Introduction

Ecology refers to the scientific study accumulating various processes which impacts the
abundance of organisms and their distribution, interaction among them and various forms of
transformation along with energy and other matters.
Ecological footprint is the form of metrics which measures how much nature or natural resources
are available and how much are being used. It measures the overall human demand on nature on
a specific area or in the whole world. For example, how much amount of natural resources or
nature is needed to support the people of an area or an economy. The demand is tracked and
forecasted through ecological accounting system.
Ecological footprint helps the,
• Countries to maintain and improve their overall well-being and sustainability.
• The local authorities and leaders to ensure efficient use of natural resources and optimize
public investments.
• Individuals and people to determine and understand their own impact on the earth.
There are 4 types of ecological foot print measures, such as – carbon footprint, food footprint,
housing footprint, goods & services footprint.
 Ecological Footprint Calculation Experiment
We are instructed by our honorable faculty member to carry out an experiment on calculating the
ecological footprint. So, the whole experiment is given below as per the requirements:

1. Taking the Quiz:

Each of our group members took the quiz on the website, named www.footprintnetwork.org
From, The main page of this website, we clicked “calculate you footprint”, which redirected
us to a new webpage www.footprintcalculator.org . In this webpage, by clicking the “take the
first step”, we completed the whole quiz step by step which showed a summed-up result for
each member’s ecological footprint in terms of various aspects.
Screenshots of the two webpages are given below:

Figure (1.1) - First step towards calculating the ecological footprints

2. Screenshot of the result (From each of the group members):

(A) Sharmi Saha:

Our member, Sharmi Saha, calculated her ecological footprint and the screenshots of the
result are given below:

Figure (1.2) – Ecological Footprint results of Sharmi Saha

(B) Maria Islam:

Our member, Maria Islam, calculated her ecological footprint and the screenshots of the
result are given below:

Figure (1.3) – Ecological Footprint results of Maria Islam

(C) Opsora Jahan Aditi:
Our member, Opsora Jahan Aditi, calculated her ecological footprint and the screenshots
of the result are given below:

Figure (1.4) – Ecological Footprint results of Opsora Jahan Aditi

(D) Dipta Banik:

Our member, Dipta Banik, calculated his ecological footprint and the screenshots of the
result are given below:

Figure (1.5) – Ecological Footprint results of Dipta Banik

 (E) Priyanka Sarkar:
Our member, Priyanka Sarker, calculated her ecological footprint and the screenshots of
the result are given below:

Figure (1.6) – Ecological Footprint results of Priyanka Sarkar

3. Data Representation (Table & Graphs):

Table: 1.1 (Results of Ecological footprint, carbon footprint in terms of tonnes per year &
percentage of total ecological foot print)
Name of the member Ecological Footprint Carbon footprint Carbon footprint (%
(Global hectors/gha) (CO2 emissions in of total ecological
tonnes per year) footprint)
Sharmi Saha 3.9 6.5 58%
Maria Islam 7.7 12.4 56%
Opsora Jahan Aditi 5.8 10.3 61%
Dipta Banik 4.6 6.1 45%
Priyanka Sarkar 7.4 10.7 50%

Graphs comparing the results between 5 members of the group, are given below:
 Ecological Footprint (Global hectors/gha)
8 7.7
7.4
Ecological footprint (Global Hec/gha)

6 5.8

5 4.6
3.9
4

0
SHARMI SAHA MARIA ISLAM OPSORA JAHAN DIPTA BANIK PRIYANKA
ADITI SARKAR
Name of the members

Figure (1.7) – Graph representing the comparison between the results of ecological footprints of each
member

Carbon footprint (CO2 emissions in tonnes

per year)
Carbon footprint (CO2 emissions in tonnes per year)

14
12.4
12
10.3 10.7
10

8
6.5 6.1
6

0
SHARMI SAHA MARIA ISLAM OPSORA JAHAN DIPTA BANIK PRIYANKA
ADITI SARKAR
Name of the members

Figure (1.8) – Graph representing the comparison between the results of carbon footprints (in terms of
tonnes per year) of each member
 Carbon footprint (% of total ecological
Carbon footprint (% of total ecological
footprint)
70%
60%
50%
footprint)

40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
SHARMI SAHA MARIA ISLAM OPSORA JAHAN DIPTA BANIK PRIYANKA
ADITI SARKAR
Name of the members

Figure (1.9) – Graph representing the comparison between the results of carbon footprints (in term of %
of total ecological footprints) of each member

4. Suggestions to reduce the ecological footprints without compromising the usual

lifestyle: