My Ecological Footprint

Planet Regenerative capacity

required/year
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1.4

1.7

0.6

The last year

that I stayed
with my family

Present

Five years from

now

Required Global Hectares to support

lifestyle
4
3
2
1
0

2.6

3.1

1.1

The last year

that I stayed
with my family

Present

Five years from

now

As we can see in the observed trends my ecological footprint in terms of required planets regenerative
capacity has increased substantially (133%) from the last year I stayed with my family (2010) to the
present state. Most of this increase is attributed to my increased mobility and extensive use of transport
which have increased the fuel (resources) consumption and the Carbon dioxide emissions. The required
global hectares to support my lifestyle was much lower 5 years back, 1.1 as compared to 2.5 of worlds
average; but now it has jumped up to 2.6 in just 5 years (a substantial proportion of this land is the
energy land required to support my energy needs). This means my changing lifestyle after I have set out
from my native place (a tier 3 city) to college is putting pressure on the earths resources and its
capability to regenerate them at a sustainable pace.
This would imply that if all the people on earth live like my current lifestyle/aspirational future lifestyle,
we would be exhausting the earths resources pretty quickly, at a much larger pace than the earth
regenerates them. This could result in extensive competition for resources in the future and thus result in
ever increasing prices. The extensive competition may result in conflicts amongst nations, among states
of a country and aggressive and potentially harmful tactics employed by everyone to acquire those
resources. This could result in civil wars and world wars.
A major negative consequence to which my current and aspirational lifestyle contributes to is to
ecosystems losing certain species due to dearth of resources. This will also have the potential to disrupt
the food chains and food web networks. Land degradation will also occur due to its overuse, pollution
and deforestation and thus its ability to support the people will keep on declining as compared to the
ever growing population.
All this can result in an apocalyptic scenario shown in the recent movie Mad Max, which now certainly
seems believable after this exercise.
In my opinion, I should embark upon reducing my ecological footprints by focusing on the components
which contribute the most to my ecological footprint and have increased substantially. Mobility is that
component for me. I should strive to use public transport as much as possible rather than personal
vehicles. If I have to travel by cars and bikes, I should share my drives with other people. The emerging
ride sharing apps and carpooling services are a brilliant way to achieve this. More use and emphasis on
shared economy will certainly help in reducing our pace of consumption of resources of the earth. In
conclusion, everyone should be able and encouraged to use this footprint exercise to have a check on the
impact they are making on earth and to employ changes in their lifestyles for achieving sustainability.

Amberdeep Chugh, BM Section A, Roll B14008