Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Find out How Many Earths It Would Take

I just played American Public Media's "Consumer Consequences" online game, which I heard mentioned on the show Marketplace. You answer questions about your lifestyle, energy use, eating habits, living space, etc., and the game keeps a running total of how many earths we'd need to sustain us if everyone lived as you do. Then you can compare your score (the total and in the various categories) to others who have played -- those from a particular state, or born in a particular year, who have a particular political affiliation, etc., as well as a few specific radio hosts.

My score was 3.6 earths. I do well in low garbage production, high rate of recycling, and low consumer consumption, but not so well as I'd like in how much I drive and a few other areas. The fact that I'm not a vegetarian (though I eat little meat) and I consume dairy products increases my footprint, while the fact that I try to choose predominantly local or organic foods counteracts that to some extent. I scored quite similarly to those born the same year I was. I achieved a noticeably lower score than Krista Tippett (host of "Speaking of Faith"), however!


Visual by www.PDImages.com

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