Ok team, today I decided to calculate my ecological footprint on The Global Footprint Nework’s website. I have done this before for another class, but I have not done it with this particular calculator and I found the questions more probing and specific and the graphics to be extremely entertaining.

So after trying to answer as honestly (and painfully) as I could, the generator informed me that my personal global footprint is currently 5.8 global hectares and my consumption requires an area of productive land equivalent to 7.1 Canadian football fields. Wowzer. 5.8 also happens to be the Canadian national average, so I suppose I am not alone; however the City of Calgary really shamed me by having an average of 8.6, which I guess might be expected from an oil producing state? Either way, I had grandly and self importantly thought myself to be far more sustainable than the average Canadian. No dice Sampson.

Then I began to ask… Why? I am pretty much a vegetarian, I rarely RARELY eat beef or lamb, don’t often eat chicken, and eat fish probably three times a week. I don’t have a car meaning I ride the bus everywhere and when I am in a vehicle it is my boyfriend’s Jetta turbo diesel, which is quite fuel efficient. I am diligent about recycling and try to limit my garbage. Checking these off, it became clear. It’s my living situation that is the worst.

I live in the basement suite of a three story house with 7 other people. 6 people live upstairs, two parents, two children and two grandparents (try to imagine the noise levels involved) and me and my boyfriend live downstairs. There is no energy efficient lighting, the house has not been upgraded and from what I recall we use a stunning amount of heat and electricity. I went back to the calculator to find out how much I could lower my footprint by imaging my living situation to be significantly different.

I placed me and my boyfriend in a small one-bedroom (all we could afford in Vancouver anyway!) in a multi-level apartment building and gave us all fuel efficient light bulbs, low water, heat and natural gas usage (we used very little in the apartment we rented before our current living situation)  and my new Footprint was 5 global hectares. I felt pretty good about that until I saw the mocking box in the top left corner that read: “we would need 2.8 planet earths if everyone lived like you”… Ouch.

So basically, I definitely want to change my living situation (screaming children have really moved that agenda along) and the least I can do is go out and buy myself some energy efficient light bulbs. I am also going to try and be more aware of exactly where my food is coming from. I would like to support more local companies anyways.