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As a resident of North America, I am presumably part of the consumerism problem; I thought it wise to confirm this by attempting to calculate my own ecological footprint. Various tools exist online that allow for this calculation, and although well referenced, the algorithm used to generate the results is not apparent. The entire process is also subject to the recall biases of the individual utilizing the calculator. I subsequently decided to utilize the references and attempt to generate my own estimate of my ecological footprint. My methodology is as follows.
I photographed all of my purchases for a three month period beginning June 1, 2011 and ending August 31, 2011; the images and purchase information are stored online at whereitallwent.com. I then attempted to calculate the transport miles involved, the amount of water used, and the real purchase price of the items if I had been forced to pay for the transport and water involved.
Unless a product is followed through every production step from beginning to end, a finite calculation of the resources used is impossible. To simplify my calculations, I concentrated my efforts on finished products only. For example, a chocolate croissant from Starbuck’s was awarded 30 truck transportation miles and a production water value of 40 liters. Although the primary ingredients are wheat that could have come from almost anywhere on the planet and chocolate from Central America, the actual croissant probably traveled from a distribution center somewhere in Los Angeles County to the retail outlet where I ultimately purchased it; waterfootprint.org assigns a single serving of wheat bread a virtual water value of 40 liters from field to finished product.
Items that originated in Pacific Rim countries were presumed to have traveled by container ship to the United States, and to have arrived at the collocated ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, and from there to have traveled 30 miles by truck to the retail source where purchased. Items that originated in Canada or Mexico are presumed to have travelled by truck. Items from Europe are presumed to have traveled by container ship to the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, and then across the United States by truck.
The transportation methods involved all require the use of diesel fuel. Information on the exact fuel economy of cargo ship transport is difficult to come by, but was assigned a value of 120 gallons per mile. The United States tractor trailer fleet averages approximately 5 miles per gallon. Fuel costs were set at US$4.29 per gallon; the retail price at my neighborhood Exxon Mobil station on September 16, 2011.
As a resident of the city of Los Angeles, it is unlikely that any of the food I purchased was grown locally. However, Los Angeles is located between two heavily agricultural regions to the north and south and all fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy are presumed to be of California origin unless proven otherwise. California’s diary industry is concentrated in the Central Valley, north of Los Angeles. Dairy products, fruit, poultry, and eggs were assigned an origin of Merced, CA, located 273 miles from Los Angeles.
Beef and vegetables were assigned an origin in Brawley, CA, which is located 202 miles southeast of Los Angeles in the Imperial Valley.
Water costs were calculated using the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Tier II rate. Tier II rates go into effect during water shortage years when a household exceeds its allotment of lower priced Tier I water. The Tier II water rate used was $5.48 per hundred cubic feet, or 748 gallons.
As a point of comparison, I utilized several of the online ecological footprint calculators that were available. According to Footprintnetwork.org, it would take 4.6 planet Earth to support the human race if everyone lived the same lifestyle as me. Carbonfootprint.com gives me 11.12 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, which is half that of the average American but still more than five times the amount necessary to limit climate change. The National Geographic water footprint calculator (environment.nationalgeographic.com) calculates my freshwater footprint at 1144 gallons per day, which is roughly half the United States average but equivalent to the global average. Multiple other calculators can be searched for and accessed, but they are all essentially in agreement upon the fact that my lifestyle utilizes natural resources at a rate that has negative consequences for the environment and is not sustainable.
My calculated consumption is summarized in the tables below:
Food Purchases, June-August 2011
| Transport | Transport | Production | Water | Purchase | Real | |
| Miles | Costs | Water(L) | Cost | Price | Cost | |
| June | 164129 | $49,304,017 | 71118 | $140.74 | $512.02 | $49,305,271 |
| July | 105148 | $19,626,043 | 87531 | $174.33 | $394.87 | $19,632,683 |
| August | 151887 | $43,743,243 | 56902 | $112.67 | $385.74 | $43,373,741 |
| Totals | 421164 | $112,673,303 | 215551 | $427.74 | $1,292.63 | $112,311,695 |
Clothing Purchases, June- August 2011
| Transport | Transport | Production | Water | Purchase | Real | |
| Miles | Costs | Water(L) | Cost | Price | Cost | |
| June | 131932 | $48,896,783 | 72046 | $142.65 | $514.28 | $67,395,030 |
| July | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| August | 51408 | $20,466,108 | 30640 | $60.66 | $425.51 | $20,466,587 |
| Totals | 183340 | $69,362,891 | 102686 | $203.31 | $939.51 | $87,861,617 |
Miscellaneous Purchases, June-August 2011
| Transport | Transport | Production | Water | Purchase | Real | |
| Miles | Costs | Water (L) | Cost | Price | Cost | |
| June | 76010 | $8,506,753 | 97815 | $194.20 | $552.87 | $8,057,500 |
| July | 30096 | $19,856,253 | 49446 | $97.55 | $116.59 | $19,856,467 |
| August | 129151 | $50,225,592 | 40991 | $123.75 | $581.65 | $50,226,297 |
| Totals | 241257 | $78,588,598 | 188251 | $415.50 | $1,251.11 | $78,140,264 |
