South East Forum For Sustainability

Archive for the ‘Make a Difference’ Category

… and why is it a problem.

Ecological Footprint is a way of measuring how much of the worlds’ resources, individuals, organisations, regions and countries need to maintain their lifestyles.

If we take the UK as an example if everyone on the planet lived in the same way as we do in this country we’d need 3.5 planets to survive.

This is where it all gets a bit tricky as we’ve only just got the one!

So what’s being done about it, well for starters people, communities, organisations and even countries are starting to measure their ecological footprint. (You can do yours at http://footprint.wwf.org.uk). Once they know what their footprint is they are starting to look at how to reduce it.

The South East Region’s Ecological footprint is around 3.5 planets. Looking at the data the key areas we need to address to reduce this are:

Energy Use
Transport
Food
Water
Waste

We can all play our part in helping the South East to reduce it’s footprint. Over the coming weeks we’ll  be looking at the different themes and what is being done and what else we need to do to move us towards One Planet Living.

We can all help reduce the region’s Eclogical Footprint (and move to One Planet Living) by changing our travelling arrangements.

According to DEFRA research a combination of smart driving, a shift to walking and cycling for shorter journeys and choosing public transport for medium and longer journeys could produce a CO2 saving of around 750kg/per household/per annum (kg/hh/pa).

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