Ecological Footprint Project

For this project, you will be collecting data about your/your familys consumption of resources. For
some of your data, you must monitor certain habits for seven consecutive days. To get other
required data, you are going to need the help of your parents.

Remember these 3 important guidelines:
Show your work on ALL calculations.
Include ALL units.
For each question marked with an asterisk (*), include an in-text citation of the sources you used to
answer that question. A full bibliography should be attached at the end.

Pre-Lab Questions
* Define ecological footprint. Citation:
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/webfieldtrips/ecological_balance/eco_foo
tprint/
Ecological footprint is the mark an individual or a group of individuals leave on the earth in
regards to conserving the environment.









Predict how your use of resources compares to the average person in your Global Project country.
Explain your prediction.
I think the average U.S. citizen can easily use more resources than the average Israeli
citizen. This is because the United States is a top country in terms of resource usage, and
will usually trump countries in this statistic.











3. * What % of the Earths population lives in developing countries? Citation:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats
More than 80%






Water Consumption

Household Consumption
Ask your parents for your most recent water bill. The bottom of the water bill should have a bar
graph that shows you how many gallons of water your family consumed each month for the past 12
months.

January: 4,392
February: 4,422
March: 4,497
April: 4,482
May:4,584
June: 4,683
July: 4,796
August:4,682
September: 4,621
October: 4,589
November: 4,442
December: 4,415
If your bill does not have a graph, record how many gallons of water were used from your familys
most recent water bill, and the time period the bill covers. ______________

How many gallons of water has your family used in the past year? 50,625

How many gallons of water did your family use PER PERSON in the past year?
16,875


What month did your family use the most water? How much did you use during that month? Why
do you think you used the most during that month?
In July, we used the most amount of water, at 4.796 gallons. This is probably because it is a
summer month, so our family is outside more, causing us to sweat more and take more
showers and drink more water.





General Water Consumption Questions- Circle yes or no for the questions below.
Do you leave the water running when you wash dishes? Yes No(Dishwasher)
Do you leave the water running when you brush your teeth? Yes No
Do you water your lawn on a regular basis during the spring/summer/fall? Yes No
Do you have low flush toilets in your home? Yes No

Active Water Consumption Monitoring- Assume you use approximately 2 gallons of water per
minute.

Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Shower Time 15 14 17 13 14 11 13
Gallons Used 30 28 34 26 28 22 26

*If you take a bath instead of a shower, for shower time write in bath. Then, to calculate the
volume of the water you must measure the dimensions of your bathtub and the depth of the water
in the tub.
Length: _____________ Width: ___________________ Height of Water:
___________________

Volume of water in bathtub = ______________

Record how many times you flush the toilet each day for seven days. Urinals count as a toilet!

Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Flushes 4 5 5 3 4 4 5


Prior to 1994, most toilets in the US used 3.4 gallons per flush. After 1994, new laws required the
implementation of low-flow toilets, which use 1.6 gallons per flush. We will assume you have used
both types of toilets in the past week. Using an average flush size of 2.5 gallons, how many gallons
of water have you used just going to the bathroom this past week?
75 gallons.

Water Analysis
* Research and record the water consumption per household and the number of people living in
each household from three different developing nations.

Developing African Country Name: South Africa
Gallons of water per year: 24,106
Number of people per household: 3.5 Citation: http://www.healthlink.org.za/healthstats/6/data
Gallons of water per person:
18.87 Citation:http://www.capewatersolutions.co.za/2010/02/06/typical-household-water-
consumption/
_

Developing Asian Country Name: Japan
Gallons of water per year: 36,135 gallons
Number of people per household: 2.5 Citation:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/women_rep5/010.html
Gallons of water per person: 39.6 person/day Citation:
http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=757

Developing South American Country Name: Brazil
Gallons of water per year: 18,058
Number of people per household: 3.1 Citation:
http://www.dpi.inpe.br/sil/CST310/cst310_2010/Aula8_RobertoCARMO/givisiez_oliveira_IUSSP20
09_household%20size%20and%20housing%20market.pdf
Gallons of water per person: 15.96/day Citation:
http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=757

How does the consumption of water per person in your household differ from that of people in
Africa? Asia? South America?
We use 20% more water than Japan, and more than double South Africa and Brazil.
Energy Consumption

What type of heating system does your home use (oil, natural gas, electric or propane)? Natural
Gas
What type of stove does your home have (oil, natural gas, electric or propane)? Natural Gas

Electric Consumption
Ask your parents for your most recent electric bill. The bottom of the electric bill (as illustrated on
the sample electric bill posted on-line) should have a bar graph that shows you how many kilowatt-
hours of electric energy your family consumed each month for the past 12 months.

January: 20 kWh
February: 15 kWh
March: 17 kWh
April: 20 kWh
May: 25 kWh
June: 30 kWh

If your bill does not have a graph, record how many kilowatt-hours of electric energy were used from
your familys most recent electric bill and the time period the bill covers. __________________________________


* * What is a kilowatt-hour? Citation: My dad
The average amount of kilowatts used in a period of time.

How many kilowatt-hours of electricity has your family used in the past year? 312

How many kilowatt-hours of electricity did your family use PER PERSON in the past year?
104 kWh/p


What month did your family use the most electricity? How much did you use during that month?
Why do you think you used the most during that month?
In July, we used 48 kWh. This is probably because July is the hottest month, and lots of
electricity is used towards air conditioning.



What are the major appliances/activities that power is used for in your home?
Air conditioning, refrigerator, washer/drier, xbox, computers

* What appliances/activities, if any, are used in a typical home for the developing country you
researched in Africa? In Asia? In South America? Citations:
http://global.rakuten.com/en/category/appliances/
http://www.euromonitor.com/consumer-appliances-in-brazil/report
http://www.bosch-home.com/za
Japan: Air conditioning, t.v.s, computers, noodle cookers, sewing machine
Brazil: Washing machines, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, Microwaves
South Africa: Refrigerators, oven, microwaves, vacuum cleaners,


Gasoline Consumption
You will monitor how much gasoline your family uses in a week. Ask your parents for help to fill in the
table below. If your family uses more than one car, you must complete the table for each car.

Weekly Gasoline Consumption
Car 1 Car 2 Car 3 Car 4
Day 1: Starting
mileage on
odometer
120,462
Day 7: Final
mileage on
odometer
120,624
Total Miles driven
(Final odometer
reading Starting
odometer reading)
162
Miles/gallon the
car gets

31 miles per gallon
Gallons of gasoline
consumed
5.2

Gasoline Analysis
* Developing African Country Name: Central African Republic
Do most households own a car? No If so, how many? ________ Citation:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Motor-vehicles
Do most households own a scooter? No If so, how many? 4 motor vehicles/1000 people
Citation: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Motor-vehicles
What does this indicate about their consumption of gasoline?
They do not use a lot of gasoline for cars or other motor vehicles




* Developing Asian Country Name: Oman
Do most households own a car? Not really If so, how many? 150 vehicles/1000 people Citation:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Motor-vehicles
Do most households own a scooter? No If so, how many? 150 vehicles/1000 people Citation:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Motor-vehicles
What does this indicate about their consumption of gasoline?
They use less than the United States, but more than the Central African Republic


* Developing South American Country Name: Uruguay
Do most households own a car? Yes If so, how many? 174 motor vehicles per 1000 people
Citation: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Transport/Motor-vehicles

Do most households own a scooter? ________ If so, how many? ________ Citation: _____________________
What does this indicate about their consumption of gasoline?
Their gasoline consumption is more than Oman and the Central African Republic, but less
than the United State


Space Consumption
Record the total square footage of your house: 1,452 sq ft
Record the total square footage of your property: 3,999 sqft
Approximately what percentage of your property is-
Impermeable material (concrete, pavement, etc.): 39.5%(House considered impermeable)
Grass or other permeable landscaped areas: 60.49%
Woods or open space (not landscaped): 0%
Covered by buildings or structures (home, garage, pool, shed, etc.): 37.3%
How many square feet of property does each member of your household have (property per person)?
1,333 sqft/person

* Research and record the approximate square footage per household and the number of people living in
each household from three different developing nations.

Developing African Country Name: Central African Republic
Square footage per household: 500 sqft. Citation: http://adale.org/CAR.html
Number of people per household: 5 Citation:
http://www.cleancookstoves.org/countries/africa/central-african-rep.html
Square footage per person: 100 sqft/p Citation: N/A
http://adale.org/GIFs/kodrotimbi.jpg


Developing Asian Country Name: India
Square footage per household: 545.9 Citation:
Number of people per household: 5.3 Citation:
http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/H_Series/Household_Size.ht
m
Square footage per person: 103 sqft/p Citation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_India
http://www.realtor.com/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/11/1107india1.jpg
Developing South American Country Name: Uruguay
Square footage per household: 700 sqft Citation: _____________________________________________
Number of people per household: 3.4 Citation:
http://www.mongabay.com/history/uruguay/uruguay-family_life.html
Square footage per person: 205.9 Citation:
http://imagesus.homeaway.com/mda01/01170a80-c4fc-4d17-b74e-6dcb021b7b2e.1.12
* Attach a picture of a typical home for each country you researched. Include citation under each photo.

Earths surface is approximately 196,940,000 square miles (5,490,383,247,360,000 square feet). Only
about 29.2% of the Earths surface is land. Approximately 10% of that land is covered by ice, and another
30% is covered by desert. Earths population is approximately 7.012 billion people. Is there enough room
on Earth for every person to have a piece of non-desert, ice-free land the same size as your property? Yes
there is.
(Earths usable square feet/amount of people on earth=135809.46855221010838562464346834)

Waste Production

Estimate the volume of trash and recycling you produce. You can do this by counting the number of cans in
your home and measuring the dimensions (length, width, and height) of each can (or by looking on the
bottom of the trashcan to see if it states its capacity.).

Trashcan # Volume of Can Number of Times Can is
Emptied Per Week
Total Volume of Trash Per Week
1

13 gallons 1 13 gallons
2

1 gallon .5(every other week) .5 gallons
3


4


5




Recycling
Can #
Volume of Can Number of Times Can is
Emptied Per Week
Total Volume of Recycling Per Week
1

6 gallons 1 6 gallons
2


3


4


5




Estimate what percentage of your recycling is:

Paper = 0 % Cardboard = 10% Metal = 0 %
Plastic = 70 % Glass = 20 %

* Research what materials your town accepts at their recycling center. Are there materials accepted that
your family normally throws away? Citation: http://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/content/environment



Calculate the volume of trash your family produces per person per day.
.67 gallons/day



Calculate the volume of recycling your family produces per person per day.
.28 gallons/day
Goods Consumption
A hard good, sometimes referred to as a durable good, is one that does not quickly wear out and thus
provides a function for more than three years. For example, furniture, housing materials, refrigerators and
other appliances, and cars are hard goods. Contrastingly, soft goods, aka nondurable goods or
consumables are defined as goods that are immediately consumed or ones that have a lifespan of less
than 3 years. This includes cosmetics, cleaning products, food, fuel, medication, office supplies, and
packaging/containers. Many phones, toys, clothing, and shoes may be considered hard or soft goods,
depending on how they are used.

This section will require that you estimate the weight of materials that you buy over an average period of a
month. These are NOT the total amount of things that you own. We are interested only in your current rate
of consumption, not the total accumulated amount of material.
Hard Goods
What are the most common hard goods that you buy?
Clothes, chairs


Estimated average monthly weight of goods purchased/consumed: 200 lbs/family








Soft Goods
What are the most common soft goods that you buy? (Ignore food here- the food section is below)
Plastic/paper cups, napkins


Estimated average monthly weight of soft goods purchased/consumed: 20 lbs/family









* What is planned obsolescence? How does it affect your rate of consumption? Citation:
The idea that companies produce products that are intentionally made to last a short time so that
consumers will buy more of that product. This causes consumers to spend a lot more money on goods.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/planned_obsolescence.asp








Food Consumption
For seven days you will be required to record information about your eating patterns. Fill in the chart
below to monitor your food intake. For each day answer a simple yes or no for each question.

Day # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Breakfast

Fruit/Veggies y n y y y y n
Meat n n y n n n n
Seafood n n n n n n n
Grains y y y y n y y
Diary y y y y y y y
Candy/Sweets n n n n n n n
Lunch

Fruit/Veggies n n y y y n y
Meat n y n y n y y
Seafood n n n n n n n
Grains n y y y n n y
Diary n y y y y y n
Candy/Sweets n n n n n n n
Dinner

Fruit/Veggies y n y y n n y
Meat y y n y n n n
Seafood n n n n n n n
Grains y y n y n n y
Diary y y y y y y y
Candy/Sweets n n n n n n n
Snack(s)

Fruit/Veggies n y y n n y n
Meat n n n n n n n
Seafood n n n n n n n
Grains n n n y y n y
Diary n y y n y y y
Candy/Sweets y n y y n n y

Use your data table to answer the following questions:

1. Approximately how many times during the week did you eat meat? 8
2. Approximately how many times during the week did you eat seafood? 0
3. Approximately how many times during the week did you eat dairy? 24
4. Approximately how many times during the week did you eat grains? 17
5. Approximately how many times during the weed did you eat candy? 4


What takes up more of the Earths resources- producing meat and dairy or producing fruits, vegetables, and
grains? (You must research this question to answer it accurately.) How would cutting out meat and dairy
from a persons diet affect global resources? Meat and Dairy. By cutting meat and dairy out of our diets,
there will be less demand for meat and dairy, and supply would go down. * Citation:
http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Hoekstra-2012-Water-Meat-Dairy.pdf





Goods (Food) Analysis*

*Research and record the daily diet of an average person from three different developing nations. One
country must be in Africa, one must be in Asia and one must be in South America. You will need to do
research to answer these questions. You must include an in-text citation for each.

Developing African Country Name: Mali Citation: http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/what-the-world-eats-
shocking-photos

Breakfast: Grain pancakes
Lunch: Grains and Fruits
Dinner: Peppers, mushrooms

Does this diet include the regular consumption of meat? No Dairy? No



Developing Asian Country Name: Mongolia Citation: http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/what-the-world-
eats-shocking-photos
Breakfast: Eggs, Tomatoes and Potatoes
Lunch: Meat Sandwiches, rolls
Dinner: Meat, Rolls, vegetables

Does this diet include the regular consumption of meat? Yes Dairy? No



Developing South American Country Name: Guatemala Citation: http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/what-
the-world-eats-shocking-photos

Breakfast: Root vegetables, fruit
Lunch: vegetables, tortillas
Dinner: Tortillas, fruits and vegetables

Does this diet include the regular consumption of meat? No Dairy? No











Putting It All Together
1. How do you think your ecological footprint compares to the majority of people in the world?
Explain. Make sure you discuss your consumption of water, space, energy, food, and hard goods as
well as the amount of waste you produce. (I expect this to be detailed and thoughtful. That is why
you have an entire page to write about it.)

Compared to the rest of the world, my ecological footprint is large. In terms of water, my
family uses 20 percent more than the average household in Japan, and more than double the
water used in South Africa and Brazil. It is hard to put into perspective hoe much more water
we use, and how much we take it for granted. In terms of electricity, we use a lot more
electricity than virtually every country, another thing that most families tend to take for
granted. For waste, since we seem to use so much of so many things, our waste tends to be
more than a lot if not all countries in the world. To think that taking the garbage to the curb
once a week can be double that of a developing country like the Central African Republic. Most
importantly, we have so much more food than so many developing countries across the world.
Of all the things that we have, this is the one that is most commonly taken for granted. I find
myself checking the refrigerator, the pantry, or anywhere else that might have a snack just
because I am a little hungry. A country like Mali in Africa would be extremely satisfied with
all of the food options in America. This same theme can be applied to almost every category
that I have researched for.










1. List five things you and your family can and will try to do to reduce your ecological footprint.
(Again, be thoughtful and specific here).
To reduce our ecological footprint, my family can do a number of things. An easy thing to do is to turn
the water off while we brush our teeth. This is something I have been doing for a long time, since I learned
in school that it can waste a lot of water a year. A second thing that we can do is to empty our trash can less
often. Most of this garbage are sent to landfills, wasting space and hurting the environment. By emptying
the trash less often, we can prevent this. Another way my family can reduce our footprint is by recycling
more. This one ties in with the last way, because if we recycle more, than more materials can be reused as
well as less materials going to landfills. A fourth way we can reduce our footprint is by having multiple uses
for items, or repurposing them when they are no longer useful in their original way. For example, my
mother uses old t-shirts as rags for cleaning off the kitchen counter. A final way that we can reduce our
footprint is by using our car less and walking more. While it is near impossible to walk 14 miles to school, it
is pretty easy to walk to friends houses that are in and around my neighborhood.