Comments on: How Many Earths Would it Take to Sustain You?

By: winter

winter — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:11:16 +0000

3.3 for me. It’s my love for meat that drove the number higher.

By: Flexo

Flexo — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:49:15 +0000

Ed: I think you need to complete the first round of the servey (not just one question) in order to get “meaningful” results… but yes, this is an exercise meant to get people to think about their consumption, so I guess that makes it leftist propaganda. The number of Earths a world of yous would require is irrelevant; the discussion about it is what’s important.

By: ed

ed — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:00:43 +0000

That is B.S. leftist propaganda.
The first question is “how many people live in your house?” I have three kids so I put 5 for my wife and I. It then tells me that if everyone had three kids, then we’d need 0.6 earths. Nonsense!

By: Penny Nickel

Penny Nickel — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:49:38 +0000

I came in at 2.6, although I think that’s low because I had trouble entering my correct number for plane flights. Like a lot of you, that was mostly because of food.

Zack, I think there are two valuable parts of a game like this. One is to get a look at what parts of our own lifestyles are the most resource-intensive; it helps highlight for each of us where the best places to reduce our impact are, such as eating more local foods or looking to alternatives to commuting.

The other is to think about how much the American/Western/First World lifestyle drains resources– and how much we depend on people in poorer countries balancing us out– and what that means for how we define success and “the good life” in general. Either we count on keeping them poor, or we try to work towards figuring out a better kind of development for all of us.

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:03:42 +0000

I have a proposal. We all should stop eating to save the planet. :-D

By: Flexo

Flexo — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:15:33 +0000

Zack: “Everyone” is the 6.6 billion residents of the planet, according to the game. Helpful? Well, I think it’s just an interesting game that makes you think about consumption. There are some facts interspersed with the game. Maybe it will inspire someone to make small changes in his or her behavior or maybe it will build awareness of sustainability issues.

It’s just a game… anything is better than nothing. I don’t think it’s designed to induce a feeling of guilt, just awareness.

By: Zack

Zack — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:54:57 +0000

I was at about four earths, but I find these kinds of exercises frustrating, vague, and unhelpful. Who’s “everyone”? Are we saying that if every man, woman, and child on earth had my commute, that usage of gasoline would go up? How is this helpful, other than in creating a vague sense of guilt?

By: plonkee

plonkee — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:08:38 +0000

I’m also on 3.5 caused by food. I was hoping that my lack of a car would help me a bit more than it does, but I don’t think my non-recycling is that great either.

By: paidtwice

paidtwice — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:30:37 +0000

2.9 earths. the food really did me in. I am a vegetarian but I don’t eat a whole lot of local produce, although I do eat some.

Ah well. I was hoping for closer to 1 :)

By: Bobby

Bobby — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:12:33 +0000

3.0 Earths here. Get helped by the few miles I have to commute and the good gas mileage. Also, recycle quite a bit and don’t drink coffee, wine or beer. Like others, the food is where I really took a hit.

By: t

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:40:28 +0000

Whoo – I’m at 2.7! But, I should be lower, considering we have three adults living in a two bedroom apartment. It’s the food that gets us. Sigh. That and plane travel….

By: Barb

Barb — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:37:44 +0000

I’m at 4.4; it’s the food that really does me in. Taking public transportation to and from work and living in a small apartment help, but when I drive (which isn’t infrequently), I drive alone. At least it’s a Prius.

By: SMB

SMB — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:32:56 +0000

4.2 earths for me! I scored the highest (or worst, however you want to look at it) on food, which surprised me as I’m very nearly vegetarian. However, I do like my bread, cheese and coffee…

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:16:05 +0000

5.7 here, and I too rack up the score on food and transportation. I do a bit of flying as well, so I’m sure that doesn’t help.

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:30:15 +0000

Thanks for sharing the site. I am at 5.4. I think my daily commute, trips to visit my sister, and coffer/beer that killed me.

By: dong

dong — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:40:17 +0000

I’m at 3.5 Earths. I really rack the earths on my eating habits. Where I do well is by living in the city in small apartment, and commuting by public transportation to work. I barely drive…