Carbon footprint
Before discussing the ecological footprint, I believe it is important to talk about the carbon footprint. Being the main component of the ecological footprint, the carbon footprint has a real impact. As its name suggests, the carbon footprint represents the quantity of greenhouse gases produced by a human, a family or even an entire nation. Whether for food, transportation and the consumption of goods, these actions all lead to the production of greenhouse gases, directly or indirectly. Livestock farming and large-scale agriculture, although it may seem simple and without any impact, are among the activities that produce the most greenhouse gases in Canada. The use of automobiles, which is extremely widespread in Canada, results in massive production of carbon dioxide, factors that increase the carbon footprint of a family or a nation. To support these facts, it is possible to rely on various statistics published each year.For example, in 2015, 45% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada came from the combustion of fuel for electricity and heating, 28% came from transportation of all kinds and 8% came from agriculture and livestock according to figures from the Climate Atlas.
Ecological footprint
The term "ecological footprint" is used as an indicator that measures the impact of human activity on the environment and therefore on the planet. This term was first used in 1990 by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, two North American researchers. However, the term was popularized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) association. In concrete terms, this index allows us to know the quantities of resources used by humans, which is vital when experts try to determine whether we are consuming too much of our resources, which are overexploited, the possibilities of a turnaround, when we will have reached the point of no return and, above all, which populations consume more than they should. As mentioned above, the carbon footprint is an important factor influencing the result of the ecological footprint, but it is also based on the water consumption per capita of a nation, the amount of waste emitted by the population, the capacity to recover waste, etc. Although some do not consider this to be a reliable indicator for a global comparison, a large majority of specialists agree that regardless of whether it is a sub-Saharan African country, an Asian country, a European nation or a North American population, certain statistics and facts do not lie regarding the excessive consumption of water or meat products of certain nations. This is why, as mentioned in the introduction, Canada finds itself, in certain situations, with a meat or water consumption several times higher than that of Europe and obviously, with a monstrous gap compared to African nations.Are there solutions available to Canadians to reduce their ecological footprint, that of their family and eventually that of the country?