http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-many-planets-do-you-need-measure-your-impact-on-the-planet.html
How Many Planets Do You Need? Measure Your Impact on the Planet and Find Out
Remember when you were a kid and your mother told you to clean up the mess you made? You walked over to whatever it was, checked it out for a few minutes while you tried to figure out how to get out of it, and then made your pitch. And if you were like me (or my mom), that pitch never worked, but you got a “good try” and pat on the head as you were told to get it done.
It has always occurred to me that the environmental mess that we have created for ourselves is no different, with a few minor exceptions. We’ve put into play a great deal of changes that are affecting our planet, and it seems that it’s high time to get in there and clean things up. The problem is that some of the mess we’ve made is only now being discovered, and on top of that, the planet is so big and we are so removed from our messes, that we don’t always see what we’ve done.
That’s where something like the ecological footprint quiz comes in.
OK, I can hear you out there: “Oh boy, here he goes with global warming and CO2 and Al Gore and who knows what else” and you couldn’t be more incorrect. Don’t get me wrong, I think Global Warming (or Global Climate Change as it should have really been coined) is a huge problem and that we are involved in a tremendous amount of that piece of the pie. But this isn’t about Global Warming.
Every time we buy something, build something, dispose of something, or do just about anything else on this big blue ball we call home, we affect it. No matter how big or how small, our actions have consequences. Now as I mentioned before, some of these consequences are quite far removed, and some not even visible at the moment so as a result, we don’t always know about them or think to do anything about them. In essence, we are messing up our rooms, but even though we would like to be responsible, may not think of cleaning them up, because they don’t appear to be messy to us.
That’s why I like to point folks towards the footprint quiz. In a nutshell, the quiz is a good way to see how badly you are messing up your room. After launching it and picking a language and country, you then proceed to answer 21 fairly simple questions about your lifestyle. Most are fairly common sense and any adult should know the answers, but if you have kids, it’s also a great learning tool to sit and take the quiz with them.
Once you’ve answered the questions, the quiz then calculates how many planets worth of resources we would need if everyone lived the way you did. It’s quite sobering to look at and really gives you an idea of what you are a part of. Remember, even if you are lower than your next-door neighbor, anything over 1 planet means the game is over.
Now I know there are folks who are going to be reading this and thinking “that’s ridiculous, no 21 question survey can tell me how I am effecting the planet accurately” and quite honestly, you’re right. I don’t point folks towards the survey to come up with their number and then get depressed, or ask that very same question. While there is a fair amount of science behind the quiz, there are also obviously a fair amount of assumptions as well. So I tell people to think of it as a guide as to how they are living, sort of a jumping off point.
The real value of the quiz, to me anyway, comes about after you are done. If you have the time, go back and take the quiz once, twice or even five or six times and see what changes will reduce your footprint. As a jumping off point, try changing your country, your air travel, and your local food choices and see what the difference those choices bring. I did this with a class I taught last summer after challenging them to get below 1 planet’s worth of resources and only one student was able to achieve it. He had to live on a small farm with no electricity in Kazakhstan, but he got there.
Another great tool is to click on Take Action and then Reduce Your Footprint and you’ll read a host of things you can do to limit your impact on the planet right now. While at present time it’s general, there are still really good ideas and my guess is that in the future they will be personalizing these results.
The bottom line of all this is try to get in touch with how you are living and what you are a part of and you will be one step closer to making the changes that we all need to make. Don’t think of this as an absolute calculator, but as a guide, and see where you stand. And then share it with friends and see who’s living larger (pun intended).
Finally, I’ll share mine if you share yours. I’m in the US and according to my results we’d need 1.85 planets if everyone lived the lifestyle I live. While I’m happy that it is way below the national US average, as I said before, anything over 1 planet means the game is over, so I’ve got some work to do.
So what’s your number?
Dave
Dave Chameides is a filmmaker and environmental educator. His website and newsletter are designed to inspire thought and dialogue on environmental solutions and revolve around the idea that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. “Give people the facts, and they’ll choose to do the right thing.”
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18 comments
add your comment »I am very pleased with my results from taking the quiz.
It clearly revealed that my family and I are doing all of the prescribed activities in regard to water saving. We also use the lowest from of heat generation in our Northerly climate which is burning local wood with we cut and split ourselves.
It satisfies me that we made it a priority in building our home 11 years ago with all of the energy saving suggestions in the quiz, especially extra insulation and storm doors.
I am happy that all our appliances are Energy Star rated.
I am also delighted that we grow our own foods and vegetables as much as possible and buy local and/or fair trade for those food items we are not able to produce for ourselves.
In regard to household furnishings, all we have are second hand, thus also reducing our carbon footprint.
The quiz confirmed that our original instincts in building, equipping and furnishing our home and and food consumption habits are very green.
I value the insights and reminders gained by taking the quiz and will continue to look for more ways to offset our household's carbon foot print.
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Let see: we are a few people on our blue ball, we are so civilized, we have to take a shower very day (just one?) we have to eat every day so we have to wash all what we use in the kitcken, than we have to wash our clotes, our car ( if we have one), we have to clean our dier road's in the city because is not raining every day. Let see How many liters of poison we use every day? Make only 1l/day, how much is this in a life time? and how many people is in big cities only. The earth is not growing animore.
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As a "preamble": I myself took leave of my car many years ago. Public traffic and my bicycle are fully OK with me. Since 1970 I didn't use any plane, and overall I live as energy and ressources conscious as I can. But that's only one point, and what must not be forgotten when talking about ecological footprint is this: The greater the number of people is who live in some area, the stronger are the limitations for each one of them not to exceed the limits of sustainability. Overpopulation reduces the personal amount of what each one of us can afford. Therefore we must take into account the population density when calculating a realistic measure for the footprint. Mathis Wackernagel, David Pimentel and others did exactly that. Pity is, that many of other "footprint writers" don't.
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Well done!
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Sustainable Dave, the result IS with my husband's current hours! Fortunately, he recently got a promotion that includes a company car to drive around for site checks, but he still has to drive our car to get to the county where the company car is parked. I also had to "guesstimate" how many miles per year we drive the cars, since we're not in the habit of writing down every time we use the car for anything, but it could be interesting to take the test again after calculating our actual mileage and see what happens.
Living in a small town does cut down the amount of driving I have to do. With the exceptions of the grocery store and the firehouse (we're both volunteer firefighters, and when we get a call, seconds count!), we walk or I ride my bike everywhere. Even taking my older daughter to school only involves the car if one of us has a bad cold or there's inclement weather; 99% of the time we take the "Shoeleather Express."
We also plan to overhaul the heating/cooling system in our house next year, Goddess and the tax return willing. Right now the house has baseboard heat and central air, but we want to replace the AC and put in a heat pump next year to replace the baseboard heaters (thanks to those wretched things, our electric bill in the winter is actually WORSE than the summer), so maybe that'll have an impact as well. It'll certainly impact the electric bill!
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1.08 Earths - not bad. I guess it's the flying that counted against me, but it's one trip a year, and I try to take a shorter flight then the bus, to compensate both for the Earth and for my wallet.
I found it annoying that they always mention thermostats. I don't even have one! If it's cold, I bundle up. If it's hot, I take clothes off and stay in the shade. It's that simple!
If there were local recycling programs, I'd participate, but there aren't. And I've been trying for years to have my family freeze leftovers - if we don't eat them, we can compost them - but is it my fault they won't listen?
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i get your point totaly..even if the quiz has its flaws (relating to where u live) people realy should get on to it, at every given moment, if we are mindful about what waves we are making, then we can always improve! but i realy take this seriously, because i was raised strictly, my mess was MY MESS & I HAD to clean it..same goes with anything else a person could pass the blame to or turn your back on..like feelings of others, or eating healthy tonight or exersizing or watering our potplants (lol xx)& all the rest of the potential things we (mostly) like to weasle out of!
the world realy could be a better place, in more ways than one! xx
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Took this quiz months ago and I still need 3.5 planets! I don't get it! Just because there is no public transportation and only 2 types of plastics can be recycled in my town?! That isn't my fault. If solar electric systems, geothermal, and rain water collection wasn't so pricey people WOULD do the right thing. Being green takes too much green to implement. Plus, we are a society of 'throw out the old and get new.' It used to be as long as an item was still useable it was kept and used.
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Hah, nice.
Amanda, I also found the questions to be a bit limiting but keep in mind, they are talking to the masses, not the enlightened few, so they push the questions towards the majority. As I mentioned in the piece, the number is of course, no absolute by any means but a general guide. Were you able to get below 1 planet by changing your husbands driving habits? I recognize your point of the hours and public transit, but it would be interesting to see.
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I like your idea Julieta. If we took all the extravagant users and abusers of this planet and put them on say Mars (which is how the Earth is going to look if they keep doing what they are doing) and kept all the recyclers, walkers, bike riders, local shoppers, non-product users and generally low maintenance people here to continue taking care of this planet as they do, then Mother Earth would last a whole lot longer and everyone would have exactly what they deserve.
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