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Sunday Dec. 11, 2016

 

How much space are you occupying, squatting on, using for productive sustainable purposes – or just ‘leaving it be’?

My point?

Every time we use one more square foot of this planet than we are entitled to (whether or not we are entitled to anything at all is another discussion entirely), we are taking up space that could be used by someone else, for something else, for something sustainable or simply ‘left alone’. We love nature, wild country and oceans – fantastic amenities/necessities on our planet, integral parts of this massive eco-system. But we don’t live in an eco-system, do we? We live in an ego-system. We could change that – or sign up for the ‘colonize Mars’ project. Am I trying to convert you to a new way of thinking? No, but I’m trying to make you consider how much you acquire, how much you consume, how much you waste (and what you do with that waste) and how much you really need.

Stop for a minute. Stop everything.

Look down. Look at the two square feet to space where you are standing. That, is your MINIMUM footprint on the earth. If is impossible for one person to take up less space than that.

Now, calculate your actual footprint – you house, garage, car(s), yard, recreational property, vacation home(s), boat(s), plane(s). Assuming you aren’t mega-rich this is probably and easy calculation. Now, take your number – 1 – divide by your country’s population, then multiply by the area of all the national parks in your country. That’s your footprint too. Now, multiply 1/7.5 billion X the area of the oceans and Antarctica. Very large footprint indeed …


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