Non-renewable resources will be our down fall.

My previous articles have focused on how the individual can take personal steps to lessen their carbon footprint and the pollution in our environment. The next step to help our world is to curb your ecological footprint. To the majority of the readers they will not be familiar with the ecological footprint. Your Ecological Footprint is a calculation that measures how much land and water you and your family requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes under current technologies we utilize. It will come to a shock to most of you that in my general calculations the average household, living in a 3-bedroom bungalow, accommodating 2-adults and 2-children would require equal to three (3) planets the size of Earth to house, feed and dispose of waste. That would be the case if all the people on the planet were provided the same opportunity to live a middle class life style.

Therefore, those of us who are fortunate enough to live a comfortable lifestyle need to begin taking appropriate steps to be responsible custodians of our planet. I am not suggesting that everyone make whole sale changes to their routines and practices, but to start making small increments of change. I would suggest that families sit down around the supper table and discuss their thoughts and levels of commitment to improving their ecological footprint. Discussions should first center on how each person adds to waste and then were they can make changes. One good way to understand how we all contribute to waste is to commit to collecting all cardboard for one month. Take one large cardboard box and place it in an out of the way area such as the basement or the garage and collect all the cardboard you or your family would normally throw out in your weekly garbage pick-up. Remember that includes everything from cereal boxes, packaging from all forms of food stuffs or even the boxes from your frozen foods, don't forget those. Not until a person has a clearer, concrete, tangible experience as to how much cardboard is thrown away will they begin to feel that sense of accomplishment. This is the beginning, once you have seen the benefits of your efforts, you will want to encorporate other methods of Reusing, Reducing and Recycling.

Parents out there need to talk to their children about Recycling, because their the ones who are the next generation of custodians. Not only that, but they are probably as well versed in Reducing, Recycling and Reusing as many adults. Many of the schools our children attend are practicing numerous forms of Recycling including, paper, glass and drinking containers. We can take a lesson from our children if we give them the proper chance to express themselves and have input into how they see things.

One last note would be for those of you out there that do not have access to disposal of recycling, you will need to take an active roll in your community, municipality or whom ever oversees your waste disposal. Not all communities are up to speed with the facilities necessary to our ever increasing waste.

Be Good To Yourselves And Your Environment.