Environmental footprint

Laura PY

Environmental Management Essay about ecological footprint

The ecological footprint is the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required sustaining their use of natural resources. “If every people lived like French people we would need 3 planets”_ Le monde 2017/08/01. With the ecological footprint calculator “ https://www.greencred.me/footprintcalculator/” I could calculate my impact on the environment and if everybody lived like me we would need 2.19 planets. However, I try to be careful about my energy consumption, I don’t have car and I use my parents car less than 2 hours per week, I try to walk or use common transport each time I can, I never use the air conditioning or the fan during summer for example. I try to recycle and sort my waste. I eat mostly vegan for minimize my participation at the intensive livestock and its repercussion on the environment.

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But we have just one planet for everybody and its resources are limited and scarce.

In this essay we will try to think about how we can reduce our footprint?

Firstly, we will briefly observe the actual environmental situation and I will compare the French footprint with my ecological footprint. Secondly, I will propose some solution that everybody can use to reduce his ecological footprint. Then, I will think about a global solution for reduce the global footprint.

Firstly, we will briefly observe the actual environmental situation. In the occidental countries, the economic growth based on exploitation of natural resources faster than their renew are not sustainable. We are face to an increase of natural disaster risk, of environmental degradation and the risk of loose ecologic equilibrium are now a reality with the extinction of many earth varieties. In a half-century we have already lost 1/3 of the earth diversity and 86% of fish variety. If every people lived like French people we would need 3 planets and like me 2.19 planets, I think that the main difference between my footprint and the average ecological footprint of my country is linked to the facts that I don’t eat much the animal product and I do not use much the car.

Human have lose the contact with nature but we have a share responsibility and we have to change our way of consumption and our impact on the environment.  

Now, I will propose some solution that everybody can use to reduce his footprint.

My first solution to reduce my ecological footprint and to people reduce there own, is to eat vegan or become a flexitarian. “In half a century, meat consumption has exploded. It has risen from 23.7 kg to 42.3 kg per year and per habitant on average in the world. Despite a slight decline in industrialized countries since 2008, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the OECD are forecasting an increase in world demand of 16% the next ten years. But livestock is already responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, FAO said. And mobilizes a large part of agricultural production.” _ Alternative économique dossier N°11.  

If I change my food consumption and never eat animal product instead of small consumption (between 5% and 10%) my footprint, ceteris paribus, became 1.94 planets instead of 2.19 planets. So, if meat lover change their food consumption and use just small consumption of animal product they can reduce a lot their footprint.

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Moreover, we have to try to consume only local food with the aim to avoid the creation of demand for exported food, traveling by boat or plane, which create a lot of gas emission.

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