, SUS1501 Assignment 7 (COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2025 (590462) - DUE 30 September 2025;
100% TRUSTED Complete, trusted solutions and
explanations.
My Ecological Footprint: Reflection and Ethics
Part A – My Ecological Footprint and How I Feel About It
After completing the ecological footprint calculator suggested in the
assessment, my results were sobering. The tool estimated that if
everyone on Earth lived the way I currently do, humanity would require
about X Earths to sustain us. In practical terms, my lifestyle demands
far more ecological resources than the planet can regenerate in a single
year. This figure did not come as a complete surprise, because I already
knew that industrialised lifestyles tend to overshoot global biocapacity,
but seeing a precise number attached to my own habits made the issue
much more personal and visceral. The breakdown showed that my
largest impacts come from transportation (especially air travel) and
dietary choices (high in animal products), followed closely by the
energy used to heat and cool my home.
Reading the “Sustainability?” section before doing the calculation gave
me an important lens through which to interpret the result. Sustainability
is not just a vague aspiration; it is an empirical relationship between
human demand and the Earth’s regenerative capacity. When the article
described “ecological overshoot” — the point at which humanity starts
using more resources than the planet can replace — it highlighted how
our daily choices accumulate into planetary consequences. My footprint
represents not merely my private consumption but my participation in a
global pattern of depletion. The language of “Earths” is particularly
striking: it makes clear that, mathematically, the way I live is impossible
to universalise without catastrophe.
Semester 2 2025 (590462) - DUE 30 September 2025;
100% TRUSTED Complete, trusted solutions and
explanations.
My Ecological Footprint: Reflection and Ethics
Part A – My Ecological Footprint and How I Feel About It
After completing the ecological footprint calculator suggested in the
assessment, my results were sobering. The tool estimated that if
everyone on Earth lived the way I currently do, humanity would require
about X Earths to sustain us. In practical terms, my lifestyle demands
far more ecological resources than the planet can regenerate in a single
year. This figure did not come as a complete surprise, because I already
knew that industrialised lifestyles tend to overshoot global biocapacity,
but seeing a precise number attached to my own habits made the issue
much more personal and visceral. The breakdown showed that my
largest impacts come from transportation (especially air travel) and
dietary choices (high in animal products), followed closely by the
energy used to heat and cool my home.
Reading the “Sustainability?” section before doing the calculation gave
me an important lens through which to interpret the result. Sustainability
is not just a vague aspiration; it is an empirical relationship between
human demand and the Earth’s regenerative capacity. When the article
described “ecological overshoot” — the point at which humanity starts
using more resources than the planet can replace — it highlighted how
our daily choices accumulate into planetary consequences. My footprint
represents not merely my private consumption but my participation in a
global pattern of depletion. The language of “Earths” is particularly
striking: it makes clear that, mathematically, the way I live is impossible
to universalise without catastrophe.
