I started a course called Introduction to Sustainability: From Origin to Application at UBC. One of my assignments is to measure my ecological footprint and put a plan in place to set achievable objectives to lower it. According to the ecological footprint quizz I took this afternoon we would require 3.05 earths to sustain our current lifestyle. Yikes. Clearly my car is putting me at least 3 earths away from sustainable living. The natural capital available to the human population to sustain our current lifestyle is running at a deficit and we are contributing to it. According to an article I read called “State of the World 2010 – The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures by the World Watch Institute the average European uses 43 kg of resources daily and the average American (let’s just say North American) 88 kg a day and I am a part of the problem.
Truthfully I have no idea how I am supposed to solve this but it’s an excellent puzzle. Does the largeness of it all stop me from having my party table in the recycling room so I can properly sort all the miscreants in my building. No. But my calculator gave me a simple equation. I use too much. I’m going to put some kind of plan in place that will involve a bike, locally grown food and farmers’ markets, and some kind of light bulb. I’m on it.
You can check out what your footprint is right here:
Condofire 
Thanks Tessa. Will plant more veggies with Jarrett next spring, and compost more veggie waste. Let me know about a better light bulb.