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Earth Day 2023 etwinning project footprint calculator

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I did the footprint check and was really shocked to learn that we would need over 5 plantes Earth to satisfy the needs of everyobne if he/she lived a lifestyle like mine.
I think it is a good way to have a second look at the findings to think about what you can change in order to improve your footprint.

Michael

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Our group too has discovered that we would need too many planets Earth if we kept on living as we currently live: 4,5 planets!
However, we have also noticed that some questions needed some "adjustments", especially those related with means of transports, as the students do not have any driving license and questions were a little bit "tricky"...
Nevertheless it is extremely important to reflect on the situation and take action to reduce some lifestyles that can be really dangerous for our planet.

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HOW MANY PLANETS WOULD WE NEED IF WE ALL LIVED LIKE US?
Our carbon footprint: 5.
When I found out that we would need 2.9 Earths to live if all of us lived like me and my classmates, I felt shocked and it made me think. I thought about how badly we treat our planet and also, what would happen if we ran out of resources. I am pretty concerned of not being able to live normally if we lack of supplies as I have always done. To sum up, what  we really need is to take  better care of our planet due to the fact it is the only one we have. Also, because everybody wants to always live comfortably, and if we keep on polluting and damaging the Earth it will not be possible.
(This text has been written by one of my students, María R.)

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In our group we discovered that 3.1 Earths would be needed if everyone lived like us.
Here are the students reactions:
"It's enormous! Living like we do here in France consumes a lot of ressources."
"It's a good surprise that we all try to do better, to reduce our footprint and be more environmently-friendly" although this is still too much.
"It feels sad that even when we try to reduce our footprint it is still a lot. Also we consume more when on holidays, tourism is a big issue. "

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My students were really impressed when they heard about the number of Earths we would need, 4.1, if everybody produced the same carbon footprint as we do, 7.5t. That is a lot of damage to the world. This means that we are consuming and wasting resources at a rate that exceeds what the Earth can sustainably provide. This is a reflection of our unsustainable way of life and a desperate need to find a solution. Our planet's health and well-being will be severely compromised if we continue consuming, wasting and contaminating as we are doing at the moment. We must use more renewable energy and follow the rule of the three Rs: recycle, reuse and reduce. If we do not all collaborate now, future generations will not enjoy a proper life.
(2A ESO students' own ideas)

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May 7 was the day Portugal exhausted its natural resources. In fact, our consumption pattern far exceeds the resources we have available and our school cluster is no exception.
We surveyed (https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/pt) 760 students aged between 12 and 18.
Our average ecological footprint was 6.8 hectares (minimum 5.4 and maximum 12.9)! It would take 4.1 Earth planets (minimum 3.3 and maximum 5.5) to support our consumption pattern.
After the questionnaire was applied and the class average was determined, each teacher led a debate on the reasons for these results and how to minimise them. Conclusions focused on the urgency of changing consumption habits, whether related to food, transport or purchasing patterns. It was also concluded that it makes perfect sense to implement the concept of the "15-minute city" but also a deep reflection on what, in fact, we need in order to have a comfortable life but within bearable standards for the planet.

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The calculation of the ecological footprint was performed using the Global Footprint Network simulator.

202 students between the 8th and 11th grade participated in this simulation.

The results obtained are disturbing and revealed, simply, that on average each student uses 8 gha (global hectares) of productive land (on land and sea) to produce the resources necessary to maintain their lifestyle.

This means, if everyone on the planet lives the same lifestyle as described by the students in our school, it would take the resources of 4.2 planets Earth!

As a result of this consumption pattern, the average carbon footprint per student corresponds to the emission of the equivalent of 11.6 tons of C02 annually, involving the sending of compounds such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, the latter being the most abundant compound.

Considering that, on average, each inhabitant of planet Earth produces 4 tons of CO2 per year, by the results obtained in this simulation the Portuguese students participate in the emission of almost three times this value.

"The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) points out that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record in 2019 and the current levels of atmospheric CO2 are comparable to those existing more than three million years ago, when the planet's temperature was approximately 3 ºC higher and the sea level higher between 10 and 20 meters compared to today. So far, the carbon footprint has not stopped growing, multiplying 11-fold since 1961, and already accounts for 60 percent of man's total impact on the environment, according to estimates by the Global Footprint Network." - Citation source: https://www.iberdrola.com/sustentabilidade/pegada-carbono

As mitigation measures for this very significant ecological footprint of part of our school population, we made our students aware of the importance of reducing animal protein consumption, food waste, water consumption and energy consumption and to reduce single-use packaging, opting for reusable packaging.
In terms of urban mobility, we also alerted them to the importance of valuing the use of public transport instead of individual transport and, if possible, to the use of bicycles for short-distance trips.