Ecological footprint analysis is one approach to gauging our environmental impacts on the planet. Use the online tool developed by the Global Footprint Network to calculate your own ecological footprint

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Ecological footprint analysis is one approach to gauging our environmental impacts on the planet. Use the online tool developed by the Global Footprint Network to calculate your own ecological footprint and then answer the questions below.

  1. How big was your ecofootprint—how many planets would be needed if everyone lived your lifestyle? What do you think were the biggest contributors to your footprint size? What aspects of your lifestyle lead you to have a smaller contribution? (That is, which things did you score the most environmentally friendly on.)
  2. All of us like to think we are environmentalists, at least in our own way. Did you learn anything from the quiz? What are some possible steps you could take to decrease your footprint?
  3. Imagine you are an urban planner working for a city council. What recommendations would you make to the city council in order to reduce residents’ ecological footprints? In answering this question first use a conflict perspective for your suggested solutions and then provide another set of solutions emphasizing a symbolic interactionist perspective. Note: you must explicitly state WHY your particular suggestions represent a conflict perspective, and why the other set of suggestions come from a symbolic interactionist perspective.
  4. The Eco Footprint Quiz gives us some perspective to answer the underlying question of this assignment and much of Chapter 13: Why is the environment a SOCIAL issue? In other words, the environment is obviously a biological reality but why do sociologists claim that it is also a social issue? Not to mention one that has cultural, economic and political dimensions? (For example, what cultural values or norms lead people today to demand time saving products and “convenience packaging?”) According to what we learned in the chapter, do environmental problems require social solutions? Incorporate terms and concepts from the chapter into your answer for this question.