Small Steps in Ecological Footprinting
Channel: Carbon Talks
Date: 13/03/2014

If everyone in the world consumed resources and materials at the same rate as the average North American, we would need four planets to provide for the needs of every human being on Earth. While most of us have heard of the concept of an "ecological footprint", an idea that originated with UBC's William Rees, it's a difficult principle to put into practice. Measuring and understanding the way we use resources and create waste is the key to reducing our ecological input, however, scaling from the planetary to the personal is not an easy thing to do. This dialogue will seek out answers to the following questions: What are the challenges to understanding our ecological footprint? How can the concept best be communicated and how effective is it in promoting behavioural change? What does the future hold for "ecological footprinting"? 

Our panelists have both been involved with Evergreen's Project Green Bloc, a demonstration initiative where residents of Vancouver's Riley Park neighbourhood are working to lower their collective ecological footprint by 25 percent over 3 years through community collaboration and science-based research models. For more information, see Jim Boothroyd's article on Project Green Bloc in the Tyee.


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