Wind turbine

Measuring footprints

What do Ecological Footprints consider?

Ecological footprints look at human activities. The table shows the types of activities that are usually considered. Each area is converted into an equivalent area of land or sea that is needed to support it. The total gives the ecological footprint.

The table shows activities that are considered when constructing a person's ecological footprint.

Growing crops		Crops are grown for: food animal feed fibres (e.g. cotton) oil crops (e.g. sunflower oil) About 1.3 billion hectares of arable farmland are available worldwide for the production of crops.
Grazing animals		Animals are produced for: meat hides (e.g. leather for clothing and shoes) wool milk There are about 4.6 billion hectares of grazing land available worldwide.
Wood		Timber is used for: fuel building materials paper production There are about 3.3 billion hectares of forests worldwide.
Fishing		Fish and other marine foods are eaten by humans and a lot is also used in animal feeds. Most of the seas' productive area lies within a short distance of the coastline. This is just 8% of the total water surface on the Earth.
Buildings		Housing, roads, industrial production and other human activities all take up land area. An estimated 0.2 billion hectares are taken up like this.
Burning fossil fuels		Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide. This is taken in by plants during photosynthesis. The area of plants needed to take in the carbon dioxide produced by an activity can be calculated.
Industrial production		Modern life relies on many goods and each needs to be produced. This requires resources as well as energy. Increased efficiency, recycling and re-using materials can reduce the ecological footprint.