What Makes an Eco-Footprint

The Ecological Footprint is a tool to measure and understand how much nature we have and how much nature we use. It is the amount of land you need to support your lifestyle. People, polar bears and even ladybugs all have Ecological Footprints. All species' needs are supplied by the Earth's resources - water, food, shelter and space. People are different because we are also using the Earth's resources to fulfill our wants, often living beyond our means and consuming large amounts of finite resources.

The Ecological Footprint is made up of five categories of human consumption - food, housing, transportation, consumer goods and services.

In EcoVoyageurs, these footprint categories have been simplified to water, transportation, energy, garbage and food.