Take the test- How is your lifestyle affecting the planet?

You can now calculate your ‘Ecological Footprint’ to see how much your individual lifestyle is affecting the environment! By definition, an ecological footprint is: “the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.” Put simply, it’s a look into how many earths would be required if everyone on the planet lived like you.

With the earth’s population growing exponentially and human's individual ecological footprints growing at a similar rate, scientists have found that we need about 1.75 earths to support all of us at our current consumption rates. AKA we’re edging closer and closer to a global lifestyle that’s unsustainable for life. If everyone in the world continues to live the way they please, there will eventually come a day when we simply run out of recourses.

To say it bluntly: we are consuming so much that within the next decades will not be able to access to basic necessities like water or land to grow food.

Knowing how we over-consume and the problems that arise with that over-consumption is the first step in making better choices that lead to a more sustainable future. We can’t set effective goals without knowing where we’re starting.

Here are two simple tips to get you on your eco-friendly journey!

1. Calculate your ecological footprint using the online footprint calculator.
2. Take a look at your results and acknowledge how many planets your lifestyle is using if everyone did the same.
3. Choose 2-3 actionable steps to make a change. Here’s a list of 33 easy ways to start living zero waste as well as the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprints as individuals.