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Ecological Footprint

Ecological Footprint. How Do we Get Rid of Our Waste?. Landfills Incineration Recycling Composting Waste-to-Energy facilities. Where Does Toronto’s Garbage Go?. Green Lane Landfill near London, Ontario It could reach capacity by 2029

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Ecological Footprint

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  1. Ecological Footprint

  2. How Do we Get Rid of Our Waste? • Landfills • Incineration • Recycling • Composting • Waste-to-Energy facilities

  3. Where Does Toronto’s Garbage Go? • Green Lane Landfill near London, Ontario • It could reach capacity by 2029 • Before 2010 Toronto used to send its garbage over the border to a Michigan landfill • A nearby First Nations reserve, the Oneida of the Thames, are not happy about the dump • The smell is obnoxious • The dump tries to cover all the new garbage every day • They were not consulted about it • Their community is given $$ as compensation

  4. Incineration • : Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants. • Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is more scarce, as these facilities generally do not require as much area as landfills.

  5. NIMBY • Acronym for “Not In My BackYard” • The opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them, usually the residents believe that the developments are needed in society but should be further away. • Examples: housing projects, homeless shelters, fracking, wind turbines, landfill sites, prisons, cannabis dispensaries

  6. Ecological Footprint: definition • A measure of human impact on the Earth. • The footprint equals the Earth’s cost to sustain one person. • It’s measured in global hectares • It represents the land area needed to provide resources and absorb waste + greenhouse gases produced by an individual

  7. Map of Countries by Ecological Footprint Ecological footprint Global hectares per capita 10-11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No data

  8. Global Hectare (gha) • Used to measure ecological footprint • "Global hectare per person" refers to the amount of biologically productive land and water available per person on the planet. • Examples of biologically productive areas include cropland, forests, and fishing grounds; they do not include deserts, glaciers, and the open ocean

  9. Biocapacity • : The amount of resources the ecosystems can supply each year • It is declining each year as population increases • In 2005 the world’s population required the resources of 2.7 gha, but the world’s biocapacity was only 2.1 gha per person • So our footprint is bigger than our biocapacity – this is unsustainable

  10. Global Biocapacity by country • China’s footprint matches its global biocapacity. • The footprints of India, Indonesia and Bangladesh are fully sustainable. • Australia and Canada both have footprints over 7 gha: their populations require more than 3 times their fair share of the world’s biocapacity. • USA’s footprint is surpassed only by the United Arab Emirates.

  11. Ecological Footprint

  12. Earth Overshoot Day • The day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means: • We now require the equivalent of 1.6 planets to support our lifestyles. • We now use a year’s worth of capacity in less than 9 months

  13. Earth Overshoot Day • https://youtu.be/XBHW3zlkY44 4:30

  14. Greenhouse Gases (GHG) : Any gas in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. • The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). • Without any greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C , rather than present average of 15 °C

  15. Causes of GHGs • Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) and is released as carbon dioxide (CO2) when they are burnt. • Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (i.e. emissions produced by human activities) come from: • Combustion of fossil fuels • Deforestation • Soil erosion • Animal agriculture

  16. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) • Many CFCs have been widely used as refrigerants, aerosols, and solvents. • They are a greenhouse gas • They also contribute to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere • The manufacture of such compounds has been phased out under the Montreal Protocol

  17. Carbon Neutral • It means achieving zero carbon emissions by balancing the amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount offset (ex: planting trees), or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference.

  18. Reducing Your Footprint • Eat locally grown foods • Drink tap water from reusable containers • Drink from the cold water tap so you haven’t wasted energy heating it • Eat less meat (cattle produce methane, a major greenhouse gas)

  19. Calculate your footprint • http://www.footprintcalculator.org/

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