Save the Planet: Ecological Footprint Education
Ranked #867 in Education, #20,233 overall
What is an Ecological Footprint?
We all leave footprints in the sand, the question is, will we be a big heal, or a great soul.
First off, you may be asking, "What is an ecological footprint?" According to Wikipedia's definition, "an ecological footprint is a metaphor used to depict the amount of land and water area a human population would hypothetically need to provide the resources required to support itself and to absorb its wastes."
Take the Ecological Footprint Quiz to see how much resources you use. I hope you're sitting down when you take it. It's quite intense to hear the amount of resources we as Americans use. I also recommend you take the quiz pretending you are from another country. You'll be flabbergasted at the difference!
Don't despair! Read on to learn ways to make a positive impact on the planet and leave a smaller ecological footprint so that your own and future generations - not to mention the other creatures - can enjoy this beautiful planet that we live on.
Egaads! How Big Is Your Foot?
I'm a math teacher. You'll have to round the number of planets to the nearest whole number.
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Thriving in the 'Burbs
- Thriving in the 'Burbs
- This blog has a monthly, downloadable and customizable newsletter to help you and your community thrive in challenging times as we shift to a sustainable way of living. It started as a newsletter I wrote to organize my own block. It is an idea worth spreading.
Community Action: Go on a Low Carbon Diet!
Get your family and friends to go on a Low Carbon Diet. This book helps you to reduce your carbon footprint by 5000 lbs in a month! Now that's a diet that's healthy for you and the planet.
Start a group going at your school, place of worship, with friends and neighbors. For the four hours of meetings, you can make a huge impact ... and it's a lot more fun to do it in community.
See if you can get the books used on-line. If you buy them new, then pass them on to others when you're done.
Start a group going at your school, place of worship, with friends and neighbors. For the four hours of meetings, you can make a huge impact ... and it's a lot more fun to do it in community.
See if you can get the books used on-line. If you buy them new, then pass them on to others when you're done.
Ecological Resources for Teachers
- The Story of Stuff
- The Story of Stuff is a fabulous video short (about 20 minutes) that explains where resources go and what happens from extraction to disposal. Click around on the site to find other valuable resources and organizations that support a sustainable future. It's even cooler that my friend Ms. Erica is the producer of the video. :)
- Population Connection Curriculum
- PopNet has an amazing K-12 curriculum that's integrated and age appropriate to help students learn about population issues. It's a standards-based program and can be used in any course. The program is set up so that you can easily pick and choose activities that apply to your core curriculum. I've been a PopNet teacher trainer and have taught workshops to elementary, math, social studies and language arts teachers and received fabulous feedback from all groups. This site has some free lessons. You can also purchase additional lessons. Sign up for their free newsletter to receive additional lesson plans. They have a powerful video called "World Population" that I highly recommend.
- Earth Matters for Kids
- This website created by a friend of mine supports 4th & 5th grade science teachers and their students to learn about sustainability. It's a standards-based program. There are lots of fun, free activities for your kids to explore while they learn about the environmental systems and how to become stewards of the planet.
- Ecological Footprint Accuracy
- This site analyzes the accuracy of the ecological footprint and explains how it's calculated.
- Water Education Foundation
- Resources for teachers, includings some wonderful programs like Project Wet. In the "Save the Planet Web Resources for Kids," there is a link to their kid section, "Ollie Saves the Planet."
Rule of Three
Building a Conscious Wardrobe
Kids outgrow clothes quickly, but here is a lifelong habit that you can instill that they'll never outgrow - and it has a positive impact on the environment! It's the Rule of Three.
Only buy an item of clothing if it matches THREE things in your wardrobe.
How it works?
1. Before you go clothes shopping, look in your closet. What do you like? These are the items to build your wardrobe around.
2. Identify things that you need to add to your wardrobe. For example, you need 1-2 nice shirts for dressier occasions and your running low on socks.
3. Go to the store. Sometimes it helps to have a list of what you have/need.
4. Only buy an item of clothing if you can identify THREE things that you currently own that would match. When you do this, you build a wardrobe quickly and inexpensively.
Why not check out the local thrift store? There are always treasures to be found. I buy over 50% of my clothes at thrift stores. Today I went out dancing and I had about a dozen people tell me how great I looked. Everything I was wearing was from second-hand stores!
Even if you have lots of money to spend, this strategy leaves a lighter footprint on the planet. A great gift to the planet and you because you still get lots of outfits!
Another helpful hint: Buy classic clothes. For kids this means jeans and T-shirts. Help your kid identify what is trendy and classic. Have them identify the value of buying classic clothes.
If you or your kid want to update your look, you can do this in a way that has no impact on the environment or your budget - update your hairstyle!
Only buy an item of clothing if it matches THREE things in your wardrobe.
How it works?
1. Before you go clothes shopping, look in your closet. What do you like? These are the items to build your wardrobe around.
2. Identify things that you need to add to your wardrobe. For example, you need 1-2 nice shirts for dressier occasions and your running low on socks.
3. Go to the store. Sometimes it helps to have a list of what you have/need.
4. Only buy an item of clothing if you can identify THREE things that you currently own that would match. When you do this, you build a wardrobe quickly and inexpensively.
Why not check out the local thrift store? There are always treasures to be found. I buy over 50% of my clothes at thrift stores. Today I went out dancing and I had about a dozen people tell me how great I looked. Everything I was wearing was from second-hand stores!
Even if you have lots of money to spend, this strategy leaves a lighter footprint on the planet. A great gift to the planet and you because you still get lots of outfits!
Another helpful hint: Buy classic clothes. For kids this means jeans and T-shirts. Help your kid identify what is trendy and classic. Have them identify the value of buying classic clothes.
If you or your kid want to update your look, you can do this in a way that has no impact on the environment or your budget - update your hairstyle!
The Mouth Revolution
Check out this video that my friend, Erica Priggen, worked on with the folks at Free Range Graphics. Be sure to watch the other YouTube videos by Free Range Graphics in the module below.
curated content from YouTube
Food and Your Ecological Footprint
What Food Choices Can You Make to Reduce Your Ecological Footprint?
What type of food do you eat? How and where was it grown? Is the food homemade or prepared? These factors all impact the environment. Learn how to minimize your food footprint, then teach these things to your family and friends.
The food footprint includes the land to grow the food, land for the animals to graze, and energy to transport the food.
Things you can do:
1. Lunch: Bring your own lunch to school. Use a container that you can bring home and reuse. Avoid prepared things like potato chips. Besides being unhealthy for you, they create a lot of garbage. Include a piece a fruit. Take home any scraps to compost. I use metal containers I bought at an Indian store. There is a company that makes a lunch kit. (See the link below.)
2. Buy locally grown produce. Every time you eat food that wasn't grown in your own yard,it requires energy to transport it. Find out what foods are locally grown and eat mostly those foods. Not only does it require less energy, but it supports your local economy. If you have space, grow your own vegetables. Even if it's only a few planters. Every bit makes a difference... and it tastes better too!
3. Buy food that is in season. Can you even name things that are in season for your region? If it's in season then local farmers are selling it. Once again, you're supporting local businesses and saving energy on transporting food a shorter distance.
4. Buy organic! Organic food is food that is grown without pesticides. Many diseases in children are being associated with exposure to pesticides. Eating organic is safer for you and other animals too.
5. Reduce or eliminate the amount of meat you eat. When you eat meat, it requires land for the animal to live on and land to grow food for the animal. It takes 23 gallons to produce a pound of lettuce or tomatoes, but it requires over 5,200 gallons to produce a pound of beef! There are lots of reasons to become a vegetarian, including increased health benefits. It's possible to become a vegetarian as a kid. I did when I was 16.
6. Plant a garden. Even if you only have a few tomato plants in barrels or some herbs in a kitchen window, it's healthier for you and the planet.Read below to learn about seed-saving. That's the practice of collecting seeds from your garden for planting next year's crop.
The food footprint includes the land to grow the food, land for the animals to graze, and energy to transport the food.
Things you can do:
1. Lunch: Bring your own lunch to school. Use a container that you can bring home and reuse. Avoid prepared things like potato chips. Besides being unhealthy for you, they create a lot of garbage. Include a piece a fruit. Take home any scraps to compost. I use metal containers I bought at an Indian store. There is a company that makes a lunch kit. (See the link below.)
2. Buy locally grown produce. Every time you eat food that wasn't grown in your own yard,it requires energy to transport it. Find out what foods are locally grown and eat mostly those foods. Not only does it require less energy, but it supports your local economy. If you have space, grow your own vegetables. Even if it's only a few planters. Every bit makes a difference... and it tastes better too!
3. Buy food that is in season. Can you even name things that are in season for your region? If it's in season then local farmers are selling it. Once again, you're supporting local businesses and saving energy on transporting food a shorter distance.
4. Buy organic! Organic food is food that is grown without pesticides. Many diseases in children are being associated with exposure to pesticides. Eating organic is safer for you and other animals too.
5. Reduce or eliminate the amount of meat you eat. When you eat meat, it requires land for the animal to live on and land to grow food for the animal. It takes 23 gallons to produce a pound of lettuce or tomatoes, but it requires over 5,200 gallons to produce a pound of beef! There are lots of reasons to become a vegetarian, including increased health benefits. It's possible to become a vegetarian as a kid. I did when I was 16.
6. Plant a garden. Even if you only have a few tomato plants in barrels or some herbs in a kitchen window, it's healthier for you and the planet.Read below to learn about seed-saving. That's the practice of collecting seeds from your garden for planting next year's crop.
- Seafood Selector
- If you eat fish, you and your parents will want to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sustainable Seafood Watch site. They explain which seafood is best to buy and why. Learn how your choice of fish can impact the oceans.
- Laptop Lunches
- This company produces lunch boxes that are dishwasher safe. Though I'm not a big fan of plastic for anyone, especially for kids, this is better than the alternative of the throw away containers. I do like that they have some metal water bottles that are dishwasher-safe. Also their laptop lunch kits comes with a recipe book. You can even order a vegetarian recipe book!
- International Seed Saving Institute
- Do you have a home garden? Do you save seeds every year for next season? It's easy to do with these helpful hints from the Seed Saving Institute.
If you have friends that garden, get together and have a seed exchange. Find other plants that are great for your particular region.
Where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, they actually have some seed exchange cooperatives. Check around in your area to see if there is a group that meets.
Cool Friends Recycle Party!
A fun, ecological party idea
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Tired of the clothes in your wardrobe?
Chances are some of your friends are getting a bit bored with their own. Why not get together and have a Cool Friends Recycle Party?
Here's how to set it up:
1. Set a date and place to get your friends together to swap clothes or other stuff.
2. Go through your closets and drawers. What no longer fits? What are you bored of wearing? What do you no longer need or want?
3. Set some parameters around how it's going to be done.
These are some guidelines we've often used for our parties:
1. No negative comments on things people brought. If you're not drawn to it, just don't try it on. No need to comment.
2. Separate stuff into categories so people can easily find tops, pants or jewelry.
3. Make sure there is a clear place where people put their stuff, including the stuff they wore to the party. One of my friends temporarily and unknowingly "loaned" the shirt she came in with to a friend who departed early wearing it.
4. Donate the stuff that nobody picked up to a shelter or a thriftstore like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. We used to take our stuff to a women's shelter, especially because we had some nice professional clothes.
5. If there is something that is absolutely beautiful, but it just wasn't right for anyone at the party you can hold onto a small pile of stuff for the next party.
6. Have Cool Friends Recycle Parties seasonally or at least twice a year.
Environmental Resources for Kids & Parents
These are great books! Why not check these titles out at your local library or buy them used on Amazon?
Talk to your child about the importance of using the library and that it's okay, if not preferable, to buy used books.
Talk to your child about the importance of using the library and that it's okay, if not preferable, to buy used books.
Think Sustainability
Some Things to Consider to Reduce Your Ecological Footprint
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1. When you buy something, it must last as long or longer than it takes to make the raw ingredients to be sustainable.
* Water bottles: A plastic water bottle, which is made of petroleum, takes millions of years to create. Yet we throw it away after an hour.
millions of years to make > 1 hour to drink NOT sustainable
* Jeans: Jeans are made from cotton, which takes less than a year to grow
less than a year to grow < wear jeans for more than a year Sustainable
2. Packaging is a huge waste of natural resources. Buy things with a minimum amount of packaging. Also bring your own bags to the store. If it's a small purchase, ask that they don't put it in a bag.
This Lens
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Save the Planet Web Resources for Kids
Want to save the planet but don't know what you can do? Here are some resources to help you do your part to save the planet.
- Green Your Room
- This website talks about how to green your college dorm, but any kid can use these ideas to start making great environmental choices now.
- Earth Matters for Kids: 4th & 5th Graders
- My friend, Ms. Victoria, created this website to help you learn about the ocean and the water cycles. Explore the oceans and learn about ways that you can save the ocean and help the otters.
- Ecological Footprint Quiz
- Here is an ecological footprint quiz for K-6th graders. Share it with your friends. Talk to your parents about what you learned and your concerns. Then come up with some great new choices you and your family can make together.
- Ollie Saves the Planet
- Join Ollie and his friends save the planet. Learn about reducing, recycling and reusing. Discover the meaning of biodiversity and it's importance to a healthy planet and things you can do to maintain it. Lots of information for 5-13 year olds.
Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products
Things to Consider if You are a Woman
There is a lot of waste created by disposable menstrual pads and tampons. Don't despair, ladies. There are earth-friendly feminine product alternatives!
Fun Math Sites by Ms. Newburn
- Fractions
- Need help with fractions? Help has arrived. Watch YouTube math videos and play fun math games to learn about fractions and how to change from fractions to decimals to percents.
- Order of Operations PEMDAS
- Learn the order of operations with ease. Check out the math games too!
- Integers
- Integers take a bit of practice to learn. Have fun with integers by watching cool math videos and playing math games to help you understand.
- Vedic Math, Fast Mental Calculating
- Learn about Vedic math, the ancient mental calculating system from India. You will be completely amazed. If you love math, you'll love this stuff. If you hate math, you'll wonder why no one ever taught math in such a simple and fast way. (The reason is because most people haven't heard about Vedic math yet.) Check it out. It's fun, fast and cosmic math!
- YouTube Math Tutor Group
- I've created a YouTube math tutor group to help you learn math. If you want you can subscribe and post your own videos. How cool is that?!?
Global Warming and Future Possibilities Videos
- What is Important by Leonardo diCaprio
- This video about Global Warming entitled "What is Important" is by the Leonardo diCaprio Foundation. You may find it interesting.
- Renew US: Imagine the Year 2056
- This vidoe is set in the Year 2056. People realized in 2005 that global warming was real and took action and made a difference. Watch this video and learn about things you and your family can do now to change history.
Share This Site
If you enjoyed this site and found it valuable, share it with a friend or colleague. There is an email button on the right side bar.
- Post to Del.icio.us
- Post this site to your del.icio.us account to share it with others and to find it easily in the future.
Ideas for Teachers
- Homework Assignment: I gave visiting this lens as a homework assignment for my kids. I made them write a few sentences about what they did and learned. I gave the students a few days to get the assignment done to accommodate for possible computer issues from home.We actually did it for several days. A number of the kids even got their parents involved. Include parent participation as part of the assignment. Have the whole family take the ecological footprint quiz.It's enough to generate some great discussions and motivate some lifestyle changes.
- Lab time: Take you class into a computer lab to do a webquest on ecological footprint and evaluating lifestyle habits. Have a list of several sites to go to. If you want them to see the videos, you may want to check if the YouTube video site is blocked.
- Share this lens with others. I have a link to it on my school website and my class blog. Plus, I've shared it with colleagues... and you!
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Ecological Project: The Life of ...(Item)
Follow an object from its beginning to end. What resources were needed to create it? What happens to it after it is consumed? - Lunch Project: Analyze the amount of waste created at lunch. Have students propose ideas on how to reduce waste.
Great Teacher Sites by Rebecca Newburn
- My Home Page
- My home page has links to a variety of resources for teachers, students and parents. Check it out.
- Information Age Education Blog
- Welcome to the Information Age. My teacher blog addresses how to positively impact students' education, consciousness and the planet. If you like the blog, subscribe.
- Teaching Strategies to Transform Your Class
- Learn how to use best teaching practices and the Law of Attraction to create an amazing class.
- YouTube Math Tutor Group
- YouTube is an on-line free video service. People can post their own videos. I've created a number of helpful math resources. I've also pulled together videos from others and created a YouTube Math Tutor group. I post videos on my class blog to pre-teach and re-teach. If you join, you can make and post videos too.
- My Math 7 Class Blog
- Technology can be used to engage and educate. My students are all subscribed to my blog and regularly receive posts that support what we're doing in the class and expand beyond.
Environmental Education Books
These are some titles I highly recommend. Check out if they are in your local library or buy them used on Amazon. Once you're done, donate them to your library or pass them on to others who would be interested.
Instead of a White Christmas, Make it a Green One!
Holiday Suggestions from My Family to Yours
I know every family has its holiday traditions. Many of which we hold dear because of the sentimental value. Other things we do, just because it's tradition. It's important to examine what we value.
The holidays are often a time of decadence and in recent years tend to revolve more around commercialism than Spirit. It may be valuable for you and your family to discuss your traditions in the broader context of being a member of the living community on this planet and what holidays mean for you. You may want to ask, "Are there ways we can still celebrate being together that have a smaller impact on the planet?" There is new movie by Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") called "What Would Jesus Buy?" Perhaps, that's a question that resonates with you.
My family used to do several things that I'd like to share with you to support you in being more environmentally conscientious this holiday season.
* First, we often wrapped gifts in the comic section of the paper. It was fun and colorful, and we all agreed that it was an easy step we could all take for the planet.
* We also had boxes that had tops and bottoms. The tops were wrapped in wrapping paper and we used these boxes year after year - not to mention the bows. This year I received some gifts for my 40th birthday and they were in the boxes that I remember from when a kid. What a nice childhood memory!
* Create attractive cards or gift tags that identify gifts that can be used year after year. For example, "From Mom & Dad, To Rebecca." We had little felt gift tags that we made and we used them every year for Christmas. Think of all of the paper we saved, and it was a sweet thing to see those little tags. We still have them 35 years later!
* Another cool thing that we did is that we didn't have a Christmas tree. In 2002, over 20,000,000 trees were cut in the US alone by commercial farmers. And that's just for the US! We had a Christmas branch instead. We cut some large limbs from trees that needed to be pruned and from the limbs we created a "tree." Everyone always commented on how beautiful our trees looked. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and UC Berkeley School of Forestry has an annual sale of trees that have been cut from national parks that are potentially a fire hazard. If you celebrate Christmas, see if there is an alternative that suits your family's needs and concerns when it comes to Christmas trees.
This holiday think about the purchases you are making and the gifts you are requesting. What ecological footprint will you leave on the planet for your generation and future generations? Why not ask for money to be donated to your favorite environmental organization in your name?
Happy holidays!
The holidays are often a time of decadence and in recent years tend to revolve more around commercialism than Spirit. It may be valuable for you and your family to discuss your traditions in the broader context of being a member of the living community on this planet and what holidays mean for you. You may want to ask, "Are there ways we can still celebrate being together that have a smaller impact on the planet?" There is new movie by Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") called "What Would Jesus Buy?" Perhaps, that's a question that resonates with you.
My family used to do several things that I'd like to share with you to support you in being more environmentally conscientious this holiday season.
* First, we often wrapped gifts in the comic section of the paper. It was fun and colorful, and we all agreed that it was an easy step we could all take for the planet.
* We also had boxes that had tops and bottoms. The tops were wrapped in wrapping paper and we used these boxes year after year - not to mention the bows. This year I received some gifts for my 40th birthday and they were in the boxes that I remember from when a kid. What a nice childhood memory!
* Create attractive cards or gift tags that identify gifts that can be used year after year. For example, "From Mom & Dad, To Rebecca." We had little felt gift tags that we made and we used them every year for Christmas. Think of all of the paper we saved, and it was a sweet thing to see those little tags. We still have them 35 years later!
* Another cool thing that we did is that we didn't have a Christmas tree. In 2002, over 20,000,000 trees were cut in the US alone by commercial farmers. And that's just for the US! We had a Christmas branch instead. We cut some large limbs from trees that needed to be pruned and from the limbs we created a "tree." Everyone always commented on how beautiful our trees looked. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and UC Berkeley School of Forestry has an annual sale of trees that have been cut from national parks that are potentially a fire hazard. If you celebrate Christmas, see if there is an alternative that suits your family's needs and concerns when it comes to Christmas trees.
This holiday think about the purchases you are making and the gifts you are requesting. What ecological footprint will you leave on the planet for your generation and future generations? Why not ask for money to be donated to your favorite environmental organization in your name?
Happy holidays!
Reader Feedback
If you have any great ideas or resources on how to "save the planet", please share them.
Thoughtful feedback on this website is also appreciated.
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waldenthree.net
Nov 19, 2011 @ 10:19 am | delete
- Valuable topic and beautiful lens. I cast my vote as "Like' for this one. Thanks.
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Graceonline
Nov 15, 2011 @ 12:47 am | delete
- Wow. You have enough information here for five or possibly ten or more lenses, a veritable green-living treasure trove. So glad to see this on Squidoo. Squid-Angel blessed.
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Wendy Oliver
Nov 10, 2011 @ 5:26 am | delete
- The term carbon footprint has been growing in popularity over the past several years, primarily due to the heightened awareness of climate change. A carbon footprint consists of the net greenhouse gases emitted by an entity, individual, organization or nation. Personal carbon calculators define a carbon footprint as the net carbon dioxide attributable to an individual over a one year period. Since there are many different greenhouse gases, the specific gas(es) must be converted to tonnes or kilograms of equivalent carbon dioxide.
how to read a ruler
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Airtightness
Oct 18, 2011 @ 4:10 pm | delete
- I was searcing for cool lens' and found yours :) I really do like the concept and it fits in with what I do a bit too.
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JJ37
Sep 30, 2011 @ 8:45 am | delete
- Great lens - love the videos you included. I want to make our Christmas greener this year. I would love if you visited two of my lenses as we both care about the Earth: Create a Backyard Habitat - a Hobby for the Whole Family and Nature and Earth-Friendly Books for All Ages . Take care!
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by Rebecca_Newburn
Ms. Rebecca Newburn has been a math and science educator for 17 years. She is interested in supporting Millennials, the New Generation, by creating resources... more »
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