How can the ecological footprint be calculated?

The ecological footprint of a person can be calculated by
analyzing how much of the Earth's resources does a person's lifestyle use. This includes
numerous factors, some of which are:

• The amount
  of land that is required to produce food. And how much water, pesticide, fertilizer and
  energy are consumed during the production of
  food.

• The amount of fuel that is
  used for transportation.

• How much
  energy is consumed for heating and
  cooling.

• How much electricity is
  consumed and on an average what is the carbon dioxide emission associated with
  it.

• How much metal and other
  inorganic substances like plastics, glass, paper etc. are consumed by the person and how
  they are disposed once they have been
  consumed.

Once the details for the above are
available, it is possible to calculate an approximate ecological
footprint.

There are several methods available to do the
same though none of them can provide an exact figure. This is due to the fact that the
ecological footprint is dependent on where the person lives and also on how accurate an
estimate of the actual consumption can be made from the information
collected.

Several websites use information from a database
and your replies to various questions to give a rough estimate of your ecological
footprint. A few examples of these are provided below.