I figured a good place to start when determining our current impact on the Earth would be with an ecological foot print calculator. First we tested out a calculator at ecologicalfootprint.com which told us that if everyone lived like us, we would need 2.7 planets to support global consumption! Holy Smokes.

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I wanted to find a calculator that went a little more in depth.. surely we couldn’t have THAT much of a negative impact on our Mother Earth. I stumbled upon The Global Footprint Network over at footprintcalculator.org, and what I found was a beautiful website, with the option to input specific information about our lifestyle. I found myself adding up the kilometres it takes me to drop off and pick up my toddler from daycare… and the ones it takes me to drive my older ones to school when the chaos of the mornings cause us to miss the school bus. I even inputted the fuel economy for my SUV. I thought surely, this calculator will give me a more accurate result, and I’m sure it did…

Only now we knew that if everyone lived the way we do (and the way our society does), we would need 3.5 Earths to sustain the collective lifestyle.

I had often heard of overpopulation, and as a youth I was determined to grow up to be a parent who would ensure her families presence was helping and not hindering global sustainability and the health of our beautiful planet.

At this point, I realized that we have a long way to go!