Environmental Science: Ecological Footprint Report and Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of an individual's ecological footprint, encompassing its calculation, manipulation, and reflection on its environmental impact. The report begins by calculating the ecological footprint, identifying personal earth overshoot day, and assessing resource consumption patterns, including carbon footprint and the number of earths required. It then delves into the biological demands of individuals and the methods to measure consumption. The second part explores strategies to manipulate the footprint for sustainable development, suggesting changes in lifestyle, energy-saving devices, recycling practices, and consumption of processed foods, renewable energy sources, and sustainable practices. Finally, the report reflects on the findings, highlighting the negative environmental impact and the need for awareness, and the importance of minimizing negative impact, and focusing on renewable resources. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of individual responsibility and sustainable practices to reduce ecological footprint and promote environmental health.

Ecological Footprint

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1: Calculating Ecological Footprint......................................................................................1
Part 2: Manipulating Your Ecological Footprint.............................................................................2
PART 3: Reflecting on Ecological Footprint..................................................................................3
REFERNCES...................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Every person living on the earth wants to have the flexible high class lifestyle where they
want to have whatever they want. Through technologies these might also achieved but there is
requirement of resources which are received from the earth. The more we impact on earth, more
we get affected (Li, Liu, and Sun, Z., 2016). There is relation required between the resources
utilization and their prevention so that future demands can be fulfilled. Ecological footprint is
way by which individual can understand the ways they are impacting the healthy environment. It
is used measure the unhealthy consumption pattern. It is the method by which load of population
on the environment can be understood. Further, it suggest the ways by which it can be prevented
and waste can be handled. The objective of this report is to calculate the Ecological footprint,
then manipulate it and at last righting critical reflection on same.
PART 1: Calculating Ecological Footprint
After calculation of the ecological footprint following things can be identified,
 The personal earth overshoot day is mentioned as Feb 14.
 Number of earth required by me was 0.9.
 As there is requirement of more services and mobility so there would be more carbon
footprint (Ozturk, Al-Mulali and Saboori, 2016).
 Ecological footprint was 1.5, Carbon footprint was 2.6 (CO2 emission/tonne) and Carbon
footprint is 59 (% of ecological footprint).
For every humans there are basic requirement of food, shelter, lifestyle and many more
things. It is basically the biological need of individual to live. It mainly requires the resources
which are produce, generated, extracted and recycled (Collins and Cooper, 2017). Biological
demands of the people can be evaluated through bio-diversity which is based on the utilization of
land and water. It can be calculated through the ways by which people are consuming the
resources. Ecological Footprint Standards helps to clearly calculate the ways by which people
consume different resources and the way they would continue to use those resources. My
ecological footprint data was only 1.5. This means that there is more utilization of the resources
then my needs. As per the given data, I have not considered certain aspects such as fishing
grounds and grazing lands which will eliminate most of the living creatures from earth (Fu,
Turner, Zhao and Du, 2015). Further, There are more Carbon footprint so there would be more
utilization of the resources and advancement in the technologies.0.9 earth would be required by

me as I would like to travel and services more. Though it is considerable more data in terms of
impact to the earth. Such methods shows that I have higher resources intensity (Li, Tian and Yu,
2014). There is very less demands in terms of foods and but hike in processed foods. Further,
recycling is less but resources utilization are more. Housing requirement is simple, having
average family but not utilizing energy saving resources. At last comes travelling which is most
preferred (Li, Liu, and Sun, Z., 2016).
Part 2: Manipulating Your Ecological Footprint
In order to reduce the footprint and increase sustainability development following are the
ways by which I can maintain it:
 There is no requirement in the home style, but there is need of using energy saving
devices which can save energy (Mikulčić, Cabezas, and Duić, 2014.).
 There is great need of recycling of the resources.
 Processed foods should be less used, more reliability should be on the natural food.
 There is great demands of travelling/ mobility which needs to be replaced by cycle which
is more environmental friendly and energy saving (Hoekstra and Wiedmann, 2014).
 Maintaining population is another aspects which needs to be maintained.
 Maintain the consumption of animal products or so that they are required in the
ecosystem (Bai, Wen, An and Li, 2015.).
 Use pooling methods to save more.
Moreover, there are changes required in the lifestyle it should be more simple and there
should be utilization of resources according to the necessity (Zhang and Tan, 2015). Family
planning is also required as more the population more will be waste and more consumption of
resources. Use of renewable sources of energy can also help to prevent the resources. 3 R's of the
products i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle can be used to replenish all the resources. As it is not
actual data the consumption can be based on the utilization of the resources (Toth and Szigeti,
2016). Further, the processed foods also requires other resource and consume energy for
example, packed food will require it manufacturing, making, packing and many more resources.
Moreover, given carbon footprint doesn't have any other device utilization such as mobile and
other electronic and electrical devices so it is not actual measure of calculation (Charfeddine and
Mrabet, 2017).

PART 3: Reflecting on Ecological Footprint
In accordance with findings, it is identified that the ecological footprint has negative
impact on the environment when the contribution is not properly done. With time there are many
changes that has taken place and the rate of pollution is raising at an increasing rate. In this
context, increase in pollution has also raised issue with respect to diseases. I have analysed that
each one around the world is responsible to increase the rate of pollution. Proper consideration
needs to be made so that environment can be protected. Further, there are different factors that
are identified that affect the environment. These are food, shelter, mobility and good. All these
are required to be considered by each individuals. The rate of resources are getting reduced.
Further, the human wants are unlimited and to satisfy them all, the resources that are available is
also less.
Each individual contributed for the growth for pollution or the negative impact over
environment. There are different type of research that are conducted on this topic but there is not
tools that enable to measure that the contribution that is made through ecological foot print.
However, there is one think for which world is sure and that is the contribution cannot be
measured but there are certain amount in which the contribution made by some of the people
around the world will be high and there will few whose contribution will be low. However, the
only think that can be done is to minimise the negative impact over the environment. In this
process, it is essential that all the people around the world have proper awareness about the rate
of intake and the use of factors that are done by each one. For example, the type of transportation
that is used by individuals contribute effectively towards pollution. In this process, it is important
to make sure that the use of transportation is made in way that negative impact is low. Further,
there are certain set of steps that needs to be considered so that the rate of negative impact due to
ecological footprint can be reduced. In this context, one of effective step is to grow trees. When
trees are grown, then the rate of oxygen supply is raised as it intake carbon are leaves out
oxygen. Further, it is suggested to make sure that people recycle the things that are used by them.
When the rate of recycling is increased, then the amount of products that are developed will get
reduced. This way, the rate of carbon can be reduced in effective manner. in addition to this,
when individuals have proper awareness about the negative issues that are faced with ecological
foot print, then they will make sure that factors that has negative impact are not used. Further, it

is also suggested that renewable resources should be focused more. It includes wind energy, solar
energy, etc. These are helpful to reduce the rate of ecological impact.

REFERNCES
Books And Journals
Collins, A. and Cooper, C., 2017. Measuring and managing the environmental impact of
festivals: the contribution of the Ecological Footprint. Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
25(1). pp.148-162.
Li, X., Tian, M. and Yu, J., 2014. Development of an ecological security evaluation method
based on the ecological footprint and application to a typical steppe region in China.
Ecological Indicators. 39. pp.153-159.
Hoekstra, A.Y. and Wiedmann, T.O., 2014. Humanity’s unsustainable environmental footprint.
Science. 344(6188). pp.1114-1117.
Toth, G. and Szigeti, C., 2016. The historical ecological footprint: From over-population to over-
consumption. Ecological Indicators. 60. pp.283-291.
Fu, W., Turner, J. C. and Du, G., 2015. Ecological footprint (EF): An expanded role in
calculating resource productivity (RP) using China and the G20 member countries as
examples. Ecological indicators. 48. pp.464-471.
Ozturk, I., Al-Mulali, U. and Saboori, B., 2016. Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve
hypothesis: the role of tourism and ecological footprint. Environmental Science and
Pollution Research. 23(2). pp.1916-1928.
Mikulčić, H., Cabezas, H. and Duić, N., 2014. Emergy and Ecological Footprint Based Analysis
of Different Cement Manufacturing Processes. In Digital Proceedings of the 9th Conference
on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems-SDEWES.
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture.
Li, J., Liu, Z. and Sun, Z., 2016. Are the drylands in northern China sustainable? A perspective
from ecological footprint dynamics from 1990 to 2010. Science of The Total Environment.
553. pp.223-231.
Bai, X., Wen, Z. and Li, B., 2015. Evaluating Sustainability of Cropland Use in Yuanzhou
County of the Loess Plateau, China Using an Emergy-Based Ecological Footprint. PloS one,
10(3). pp.e0118282.

Zhang, M., Lu, Z. H. and Tan, F. F., 2015. Urban Planning in Resource-Based Cities Based on
Ecological Footprint and Ecological Carrying Capacity. In Applied Mechanics and Materials
(Vol. 744, pp. 2236-2240). Trans Tech Publications.
Charfeddine, L. and Mrabet, Z., 2017. The impact of economic development and social-political
factors on ecological footprint: A panel data analysis for 15 MENA countries. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 76. pp.138-154.
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