We depend on nature. This is an obvious but profound statement. Nature provides us with all of our life-support systems, it is the very source of our lives and well-being. But since much of the world lives in cities and consume goods imported from all over the world we tend to view nature as merely a place for recreation or a collection of commodities there for our consumption.

      If we are to lessen our ecological footprint and live sustainably we have to be sure we use the essential products and processes of nature no more quickly than they can be renewed and we discharge wastes no more quickly than they can be absorbed. But as they stand today our current demands on nature are compromising humanity’s future well-being. Society still views nature as an expendable part of our economy. Our over-harvesting and waste generation reduce future productivity and may well lead to eco-system collapse.

     The ecological footprint is an accounting tool that allows us to estimate the resource consumption and waste requirements of a specific population or economy in terms of a corresponding productive land area. The economy is similar to a horse in a pasture. The horse and the economy need to consume resources which eventually will become waste and will have to leave the horse or the economy. So the question becomes how much pasture is necessary to support that horse, or economy, to produce all its feed and absorb all its waste? At our current standard of living if everybody lived like today’s North Americans, it would take at least two additional planet Earths to produce the resources, absorb the wastes, and otherwise maintain life-support. And still our ecological footprint keeps growing!