Ecological footprint

The phrase "ecological footprint" is a metaphor used to depict the amount of land and area a human population would hypothetically need to provide the resources required to support itself and to absorb its wastes, given prevailing technology. The term was first coined in 1992 by Canadian ecologist and professor at the University of British Columbia, William Rees.

Footprinting is now widely used around the globe as an indicator of environmental sustainability. It can be used to measure and manage the use of resources throughout the economy. It is commonly used to explore the sustainability of individual lifestyles, goods and services, organisations, industry sectors, neighborhoods, cities, regions and nations.

It measures the people's demand on nature and compares human consumption of natural resources with the earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. Human footprint has exceeded the biocapacity of the planet by 25%.

source: wikipedia