New Web-Based Ecological Footprint Quiz Allows Individuals To
Measure Their Impact On The Planet
To: National Desk, Environment Reporter
Contact: Craig Cheslog or Janet Graesser, 510-444-3041
ext. 305 or ext. 322, both of Redefining Progress
Email: cheslog@rprogress.org
graesser@rprogress.org
Web site: http://www.RedefiningProgress.org
 

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- If you have always
wanted to measure your ecological impact on the planet and did not
know how, you now have that opportunity on the Redefining Progress
web site.

Redefining Progress today unveiled a new, upgraded web-based
Ecological Footprint Quiz calculator, which measures our individual
impact on the planet. To discover the size of your own Ecological
Footprint, visit http://www.RedefiningProgress.org and take a quick
and easy 13-question quiz.

The Ecological Footprint quiz includes questions about
individual food choices, transportation use, and housing. The
answers are tallied to determine the Ecological Footprint for an
individual living in the U.S. Footprint calculations are based on
the most current usable United Nations statistics (1997).

Redefining Progress' calculations show that the average American
needs approximately 31 acres to support his or her level of
resource consumption. An acre is roughly the size of a football
field without the end zones.

"If everyone on the planet lived like Americans, it would take
six planets to support our rate of consumption," said Redefining
Progress Sustainability Program Director Mathis Wackernagel.
"These dramatic numbers indicate why change is necessary to
preserve our resource base and curtail extreme overuse of natural
resources."

The Footprint of Nations 2001 report, also released today by
Redefining Progress, compares the ecological impact of 52 large
nations, which are inhabited by 80 percent of the world population.
This report indicates that humanity has already exceeded the
Earth's biological capacity by over a third. Many nations run even
more significant ecological deficits. The United States' ecological
deficit is over 50 percent.

For more detailed information on the Footprint of Nations 2001
report or to take the Redefining Progress Ecological Footprint
quiz, go to http://www.RedefiningProgress.org.

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