Ecological footprints

The headlines scream:
"Brazil's loss of Amazon rain forest escalating" - more than twice as fast as last year, [more].

"Scientists say carbon dioxide emissions up 3%" 9/30/2008- carbon dioxide — the main gas that causes global warming — jumped 3 per cent last year. [more]

I have been contemplating this issue lately. One's ecological footprint I define as the energy we use from land, water and air, to provide us with our needs; food, clean water, clothing, shelter, as well as transportation (to work), and wants, goods and services - such as leisure time activities: boating, snowmobiles, entertainment activities.

You can measure your Ecological Footprint using a Flash calculator. You can attribute Ecological Footprints to humans, buildings, communities, countries and the human race.

Your water footprint is a concept derived from your ecological footprint: the impact your daily living habits has on the environment in terms of the water you use, the electricity to heat household water, garbage you produce, and the costs of clean water in industry.

What size is your water footprint? How much do your activities put pollution into our lakes and bodies of water? The Lake Erie ice fisherman left various pieces of equipment to sink and rust in the water. Snowmobiles, boats and PWC continue to scream across lakes, dumping unused fuel into air and water. We need to examine our practices. "Yet our use of water has largely been overshadowed by measurements of our carbon footprint."

Acid rain caused long-term damage to lakes: Study (10/6/2008). Acid rain continues to damage the Great Lakes.

How do your activities affect the land and water around you? What is your ecological and water footprint?

There are many Acts of Green that we can carry out. There is a large community of young people who run cars on veggie oil, and use biofuels.
Others have installed geothermal furnaces. Let us hope for changes in attitudes and practices, education of consumers, and politicians who have the courage to enact tough love.