Environmental Land Use and the Ecological Footprint of Higher Learning

The lifestyles of individuals, groups, or nations can be measured by utilizing an accounting tool known as ecological footprint. Ecological footprint refers to the productive land needed to support a given population. As discussed by Wackernagel and Rees (1996), “The ecological footprint concept is simple, yet potentially comprehensive: it accounts for the flows of energy and matter to and from any defined economy and converts these into the corresponding land/water are required from nature to support these flows” (p. 3). A concept known as “overshoot” occurs if demands by humans exceed the supply of a given biologically productive area (Turner et al., 2006). Thus, a larger ecological footprint indicates a less sustainable society.