Reflection on Movie Human Footprint

I thought this movie was really fascinating and it really helped to have all the things that one person uses in a lifetime visualized. It really showed our human footprint on the planet and how much waste we produce. Sustainability is how much something can sustain, how much it can endure, and if everyone on the planet would be able to live as the average American we would need far more than one planet to sustain us. When I did the quiz about how many planets we would need if everyone lived like me I got 2.3 Earths. My result says that this is quite low compared to the average American, and all the same if everyone lived like me the earth wouldn’t be able to sustain us. Some ways that I can lessen my human footprint is by using less water by taking shorter showers and not leave the tap running while I brush my teeth. I can also not throw away so much recyclable material and recycle- more than only paper and plastic bottles. An ecological footprint is how much nature we need to support ourselves. This includes how much lumber for housing, how much gold for jewelry, how much steel for products, how many fields for growing food, ext. The movie showed all of these, and visualized them. I thought that the most fascinating amounts were that the average American owns 15 computers, uses 22,000 kilowatts of electricity and 198 shampoo bottles in a lifetime. Another fact that amazed me was that there are 47,000 products in an average American supermarket, from apples to skinned chickens. When I just try thinking of all the products in a supermarket I don’t think of very many, since the only ones that impact my life are the ones I actually use. However, with 47,000 products just one supermarket must have a huge ecological footprint. Now, after watching the movie and reading about ecological and human footprints, I think that my family and I have a great deal of changes to make to our lifestyles. Some things that I think my family should set as a goal for the future is to hand wash our car, wash dishes by hand, share rides and not drive in a car that can fit 7 people alone, use the bus and train more, turn of lights when not using them, not keep computer on standby for the whole day and keep eco- friendly light bulbs. Maybe that way we can reduce our ecological footprint, and help the earth!