writing

GGP120 Assignment #1: Your Global/Ecological Footprint

Park University

Fall 2015

Step 1: Complete the Footprint Calculator personal lifestyle quiz at the Global Footprint Network website at…

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/personal_footprint/

Select your home location (e.g., USA) and click “Get Started” on the top of the prompt menu under the “new user” section. (Note: You don’t have to log in or create an account. Also, you can skip the create avatar step as well, unless of course, you want to, but it is not necessary for the assignment.)

Answer each of the questions as best (and as honestly) as you can by selecting answers or by moving the dial on the answer bars. If you are not sure about some answers (like the square footage of your home) just give it your best guess.

Pay close attention to the questions that you are asked in this quiz. Think about how they may (or may not) reflect various aspects of our world’s environmental, economic, and social systems (i.e., the “three pillars”/“triple bottom line” of sustainability).

Step 2: In a Word document, write a brief summary of at least 200 words in which you discuss the following:

1. First, summarize your personal global/ecological footprint results: How many planets did it take to support your present lifestyle? How many global acres of productive area does it take to support your life style for each category (energy land, crop, grazing, forest, built up land and fishing grounds)? In which area did you consume the most? Does this information surprise you? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?

2. What have you learned from this quiz about how your decisions affect our ability to achieve global sustainability?

3. Assess this Footprint Calculator in terms of how effective you think it is (or is not) in measuring “true” sustainability (i.e., each of the “three pillars” of sustainability).

Step 3: Search the Internet for information about the ecological footprint of the place (i.e., country) that you have selected for your portfolio project for this semester. Write a summary of at least 150 words of the information that you find. Feel free to include any graphs or images that you may find that help illustrate the ecological footprint of this place. Be sure to include a works cited list at the end of your document that includes full bibliographic citations for each source that you find.