This is truly an eye opener!

Cheers,
Shrutii

thats amazing, simrin
i am planninga film called Paani
where i ahve been looking at water consumption per capita - and of course NY heads the list and not surprisingly, africa is at the bottom of the table - u are right - we have to reevaluate the standards by which we live

shekhar

What an eye opener! I thought that I did a fairly good job of keeping my consumption low- being a vegetarian, taking showers with lower pressure than is available, not eating much in the way of processed foods, and my ecological footprint is still 13 acres. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to reevaluate my lifestyle and how I treat the world.

Really interesting! 3.1 hectares for me, if everyone lived this way, we would need 1,7 planets. We don't have 1,7 planets, so I'll see what I can do. Thank you Simran!

Good Afternoon Simran . . .wow - interesting data. Thank you for the info - and a chance to re-evaluate my lifestyle. Have a great afternoon filled with laughter, joy & happiness! Keep Smiling!

Laila

HI SIMRIN,till today i did not know what ecological foot print is.thank you so much for the information. i am ashamed to tell you my footprint is much larger than yours. you suddenly made me aware of so many factors simultaneously. i will try to shrink my footprint.my footprint is double yours.i will not be surprised if the comments exceed Rahuls.Every one is still digesting the info and rationalising and meditating upon it before posting. Good luck.God bless.

Thanks Simran! I've heard about this but didn't know where to go to get my personal calculation.

I'm 3.2 hectares which computes to 1.8 planets. I think my meat quotient put me higher than normal but unfortunately, I have so many food allergies and intolerances (among them, all grains, dairy, shellfish and soy) and difficulty digesting beans that the only way for me to get adequate complete protein is through meat/fish.

Simran: I haven't had the courage yet to check my consumption--but I'm already wondering if any of you has an extra "solar system" I could borrow for the next 50-100 years? Dave

Good Afternoon Dave . . .cute - very cute!! Somehow I think that most of us will probably be well over . . .thanks again Simran for the learning. Take care . . .safe travels and enjoy the weekend Dave . . . keep smiling!

Laila

I need three planets! And I am only one person! :(

Thinking about how to cut down on waste and energy... the sad thing is where I live I have to depend on myself to drive everywhere. And water, that's a hard one...I am used to living in a place where water is abundant. I live on a land of over 10,000 fresh water lakes with rivers and streams. The concept of not having water is a hard one to grasp. As far as processing my own meat and that... I really don't think it would go over very well with my Landlady! I can't even have a fish in my apartment.

Ha! And I thought I would score less living by myself. I think it's the processed foods I buy! Wait does eating out count against me too? hummm that does stop the garbage, stops more electricty from being turned on (the stove, you know). Actually it's the fire alarms that prevents me from using my stove. My first episode of cooking a pizza in that oven scared the living daylights out of me, and my neighbors.

I came home late from working all night and I was hungary. So, I decided to try out my stove. I only had the pizza in for 5 minutes and my ears where filled with horrendous screaming. Half dressed running around fanning one alarm off, than another one goes off and than all three of my fire alarms were screaming in my ears. At which point I could no longer think. Panicking, I thought my neighbors had waken and were calling the fire department. I decided it was more important to get dressed than to get caught. Then I ran and opened all my windows and shut off the stove. Nobody came, the alarms shut off, and my pizza was still frozen. I went to bed hungary....;)

I am so glad this is resonating with people!

When I first checked my footprint I was shocked. I consider myself a bit of a hippy mama and thought I was in good shape. Compared to some I am -- compared to others, I'm not.

I'd love to hear any creative ways people come up with to reduce their footprints.

Like you, Amanda (making me laugh and making me hungry!), I eat processed food. A lot of it. It's organic and sustainable and all that, but graduate school made me a slave to my microwave and I am sad to admit I haven't yet broken the cycle. And it does contribute significantly to the waste stream.
Eh! The guilt! We do what we can, nah? No one's perfect.

Another biggie is travel. The airline industry is one of the greatest producers of carbon dioxide emissions, which contributes greatly to global weirding/ warming. You can buy carbon credits to offset the emissions produced when you fly or drive. (The emissions that you produce through travel are offset by funding sustainable restoration and energy projects that neutralize/ reduce CO2 effects.)

I buy green power through my local energy provider but haven't tried to directly purchase carbon offsets. If you're interested try http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/documents/gi_travelers.html (not an endorsement, just one of the resources I am familiar with). Let me know how it goes.

If you wanna know other ways to "green" your travel, I like this GreenBiz article: http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/essentials_third.cfm?LinkAdvID=23887

Trying to tread gently,
Simran

Hi Amanda, Hilarious story! You not only eat the same way I do, you sound like you’re as good of a cook. Patzi

Dear Simran,

Help! This teacher needs some math help lol to take this quiz. How many miles equals a km and how many liters in a gallon. (I am very embarrassed....:0

Also, I live on the east coast of US (Maryland) don't know which cities climate is most like us......Do I sound stupid, cuz i feel it lol PS. Math was never my best subject...can u tell?

Aaaah Simran, how amazing to find you & quite by accident. Miss you, Love you & glad all is well. You astound & amaze me with your vast stores of knowledge,you are soooo smart. Always thinking of myself as one aware,hip,green chick I am sad to announce that I have a HUGE footprint-much room for improvement.
Namaste,
Jean~

Joanie, math genius! :)
I tried to get all scientific with longitude and latitude and then just gave up and decided that probably going with the eastern seaboard is best (ie climate most like NY).
As for conversion, I lived in India and Singapore for years and never got it quite right. This will help: http://www.onlineconversion.com/
Good luck!

Jeanne, beloved friend!
How we lost our connection in life and found ourselves in cyberspace. Much love and light to you. Hope we can reconnect in person soon.
xoxo,
S.

Hi Simran,my footprint is large because,1.I live in a large house.good thing is i am in the process of selling it.2.I drive a luxury car. so I will sell it and buy a honda civic hybrid.I was thinking of buying lexus suv hybrid,your blog has changed my mind.I live in a small city in west virginia.There is hardly any public transport available.So i will have to drive.3.I was not sure about the weather question, there were only 2 choices.i may have answered it wrong.But we use a lot of electricity, our weather is never perfect.it is close to Newyork city's weather.4.I would like to be a vegetarian,but there are some issues that need to be addressed.one issue is like Sheba I am allergic to soy,shellfish,and I have lactose intolerance.SO my protein comes from chicken turkey and fish.I am aware that lentils and some of the nuts are good sources of protein,but i am allergic to the nuts.Diabetes runs in my family, and i need to keep the carbohydrates in moderate range. all of that boils down to a diet that does have some chicken etc.Good thing is i cook most of what I eat.each one of us probably is helpless in some regards.but now that you have made us all so aware of our footprints,we can try to improve.thanks again so much for that blog.

Simran,

Yes, it seems we take living our modern life for granted. It's amazing to think that people are trying to revert backwards when about ten or twenty years ago or so, people wanted a better more efficent way of life. I guess we got it! At the expense of recking the planet!

Have you heard of wind-energy? The plain states like North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Minnesota are experimenting with wind energy. They have built these huge structures, well to be honest they look like really huge fans without the guard casing around the blades. Every so often now when I drive across the Minnesota or North Dakota, I will see them spinning in the wind. It seems to be working since I have noticed an increase of giant fans part of the landscape now. Maybe its the cost of electricty that's driving people to try new options?

I heard a rumored reason about the rising cost of gas; it seems that our goverment is trying to cut down on the amount of gas being used and the driving people do. Forcing people to take differnt messures like car pooling or planning trips instead of jumping into the car and driving all over. Ha! I'd like to say I really don't think it is happening. Just like a smoker who smokes five packs a day will still buy five packs a day; regardless of the escalating tax increases on a pack of cigs. Somehow someway, people will support their habits, or what they they think they need to survive. If the cost of gas keeps going up, I believe the cost of living will go up as well.

It would be more economical if there plenty of energy efficient methods availible at a more appealing cost to the general public. Most people turn their noses up at the ideas either because they are to much in a hurry or it cost to much. It's kind of like eating fast food and healthy food. You know it's bad to eat high fat foods, but you can't help it because it's cheap, it's fast, and it is food. The same time you know deep down as you chowing it, you really need to eat healthier. You know, the guilt complex...:)

I'll will do some research and see what I find. Thanks for the links! :)

Patzi,

How did you know I am a cook? Actually, I really am a very good cook! I have to admit! (blush, blush) :) I've been cooking professionally for several years now, but when it comes to myself, however, I like to eat simply to stop the hungary grawls. :) I love to plan and cook for people! Not sure why it is so ? Maybe it's the artist's pleasure in me; I love the pleasant reactions I receive from people. Nothing is greater then knowing someone is happy and satisfied... Ok, maybe to sum it up, I like to please. There! I guess that is the psychology behind Amanda. hahaha, now everyone knows my secret. :)

I realise I might be out of topic but check out this collection of best song lyrics http://www.lyricshosting.com

Hi guy, I'll report you something about my sexual attractions and dreams, like kidnapping Emma Watson then tying her on a chair then I like to remove her shoes and stick my nose between her smelly toes "uhh it's so tasty my god", then i kiss her soles and i pass my tongue from her heels till her toes and the tast is so salty, i can suck her toes one by one, finally i stick my dick between her toes and ejaculate on them! what do you think buddys? come on post me and tell me whatever you want!

was concerned in this formerly. nice.