The theme for the 2012-13 contest is: "The Human Footprint on the Environment: Impacts and Solutions.”

1. The theme for the 2012-13 contest is: "The Human Footprint on the Environment: Impacts and Solutions.”

2. Essay Contest Rules Essays may be one of the following four types: Persuasive Essay, Informative Essay, Narrative Story, or True Story. Essays must be original, unpublished, and written by one student, and must not exceed 1000 words.

3. Writing Prompt Then, respond to the following: What is the “Human Footprint on the Environment?” What are the impacts of the footprint or footprints? What are possible solutions to the problems Human Footprints create?

4. Footprint Basics - Introduction Ecological Footprint - the metric that allows us to calculate human pressure on the planet and come up with facts. For instance, if everyone lived the lifestyle of the average American, we would need 5 planets. Do we fit on the planet? How can a study of the Footprintfoster sustainable human development? How do carbon emissions contribute to humanity’s Ecological Footprint?

5. Footprint Basics - Overview Humanity needs what nature provides, but how do humans know how much they are using and how much they have to use? TheEcological Footprint has emerged as the world’s premier measure of humanity’s demand on nature. This accounting system tracks, on the demand side, how much land and water area a human population uses to provide all a person takes from nature.

6. Personal Footprint How much land area is taken to support a person’s lifestyle? Take this quiz to find out your Ecological Footprint, discover your biggest areas of resource consumption, and learn what you can do to tread more lightly on the earth. Take the Quiz http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/personal_footprint/

7. What is The Human Footprint on the Environment?Is there a difference among an individual footprint, a community footprint, a national footprint, and a world footprint? How can that footprint have impact?Is the impact felt or realized only by humans or by every living entity within an environment or all environments?

8. If that impact causes damage, what are the harms to the environment?Are some harmful impacts more damaging than others? Are some harms created immediately and others created over a long period of time?If that impact is damaging, what are the solutions to lessen the impact? Should solutions begin with an individual, a community, or a nation…or all three?

9. Questions you might consider: How do humans affect the environment? Are the effects positive, negative, or both? Why is the human footprint on the environment a problem? Are humans separate from the environment or are they interconnected? Is balance between the two possible? How is air quality and even the availability of clean water being affected by the human footprint? What effect can one person have regarding the human footprint on the environment and reducing negative effects? What effects can a community have on such issues?

10. Questions you might consider: What factors, human or otherwise, contribute to environmental degradation? Are there creative solutions for these contributing factors? How do politics, cultural differences, climate, geography, and other logistics affect the impacts that human have on the environment? How do you think Americans, specifically a nation in which over-consumption and waste are common, factor in to the human footprint on the environment? How does American culture portray and perceive the environment? What do students learn about world hunger in classrooms? How are human impacts different in other parts of the world? What efforts are being made to raise awareness to prevent and solve environmental degradations? Are those efforts working?

11. How can humans utilize technology to slow or undo environmental damage of the last century or two? What effects do improper garbage dumping and land filling have on the environment? How will the loss of keystone species, such as the honeybee, jaguar, or sea otter, affect individuals, local communities, countries, and/or the global community? What would a world be like without important flora and fauna? Should the average person understand the impact of human footprints?

12. What are ways to demonstrate concern for the impact of human footprints? How would the world be different if all people were concerned about human footprints? How do the affects from human footprints impact an individual’s life, health, and goals? How does the human impact on the environment affect people in poverty or how do impoverished people impact the environment? How does human conflict (wars) affect the environment or increase the effects of human footprints?

13. World Footprint Do humans fit on the planet? Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the resources humans use and absorb their waste. This means the Earth takes one year and six months to regenerate what humanity uses in a year. Moderate UN scenarios suggest that if current population and consumption trends continue, by the 2030s, humans will need the equivalent of two Earths to support them. And of course, they only have one. Turning resources into waste faster than waste can be turned back into resources puts humanity in global ecological overshoot, depleting the very resources on which human life and biodiversity depend.

14. August 22 was Earth Overshoot Day In 8 Months, Humanity Exhausted Earth's Budget for the Year August 22 was Earth Overshoot Day, marking the date when humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year. The human population is now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, humanity will maintain an ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In 1992, Earth Overshoot Day—the approximate date human resource consumption for a given year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish—fell on October 21. In 2002, Overshoot Day was on October 3. Given current trends in consumption, one conclusion is clear: Earth Overshoot Day tends to arrive a few days earlier each year.

15. Example essays

16. Reducing Our Ecological Footprint At least once a year, I would load up my backpack and hike out into the backcountry for several days of camping. Although not the easiest way to camp, there are so many benefits that are important parts of my life. Wilderness camping re-energizes me, sort of a life "reboot", and slows me down from the frenetic pace of life I live in the rest of the year. But perhaps the biggest benefit that I get is that I am reminded of just how much of my personal baggage I want, how much is what I need, and how big is the environmental footprint I have created in the world. When I carry all of the equipment I need for three or four days in the wilderness, I am forced to give serious thought to what I bring. I only have so much space to put provisions in a backpack, and I do not want to haul around a 95-pound pack all day long, particularly if I am heading into the mountains. So, I bring the food I need. I bring water and the means to purify water. I bring just the clothes I’ll need and a tent, sleeping bag, and a sleeping pad to keep me warm and dry. I add a stove to cook on, a pan to cook in, a mug to drink out of, and spoons, forks, and bowls to eat with. Finally, I need matches, a few toiletries, and a first aid kit. Once I have those supplies, everything else is extra. For example, I bring a plastic funnel for making good coffee. I don't need coffee, but, on the other hand, I NEED coffee! I also bring a book or a magazine to peruse. I don't need reading material, but a book is small and worth the extra weight. These are simple items that give me pleasure. At the end of the trip, I bring out a Ziploc bag or two of trash, and that's about all my trash (other than some pretty stinky clothes!). During my trip, I practice the Leave No Trace principles. If someone is interested, there's a Leave No Trace organization that publishes these concepts on their website. The thrust of this approach is leave the wilderness the same way the wild area is found, if not better. Others who visit should not even know a human was there. Even the Boy Scouts of America are now teaching these principles. This philosophy is a far cry from decades ago when a pack of young boys would enter their campsite and immediately begin transforming the natural environment to suit them. They'd chop down trees and saplings to build structures. They'd trench around their tents. Rather than leaving a small footprint, they left a large boot stomp.

17. The reason I think I value backpacking so much is the effect that the experience has on me when I return. Having spent several days being careful about the impact I have on my environment, I return realizing what a large impact I have in my everyday life. Anyone can, in fact, find out what his ecological footprint is, a way of measuring what ecological impact a specific lifestyle has. Go to MyFootPrint.org and calculate any person’s ecological footprint. Although the data is not perfect, this quiz will give food for thought. The system calculates how much land a lifestyle requires per year to sustain and how many Earths we'd need if everyone on the planet lived like that person. What can people to reduce their ecological footprint? There are many actions. For example, in my house, I compost all organic matter. I also recycle objects that my local community accepts at the recycling center. In addition, I often choose the items I buy based on the amount of packaging they have. The combination of these three practices reduces my garbage output to only one 30-gallon bag every two weeks for a family of two. Not too bad. And the compost I make goes into my organic garden plot. Buying locally-grown and processed foods is another way to reduce an environmental footprint. Although cost is not so obvious, the amount of energy taken to ship food around the globe is astronomical. Because food can be grown so inexpensively, shipping food products is not prohibitively expensive from South America to the Midwest of America. By choosing local foods, a consumer can have a large indirect impact. Buying organic whenever possible helps also. Organic produce and other foods have come down significantly in price, gone up significantly in quality, and have become much more readily available. In my family, we have found that organic growers often choose varieties that don't need to be shipped as far and stored as long, and, as a consequence, they taste better! Organic bananas are a good example. Whatever choices I make, I consider my ecological footprint and reduce that footprint whenever possible. I try to be an example to coworkers, friends, and neighbors. And, above all, to have the biggest impact, I teach children. There is a no more effective way to change the world than to teach children how to be good stewards of the Earth. If adults lead by example and show children how to live simply, those lessons stay with young people the rest of their lives, and learning to live with a smaller ecological footprint is, perhaps, the finest legacy of all.

18. People should consider going backpacking once a year. A trip in the wild doesn't have to be long or particularly strenuous. Just getting out with all one needs to survive for a couple of days strapped to his back is enough to make that person realize how complicated humans make their lives. Simplifying needs for a short time has a wonderful effect, spills over into a person’s life in subtle ways, and may get him to think about his environmental footprint on a daily basis. So, taking a hike into the natural world without leaving environmental footprints is a worthwhile endeavor. Exactly 1000 words Is this an effective conclusion? This essay combines narrative and persuasive styles!

19. Ecological Footprint Essay I have often wondered how much my environmental actions contribute to bettering the world. However, after taking my first Ecological Footprint quiz, I realize my standard of living requires 2.84 Earths to sustain the human population, about 1.84 more than I anticipated. Surprisingly, changing my country of origin dramatically decreases the number of Earths needed. So why does the country of origin matter so much? The ecological footprint quiz explains these differences, and tries to direct our thinking to change our fundamental ideas of ‘progress’ and a continually growing economy. This shift of ideas all comes down to politics, a composer of ideas and power. Thus, the Ecological Footprint concept is political, and connects a personal footprint to a nationwide footprint, raising awareness toward environmental protection, the first step to change. Personally, I make a daily effort to try to help the environment. I compost, recycle, buy clothes from thrift or consignment stores, purchase organic food, and ride a bike. I am the modern-day hippy. Yet, myfootprint.org calculates that I need 2.84 Earths to sustain the human population using my ‘green’ lifestyle. I expected someone with my lifestyle to have a much lower number. More staggering, someone living my same lifestyle in Honduras only requires 0.40 Earths to sustain human life. What accounts for these differences? Honduras, a developing country, has far less infrastructure, people, and money to utilize. This literally forces Hondurans to use less. On the other hand, Americans inherently use more resources due to the infrastructureintertwined within the country. For example, an individual may not have paved the road they live on, but by using that track they take part in the use of such infrastructure. The ecological footprint quiz considers these advantages and environmental harms and absorbs them into individual inherent responsibility (“FAQ” Eco Footprint). Due to this inherent responsibility, my third attempt of the quiz only lowered my result to 2.21 even though I changed my answers to become “greener.” From this ecological footprint concept, one can conclude that the sum of a country’s ecological footprint vastlyoutweighs an individual ecological footprint. My individual actions had little impact on my overall score. Notice C/C Where are appostives? Notice C/C Notice C/C

20. The ecological footprint concept tries to change the idea that all progress and growth is intrinsically good. Progress, while coupled with growth leads to more resources being utilized. Furthermore, the quiz implies through the use of a baseline that real change takes more than an individual; it takes collective action. If the United States can lower its baseline, then individual choice will have a much greater impact. However, many Americans do not think about environmental issues in a collective way. They buy compact florescent bulbs and worry no further. The ecological footprint concept tries to change this way of thinking by comparing answers to a nationwide average and suggesting voting environmental leaders into office, a grassroots effort. In this way, the ecological footprint concept is political. What I mean by political is not government parties, although those can be included, but the shifting of ideas. Ideas are power and power is politics. For example, President Obama and Governor Romney both tried to get into office because they believed they had the correct ideas to improve our country. Their campaigns convinced people of those ideas. The website wants people to take hold of these ideas and to contact their representatives and make more environmental choices in their life. These are fundamental changes in how many Americans think because ultimately Americans may need to rethink what progress really means. My roommate also took this quiz thinking he could get a lower score than me. He did not. His dramatic increase from my answers to his at first made him laugh at the quiz, but when I prompted him to take a look at how he could lower his footprint, he truly considered the ideas. He said, “Yeah I should try to do that.” Many of the considerations on the website had never occurred to him, even though he lives with an Environmental Studies student. As an environmentalist, this test strengthens my renewal to environmental protection. Ideas are power. Ideas, power, and politics can lead to change. On the other hand, I found quiz to be an imperfect system. The questions lack information that may apply to students, and it assumes that I am living as a single family. For example, income levels of my household do not necessarily apply. Some of my roommates have jobs and many have loans covering their living expenses, but our overall income is not easily combined. Furthermore, my house is split into two separate living areas: a basement apartment and a main/top floor apartment. If everyone on Earth used my standard of living as a model we would not necessarily need 2.84 Earths, but that answer is an estimate. Elevated language?

21. Overall, I think the quiz is effective, but may not lead to immediate widespread change. By using a country’s infrastructure as a baseline for individual results, the quiz challenges our mode of thinking and what it means to be environmental. Yes, individual actions play a role, but this concept alludes to the idea that in a free country, American citizens hold responsibility for the infrastructure allowing them to easily consume and waste. In Honduras, a lack of resources, labor, or infrastructure forces Hondurans to use less. This concept challenges the idea that progress or consumption in developed countries can continue. This ecological footprint concept is political, including the desire to change ideas and get a mass of people working together. My results changed dramatically from one country to another and the quiz connects my individual actions to that of a country, directing one’s thought to the political notion that change comes through politics or the changing of ideas. The ecological footprint, if absorbed, could change the world as we know it. Works Cited "Ecological Footprint." FAQ: Quiz by Center for Sustainable Economy. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2012. <http://myfootprint.org/en/about_the_quiz/faq/>. 977 words

22. My ecological footprint Using an online calculator, I found that my ecological footprint percentage is 70.82%. The current population would need 4.51 Earths if everyone had the lifestyle that I lead. The results made me feel concerned because my footprint is above average by almost 20 percent, which seems like a lot to me. I was surprised that my results were so poor because I think of myself as someone who is environmentally conscious. I do not litter by throwing garbage on the street. If a garbage can is not conveniently located to me, I carry the garbage with me until I can find a garbage can. Despite my little actions like these, I was surprised that my ecological footprint is so large. That is why I think this was a worthwhile assignment because I have been educated about how non-environmentally friendly I am. I could realistically reduce my footprint by about 25% just by using cleaner transport. Usually I drive whenever I need to go somewhere, but I think from now on whenever possible, I will take the Metro Transit bus instead. I think that resource depletion is likely to increase as developing countries attempt to increase their standard of living. My former country, a developing country, Yemen, does not have as large an ecological footprint as Canada or United States does. In our cities, cars are used a lot, but in the countryside, people use horses and camels as their main way of transporting themselves. Yemen is trying to become more developed like the West, but so far our efforts have not worked out that well. Originally, because Yemen started out as a kingdom, only the King had a car, but, over time, as the country became a republic. Cars became more common as everyday people began driving them in the cities. I think that as Yemen seeks to become more like the Western world, especially the United States, resource depletion will become more pronounced. Do these examples really define this individual? Does jumping from a personal example to an example of a country without effective transitions work?

23. . Developing nations should not have the right to deplete resources just to become more like the West. That will just make the situation with the environment worse as time goes on. If every country has a large ecological footprint, then we will increasingly need more Earths to satisfy everyone's energy consumption. A recent internet article indicated that people in Europe are relying too much on groundwater. If this continues, then the water supply there could become a problem. If that happens, the price of water will go up, and this will be bad for their economy because everyone needs water. If people who need water cannot afford the cost, then the scarcity of water could be an economic, as well as environmental, disaster. The root cause of this specific problem is that people are relying too much on groundwater. Many countries in the world have found effective methods to conserve rainwater or make better use of reservoirs. They can reduce their footprint as countries by making sure that some people do not waste water, while others go without. References “Europe's water consumption unsustainable.” Retrieved online on May 18, 2009 at http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=16168 506 words Is this an effective conclusion?