Ecological Footprint

What is an ecological footprint?
The ecological footprint is an accounting tool for ecological resources. Categories of human consumption are translated into areas of productive land required to provide resources and assimilate waste products. The ecological footprint is a measure of how sustainable our life-styles are.

Can everybody on earth live like the average North-American today?

No. In fact, if everyone on earth lived like the average North American, it would require at least three earths to provide all the material and energy she or he currently uses. Preliminary estimates show that the ecological footprint of today's consumption in food, forestry products and fossil fuels alone might already exceed global carrying capacity by roughly 30%. About 3/4 of the current consumption goes to the 1.1 billion people who live in affluence, while 1/4 of the consumption remains for the other 4.6 billion people. This demonstrates the ethical implications of the sustainability dilemma and questions economic expansionism as a remedy for poverty.

What is Colorado College's ecological footprint?
Check out the report by Emily Wright '04 here.

Some data on Colorado College's energy use::
-Electricity use on various college campuses
-Electricity use by building
-Energy use by month
-Natural Gas usage by building
-Water usage by building
-Water usage for off-campus houses