Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Paperback
$10.99

List Price: $19.99 Details

Save: $9.00 (45%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Monday, February 19 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery Wednesday, February 14. Order within 5 hrs 47 mins

Select delivery location

Only 13 left in stock - order soon.

$$10.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Tuesday, February 20 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery Wednesday, February 14. Order within 5 hrs 47 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Zoom Books Company

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Mathis Wackernagel

Follow

Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (New Catalyst Bioregional Series) (Paperback) Paperback – January 1, 1996

by Williams E. Rees (Author), Mathis Wackernagel (Author), Phil Testemale (Author)

4.8 31 ratings

See all formats and editions

Save 50% on 1 when you buy 2 Shop items

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$10.99","priceAmount":10.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"BqiqiwYEza6CSNwglFSBEAf%2BYm1ro7HCSecgOsNCvcroL0IYb48JCW6Hwi1RrqLvWnaX3gDuWH2HMFP1a3wwvFGWEdSrmbDVnQ9fhQaLNh1sxI%2BEErQZ4ODrOJsN5YNE2124b%2FQmijk%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$5.91","priceAmount":5.91,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"5","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"91","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"BqiqiwYEza6CSNwglFSBEAf%2BYm1ro7HCFoXqDIgZt4olRg1QphlkiJhtg3CmCr4YMrG4hvkrILcmAfhjpEy8czsXGVYEyRezrjnwUyaRS66RLiUiFPVyXsSICUP9GPD2nGLAVY3h4E85sygxHUv9DpTCwJXb%2BKAaVMeR%2BEVTdZP%2BkWEyrYtBEWMxhDFLUOWP","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Our Ecological Footprint presents an internationally-acclaimed tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our households, communities, regions and nations, converting the seemingly complex concepts of carrying capacity, resource-use, waste-disposal and the like into a graphic form that everyone can grasp and use. An excellent handbook for community activists, planners, teachers, students and policy makers.

Review

Our Ecological Footprint presents an internationally-acclaimed tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our households, communities, regions and nations, converting the seemingly complex concepts of carrying capacity, resource-use, waste-disposal and the like into a graphic form that everyone can grasp and use. An excellent handbook for community activists, planners, teachers, students and policy makers.

About the Author

Mathis Wackernagel is co-creator of the Ecological Footprint and president of Global Footprint Network. Recipient of numerous awards, he has lectured at more than a hundred universities and is author or contributor to over one hundred peer-reviewed papers, articles, reports, and books including the bestselling Our Ecological Footprint. He lives in Oakland, California.

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

New Catalyst Books
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

086571312X
ISBN-13

978-0865713123
See all details

Frequently bought together

Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (New Catalyst Bioregional Series) (Paperback)

$10.99

Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 19

Only 13 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget

$11.39

Get it as soon as Friday, Feb 16

Only 8 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

One of these items ships sooner than the other.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Mathis Wackernagel
43
Paperback
30 offers from $4.69

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Catalyst Books; 9445th edition (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 086571312X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0865713123
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,182,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #470 in Sustainable Business Development
- #2,769 in Environmental Science (Books)
- #2,920 in Environmentalism

Customer Reviews:
4.8 31 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Mathis Wackernagel

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Mathis Wackernagel is president of the Global Footprint Network and co-creator of the Ecological Footprint. He has worked on sustainability issues for government agencies, NGOs and businesses on all continents.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

31 global ratings

3 star

0%

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Howzat

Our Ecological Footprint has some great ideas.

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2013

Verified Purchase

A very interesting book in that it provides metrics for the human ecological footprint. The footprint is the earth's carrying capacity turned upside down, so to speak. The idea is to balance our global footprint with the earth's total carrying capacity for humans and allow sufficient carrying capacity for other species, as well.

The first two parts are fairly easy to understand. The graphics throughout are very helpful. Part 3 gets more technical about how to actually use the metrics, and may require some rereading and study. I did for me, and I think I am reasonably scientifically literate. It is worth the read.

Helpful

G. Bisaillon

The book that started the ball rolling

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2007

Verified Purchase

Back when Rees and Wackernagel wrote Our Ecological Footprint, no one was looking at the problem in that way.

Now that everyone has jumped on the "our-planet-is-finite" bandwagon, we need to be reminded that this is where it started.

Much research has been done since it came out, and some of the figures will no doubt be out of date, but it still belongs in every environmentally conscious person's collection. Buy it while you can!

G. Bisaillon

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Running Out of Room: Economists' Viewpoint

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2004

This book is about the environmental costs that humans have on our planet, especially those humans living in developed countries. The authors contend that we are using up the resources of the planet at an astounding rate, such that little will be left for generations of the future. In other words, our present lifestyle is unsustainable. The authors argue that a measure of sustainability can be calculated by adding up the resources used by a group of people, and translating this to area on the earth, which yields roughly the total amount of land needed by the group to live sustainably, or their "ecological footprint". They point out that people in developed countries tend to have much larger ecological footprints than those in developing countries, but even amongst developed countries, there are large differences, and that Americans have huge ecological footprints compared to people from most other countries. In fact, in order for everyone on Earth to live as Americans do, it would require several additional planets to provide the resources and disposal space for waste.

The beginning chapters of the book define sustainability and the concept of ecological footprint. They also argue that our present practices are not sustainable. In the third chapter, we find the general idea of how an ecological footprint can be calculated, and the types of resources that need to be accounted for. The authors also run through a few examples of how footprints can be calculated on a nation by nation basis. They don't claim to have developed a conclusive method for calculating ecological footprints, especially on an individual basis, though they invite interested readers to do so on their own (there are numerous suggestions for how to do so on the Web). The last part of the book suggests some possible strategies for creating a more sustainable world. Endnotes citing sources appear following each chapter. There is a glossary, but no index. The book includes a number of black-and-white illustrations and cartoons.

The authors argue that "The strength of the Ecological Footprint analysis is its ability to communicate simply and graphically the general nature and magnitude of the biophysical `connectedness' between humankind and the ecosphere." They go on to comment "Ecological Footprint analysis can estimate the balance of trade in load-bearing capacity as embodied in the energy and material flows associated with trade goods and biogeochemical cycles." These ideas are interesting and hefty- -the text is somewhat theoretical and aimed towards those who are fascinated with macroeconomics. The style of writing is not for everyone, but there are some very valid points to mull over. For example, in a box discussing efficiency gains and sustainability, the authors point out that in the past, efficiency gains have led to more consumption rather than a decrease in resource usage, so we can't rely on efficiency gains as a solution to over-consumption.

23 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tom Ogalo

GOOD WORK ON ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

I am an environmental practitioner and I am researching on ecological footprint in my local region in Kenya. The best way is to start by reading the works of the pioneers of the subject. I love the book.

Helpful

Nimal

A small pioneering work. Everyone interested in environental matters must read this.

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book is especially important for readers interested in ecology, environmental science, geography and demography.

A very important piece of published work that deserves more readership attention.

Helpful

Guy Denutte

The unsustainability of capitalism illustrated with sharp numbers

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2009

The GNP is a downright stupid way to measure the economic activity of a society, since the GNP really measures the destruction of nature. A tree is worth 0 USD until it is cut and sold as wood. A whale is worth 0 USD until it is caught and cut to pieces. What capitalism leaves behind is a total depletion of natural resources, and this is what we then call "progress" or "welfare". The authors lead us back to the basics, when they state : "We do not have a body, we are a body; we are not surrounded by an "environment"; we are an intimate part of the ecosphere." Therefore, they introduce an alternative indicator to the GNP, the Ecological Footprint (EF), which is certainly a much more intelligent way of measuring what finally really supports humankind. The EF "is estimated by calculating how much land and water area is required on a continuous basis to produce all the goods consumed, and to assimilate all wastes generated, by that population."

This is probably the greatest breakthrough in economic thought of the 20th century (however, it has not been rewarded with a Nobel prize, since those are only given to economists following mainstream capitalist dogma's, even if mainstream thinking means heading for doom, and heading fast).

The authors call our attention to the fact that the EF has been changing throughout human history, with an exponential increase in the 20th century. In 1900 the US had an EF of about 1 ha/cap. This rose to about 2 ha/cap around 1950. In 1995 the US reached 5.1 ha/cap, showing a deficit of 80 % of its productive land surface. Japan has even a bigger deficit, requiring 8 times more than its net productive land surface to sustain its current production and consumption level. In this way, the EF also measures how "developed" countries depend on the "Third World" to sustain their production and consumption.

The last 15 years we entered a new phase in capitalist development, with China and India trying to catch up with the western way of life. The authors warn us : "If everybody lived like today's North Americans, it would take at least two additional planet Earths to produce the resources, absorb the wastes, and otherwise maintain life-support. Unfortunately, good planets are hard to find..." The ecological carrying-capacity of spaceship Earth is limited. "Beyond a certain point, the material growth of the world economy can be purchased only at the expense of depleting natural capital and undermining the life-support services upon which we all depend." What capitalism believes in, money, is - in the end - totally worthless. You can't eat dollars, euros nor yens. The only real assets we have, as humankind, are oceans full of life, uncut tropical forests acting as the lungs of the planet, and fertile agricultural land. If we continue to fish beyond sustainability, if we continue cutting tropical forests, if we continue farming producing erosion, and above all, if we continue to believe that we really produce value in this way (in the form of money), we will end up totally broke.

We should stop pretending to be homo sapiens and behave like fools ! We should begin acting in a wise way ! The solutions are really simple. It means transforming our consumption in a sustainable way, at all levels. A lot can be done at a personal level. It means producing your own electricity with solar panels. It means reducing your dependence on fossil fuels by transforming your home in a passive solar house. It means driving an electric car (Fiat will launch the Phylla with solar panels incorporated in the vehicle in 2010). It means buying organics, so that you not only help to sustain pesticide-free agriculture, fertilized with nutrient-rich compost, but even improve your health.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Cliente de Amazon

Buena compra

Reviewed in Mexico on April 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

El precio y la entrega fueron muy buenos, recibí el paquete en el tiempo justo y en perfectas condiciones.
En cuanto al contenido, era justamente lo que estaba buscando para un trabajo académico, creo que va enfocado más a un público que busque información muy concreta al respecto y no un libro para entretenerse.

Translate review to English

Marc

Buena compra

Reviewed in Spain on August 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

Todo correcto, precio y envio. Recomendable si se buscan referencias de titulos científicos. El único pero que he encontrado es que el libro vení enganchado en un carton y se ha quedado una parte sucia.

Translate review to English

★sabai★

持続可能性のための指標づくり

Reviewed in Japan on June 26, 2005

Verified Purchase

この書籍は、すでに日本語訳も出ています。
この本で紹介されているエコロジカル・フットプリント分析は
日本の国土交通省でも活用されているみたいです。
もともとは、カナダのブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学の
ウィリアム教授とワケナゲル博士が代表者で、WWFでも活用され
ているもので、持続可能性についての興味深い指標作りを紹介
しています。
日本にもNPOエコロジカル・フットプリント・ジャパンという
組織があるみたいです。

2 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

See more reviews

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $10.99$10.99 FREE delivery: Monday, Feb 19 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon. Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used: $5.91

Follow the author

Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (New Catalyst Bioregional Series) (Paperback) Paperback – January 1, 1996

Purchase options and add-ons

Review

About the Author

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Mathis Wackernagel

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$10.99

FREE delivery: Monday, Feb 19 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.

Ships from: Amazon.com

Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used:

$5.91