Assignment 3 – Ecological Footprint (25%)

Objective of this Assignment: To calculate and reflect on your own ecological footprint.

This assignment relates to the following Course Learning Requirements:

• CLR 2 - Relate the history of environmental trends to contemporary society and to future
• CLR4 - Identify your day-to-day practices and their impact on the global ecosystem and, in turn, the global ecosystem's reciprocal impact on 
• CLR5 - Explain the concept of ecological footprint and identify ways in which personal environmental impact can be 

An ecological footprint is a way of linking the health of our environment to our own unhealthy consumption patterns. The footprint measures our dependence on nature or, in other words, it measures the 'load' imposed on the environment by a population. It represents the land area required to sustain levels of resource consumption and handle waste discharge. This individual written report assignment is a 3-part assignment:

• Inthe first part of this assignment, calculate your personal ecological  There are a couple of websites that you may wish to review to assist with this.
• The Global Footprint Network will provide general information athttp://www.footprintnetwork.org/
• Please use the ecological footprint calculators found at:http://footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/
• Describe the key points that comprise your footprint calculation. How large is your ecological footprint? How many Earths would be required to support everyone on the planet if everyone had the same level of consumption as you? Reflect on what you learned by calculating your own ecological 
• Thisportion of your paper should be at least 300  (Approximately 1.5 pages, double-spaced, font = 12)

• Using the same ecological footprint calculator as in Part 1, try to determine what changes you would have tomake to your lifestyle in order to live within the Earth's means (that is, to achieve an ecological footprint of 0.8 ? thereby leaving space for all other organisms to live on the planet as well).
• Describethe key points that comprise your new footprint  What key lifestyle changes would you have to make in order to live within the Earth's ability to provide for your needs and consumption patterns? Could you achieve this goal? How? Should you try to achieve this goal?
• Thisportion of your paper should be at least 300  (approximately 1.5 pages, double-spaced, font = 12).

Part 3 - Reflecting on Ecological Footprint

• Using the data you gathered in the first two parts of this assignment as well as course information and information about ecosystem services from the textbook, and any other information that you have researched,write a reflective paper that demonstrates your understanding of the concepts of ecological footprint and ecosystem services and how they relate to environmental citizenship.
• Thisportion of your paper should be at least 500  (approximately 2 pages, double-spaced, font = 12).