Environmental footprint:

● the amount of the environment necessary to produce the goods and services necessary
to support a particular lifestyle
● the more resources a person consumes, the greater their environmental footprint is
● living more sustainably reduces one’s environmental footprint

Biggest Environmental Issues: https://earth.org/the-biggest-environmental-problems-of-our-

lifetime/
● Melting Ice Caps
○ Melting ice is causing rising sea levels
○ Seas are rising 3.2 mm per year globally
○ Biggest threat is in the Arctic
● Global Warming
○ Increased greenhouse gas emissions have lead to an increase in global temps
○ Causing intense weather events-wildfires, hurricanes, heat waves, flooding
● Agriculture
○ The food system is responsible for a third of human caused greenhouse gases
○ Takes up a lot of land and uses large amounts of freshwater
● Air Pollution
○ 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year
○ Pollution is due to vehicles and industrial sources
● Deforestation
○ By 2030 only 10% of the planets forests may be left
○ Leading cause of deforestation is agriculture
○ Brazil, DRC, and Indonesia experiencing the highest levels of deforestation
● Plastic Pollution
○ The world produces about 419 million tons of plastic a year
○ About 11 million tons of plastic go into the ocean each year
○ 91% of plastic that has been made has not been recycled
● Biodiversity loss
○ Animal populations have decreased about 68% between 1970-2016 due to
habitat loss and illegal wildlife trade
○ A sixth mass extinction is occuring; accelerated due to human destruction of
nature
● Food waste
○ a third of food for human consumption is wasted
○ Accounts for 4.4 gigatons of greenhouse gas per year
○ Over 50% of produce thrown away in the US is done so because it is “too ugly”

Plastic:
● About 300 million tons of plastic waste are produced annually
● Plastic is made from chemicals that come from oil, coal, and natural gas, which are
nonrenewable resources
● Only 9% of plastic ever produced has been recycled
 ● A lot of plastic ends up in landfills, the environment, and oceans
● 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year
● It is brought to the ocean by rivers
● Plastic can take around 1000 years to decompose
● They do not completely disappear, just get smaller and smaller (microplastics). These
microplastics are swallowed by fish and farm animals and can get into tap water.
● Plastic waste can clog sewers and create breeding grounds for mosquitoes
https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/

Solutions
❏ Reduce your consumption of single use plastic
❏ Reusable bags, water bottles, straws, travel mugs, silverware, beeswax wrap
instead of plastic wrap, etc
❏ Reuse plastic bottles, bags, and containers
❏ Recycle anything that can be recycled
❏ Buy in bulk to reduce the amount of plastic packaging
❏ Cook your own food instead of buying pre made meals
❏ Support a bag tax/ban to encourage people to skip single use bags while shopping
❏ Participate in beach cleanups
❏ Avoid beauty products containing microbeads
❏ These are tiny plastic particles found in some body scrubs and washes. They can
get into waterways through our sewer systems and affect marine life.

Deforestation:
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/solutions-to-deforestation/
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation
https://greentumble.com/15-strategies-to-reduce-deforestation/
● 31% of the land on our planet is covered by forests
● Main cause of deforestation is agriculture
● Other causes are logging and urbanization
● Major concern in tropical rainforests
● In 2019, the tropics lost close to 30 soccer fields' worth of trees every single minute
● 17% of the Amazon has been lost in the last 50 years
● Forests absorb CO2, make oxygen, provide shelter, reduce erosion, and provide jobs to
over 13 million people
Solutions:
❏ Plant trees
❏ Reduce paper use
❏ Recycle paper products
❏ Use recycled paper products and furniture
❏ Avoid products containing palm oil, unless it is certified to be sustainably produced
❏ Palm oil production is one of the main causes of deforestation in tropical regions,
as the forest is cleared to make room for plantations
 ❏ Reduce consumption of meat
❏ Don’t burn as much firewood

Air Pollution
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/air-pollution-everything-you-need-know#sec1
● 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year
● Most pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels
● Smog and soot are common types of air pollution
● Smog is created when air pollutants react with sunlight
● Soot is tiny particles of pollutants that are carried in the air
● Both irritate the lungs and can worsen health issues
● Certain air pollutants can be deadly, such as lead and mercury
● Increased amounts of air pollutants lead to global warming

Solutions:
● Burn less fossil fuels
○ Walk, ride a bike, or use public transportation when possible
○ Use less electricity-shut lights and other appliances off when not in use, switch to
wind/solar powered
○ Grow your own food or buy local
○ Avoid products containing petroleum

Agriculture and the Food System

https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food
https://vegnews.com/2017/7/the-environmental-impacts-of-going-vegetarian-for-just-one-day
● Agriculture takes up half of all habitable land
● Most of the land used for agriculture is taken up by livestock (about 77%)
● Threatens biodiversity by destroying habitats
● 26% of greenhouse gas emissions are due to food production
● 31% of food emissions are from livestock and fisheries
● Cattle produce methane
● About 70% of our freshwater is used for agriculture
● Large amounts of water are used in irrigation
● Pesticide use, waterlogging, and compacting can damage soil, which is necessary for
food production and biodiversity
● Pesticides used in farming can pollute groundwater and harm animals

Solutions:
● Eat local-although this will not greatly affect your carbon footprint
● Eat less meat and animal products-animal based foods have greater footprints than
plant based
● Grow your own food
● Buy organic foods
Food Waste
https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/food-loss-and-waste
https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/
https://foodprint.org/blog/15-easy-ways-to-reduce-food-waste/
● In the US, about 40% of food is wasted
● In 2010, about 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food was wasted
● Much of this food is perfectly edible
● Food loss is any edible food that goes uneaten, on farms, during transportation, or
before making it to a store
● Food waste is food discarded by retailers or consumers
● Wasted food is the largest category of material in landfills
● About 20 billion pounds of produce is lost on farms each year
○ Farmers may leave crops unharvested if they will not make a profit from
harvesting them or if they produced more food than people will buy
○ Farmers may throw out edible food due to its appearance
● About 8% of fish caught in marine fisheries is discarded each year
● Supermarkets waste large amounts of food-about 43 billion pounds in 2010-due to
overstocking, damaged goods, sell-by dates, and imperfections in food
○ Only 10% of edible wasted food is recovered due to liability concerns
● About 20-30 billion pounds of food are wasted in restaurants each year due to oversized
portions and improper storage
● Half of all food waste happens at the consumer level
○ Contributors to this waste are food spoilage, making too much food, confusion
over best-by labels, poor planning, and overbuying food
○ Serving sizes have increased dramatically, so people often cannot finish their
food
● Only 5 percent of food is composted in the US
● When food is in landfills, it breaks down into methane gas, but when composted,
methane production is greatly reduced
● Food waste accounts for 25% of freshwater use in the US

Solutions:
● Compost
● Plan out meals in advance and only buy what you will use
● Use the parts of food you would normally throw away, like peels, stems, leaves, and
more
● Keep track of what is in your fridge and use older food products first
● Store food carefully to prevent spoilage
● Bring leftovers home from restaurants
● Use the freezer to store food you don't need right away
● Use non-edible parts of plants for cleaning or sprouting new plants
Biodiversity Loss
http://www.eniscuola.net/en/argomento/biodiversity1/loss-of-biodiversity/causes-of-the-loss-of-
biodiversity/
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-
report/#:~:text=The%20Report%20finds%20that%20around,20%25%2C%20mostly%20since
%201900.
https://greentumble.com/10-ways-to-conserve-biodiversity/
https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/biodiversity/what_you_can_do/
Causes:
● Habitat loss/ deforestation
● Pollution
○ Damages the health of animals and their environments
● Invasive species
○ Outcompete native species for resources
● Climate change
○ Rising sea levels and melting ice harms arctic species that rely on icebergs
○ Global warming can endanger species that are adapted to colder temps
● overpopulation/ overexploitation of resources
○ Overhunting, fishing, poaching, etc can lead to endangerment of species
● The world is going through its sixth mass extinction event
● About 1 million plant and animal species are currently threatened with extinction
● Current extinction rates are 1,000 times higher than the background extinction rate
● About 40% of amphibian species, 33% of corals, and 33% of marine mammals are
threatened
● Average abundance of land dwelling native species has declined by 20% since 1990

What we can do:

● Avoid introducing invasive species to an area by following laws related to plants/animals
and travel
● Plant native plants in your backyard
● Educate yourself and other about biodiversity loss, and push for legislation protecting
threatened species
● Use sustainable products that do not contribute to deforestation or global warming
● Eat sustainably raised/ caught seafood