Ecology: Social problem?

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Visit one of the following sites: Earthday - http://www.myfootprint.org/ Best foot forward - http://www.bestfootforward.com/footprintlife.htm Mountain equipment Co-op - http://www.mec.ca/Apps/ecoCalc/ecoCalc.jsp Ministry for the Environment - New Zealend - http://www.mfe.govt.nz/withyou/do/footprint/ From the calculations comment on the following: •How large or small is your ecological footprint? •What are possible inaccuracies with the information you input? •Do you think this is a “social problem?” •How might these calculations be useful? •What did you learn about your lifestyle in terms of whether (or not) it is sustainable? •What changes could you/would you have to make in your daily life to meet a sustainable ecological footprint? •What barriers would you have (institutional, value and otherwise) in your effort to make these changes? My ecological footprint is much smaller than I expected at seven footprints. This could be because I do not drive and I always walked places and I do not eat animal products very often. Even with my seven acres we would need 1.6 planets to house a bunch of likeminded people. My lifestyle seems to be very good environmentally and I'm very happy with the result because I try to be very environmentally aware of my actions. I believe I will be able to sustain my lifestyle as well. However, I also realize that not everyone else is aware of the consequences of their actions. This causes a social problem. Pollution and waste are probably the two biggest things that average joes could help decline. People like to drive five minutes to the store because it's more comfortable for them but why can't they walk or ride a bike? It would help decline society's contribution to the population. Also, I believe more people need to recycle because America is already shipping waste to other countries or sending it in areas that are damaging the Earth even more. The earth is our mother and if we destroy her we will not exist. If we destroy the trees and plants we will not exist. We need to respect the things that keep us alive. The calculations are very useful because it can help people realize that we are working our planet way to hard. If people see that if everyone was like them it would take say..24 acres for each person and that is highly impossible then maybe they will stop driving their cars everywhere and stop having so much waste. However, not only would individuals or groups have to realize what they were doing..so would big business. Big business probably creates the most waste and pollution. They are the ones dumping toxic wastes in water and such. There would have to be a huge revolution in sight for a total ecological change.