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"How big is your ecological footprint? The average American uses 25 acres to support his or her current lifestyle. This corresponds to the size of 25 football fields put together. In comparison, the average Canadian lives on a footprint 25 percent less, and the average Italian on 60 percent less..."--from "Does Everybody Secure Their Quality of Life . . . Within the Means of Nature?" Read it here. Mathis Wackernagel is coordinator of the Centro de Estudios para la Sustentabilidad at the Universidad Anáhuac de Xalapa in Mexico and Director of the True Sustainability Program at Redefining Progress based in San Francisco, USA. With William Rees, he is author of the book Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth, volume 9 in The New Catalyst's Bioregional Series by New Society Publishers, 1996. Mathis is one of the key creators of "the ecological footprint"which he developed working with Professor Willian Rees at the University of British Columbia in Canada. In a web slide and audio presentation titled "Perplexed by Sustainability Mysteries? Can the eco-footprint give us some clues?" he asks (and answers) two significant questions... 1. How come so many are interested in sustainability but so few dare to define it in specific terms? and 2. Why can we and will we be better off explaining what sustainability means? You can view it here on the Redefining Progress website. (You'll need a java-enabled browser and RealPlayer.) For a deeper look, read this piece by William Rees, and this site on the ecological footprint of nations which includes a RealAudio and text interview with Mathis Wackernagel. The Sustainable Community Roundtable, a project of the city of Olympia, Washington, is using the ecological footprint to help with community project and policy decisions. |
