you set out for pick-up each week?
b) one, half-full c) d) e)

25. What’s a Fair Earth share?
Total your score by adding up the points from each question, and compare it to the following chart.
Your Score Ecological Footprint in Hectares
Less than Less than 4.0
150 –
350 – *
More than More than 10.0
* The Canadian average.

26. Ecological Footprint Ranking Country Ecological Footprint
(Hectares per person)
United States 9.72
Canada 7.29
Singapore 6.48
Hong Kong 6.08
Ireland 5.67
France 5.27
Iceland 4.86
United Kingdom 4.46
Italy 4.05
Portugal 3.65
Malaysia 3.24
Costa Rica 2.84
Mexico 2.43
World Average 2.03
Egypt 1.62
India 1.22
Bangladesh 0.41

27. How many earths?
Multiply your ecological footprint score by the earths population and divide by usable land on the earth’s surface to get an estimate of how many earths are need to provide your lifestyle to each person on the planet.
Your E.F.Score X 7.2 billion people
= the number of earths
11.3 billion hectares (of usable land)