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Ecological Footprint is the sustainability theme of the month for April

We are rapidly depleting the Earth's resources, but together we can reverse the trend and regenerate the planet. In April, we focus on the ecological footprint and explore what we can do to reduce it at an individual, community, university or even corporate level.
Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem

2050: The Regenerative Future Manifesto  

The world has moved beyond sustainability – humanity is not only preserving but also restoring our planet’s ecosystem. The concept of ecological footprint has changed: it is not about minimising damage, but about ensuring that all our actions have a positive impact on ecosystems.  

Cities have become living ecosystems. Vertical forests and biodiverse rooftops clean the air, while soil composting systems produce nutrient-rich soil. Energy is provided by solar, wind and algae farms, so human activity produces as much clean energy as it uses. Green corridors run alongside roads, where autonomous, zero-emission transport systems operate.  

The regenerative economy is based on a circular approach: all products are recyclable, biodegradable or locally produced. Food production is decentralised, cities are self-sufficient and self-governing, and former monoculture land has been returned to nature. Water is purified through natural filtration systems, seas are regenerated and coral reefs are thriving again.  

Education focuses on regeneration: everyone learns how to bring human activity into harmony with nature. The goal of companies is no longer to make a profit for themselves, but to serve the real needs of humanity as efficiently as possible. The ecological footprint is no longer a burden, but a gift – humanity’s existence is now about enriching the planet.”  

 

The ecological footprint is not just about carbon   

Ecological footprint is an indicator that measures how much natural resources individuals, communities or countries use to sustain their way of life. It includes the land and water needed for food production, energy consumption, transport and other activities, as well as the capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and other waste generated.  

The ecological footprint quantifies the impact of human activities on the environment and compares it with the Earth’s biological capacity, i.e. the area that can renew the resources used and absorb the waste produced. The trend is, however, rather worrying while the ecological footprint is steadily increasing, biological capacity per capita is decreasing due to population growth and to the exploitation and destruction of ecosystems, so the gap is widening.  

 

Source: footprintnetwork.org  

“Consuming more than biocapacity means that the planet’s resources and wildlife cannot regenerate at the rate we use them. It means we are depleting finite supplies, as if we can only charge our phone battery 10% every night but use 15% during the day. Obviously, after a few days, the battery would be completely drained,” a WWF article explains.  

 

Earth Overshoot Day is the date each year when humanity exhausts the natural resources available for the year. This day is pushed earlier each year, signalling that we are depleting our planet’s resources at an ever-faster rate. For example, in 2009 it was 18 August, but in 2024 it will be 1 August.  

This year, Overshoot Day in Hungary falls on 2 June. If everyone could live like us, the Earth’s annual reserves would be depleted on this day. In other words, we would need 2.39 Earths to cover our needs from the natural resources.   

The only way to change this is by working together, starting with individual action and then scaling up to community level. When calculating our footprint and figuring out what to do, it is important to understand how our footprint is structured and what weighs most heavily in it. This is where we can make the biggest difference. It’s also important to make commitments that are realistic and genuinely beyond our basic needs. For example, reducing the number of flights we take or making small changes to our eating habits (e.g. using plant-based milk instead of cow’s milk in your coffee or putting hummus in your sandwich instead of meat-based cold cuts) is a much more achievable goal than, say, upgrading the energy efficiency of your home.  

In the footprint you get after the calculation, it is also worth looking at the life circumstances that you cannot change on your own, but only with the cooperation of others. This could be the energy performance of a rented apartment or the functioning of a family household, or even the footprint of a college if you work together as a community.  

Sustainability challenges for the month  

Participate in events:  

  • 22 April 2025 will be Earth Day again this year, with the slogan ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ and the theme of sustainable energy. A wide range of activities are also being organised around the day by NGOs working on the theme. Find an Earth Day event in your area and get involved!  

Individual Actions:  

  • Based on the calculator, choose the area with the largest contribution to your ecological footprint! Identify how you could most effectively reduce your footprint in this area and make a commitment to yourself to keep to it for a week or a month (or a year for less frequent events such as flying).  

  • When shopping, choose any product that looks like a green one at first glance! Look online for all the sustainability certificates, logos and ingredients and see what they mean. Do you think the product is as sustainable as it first appeared? If not, is there any alternative?  

Community actions:  

  • Once you have calculated your own footprint, talk to a friend, relative or acquaintance about it. They can even calculate their footprint and compare how you can learn from each other about footprint reduction exercises!  

  • Find at least three community opportunities or exercises that can reduce your individual footprint! For example, think about using public transport or carpooling instead of a car or plane, having a dinner with your significant other in a vegan restaurant, buying seasonal produce from a local farmer or cooking energy-efficient meals together in your dormitory. How easy or difficult is it to incorporate these into your daily life?  

  • Have a completely offline and shopping-free afternoon with a group of friends, spent together without buying anything and disconnecting from social media! Think about what you really need for quality time together, and what you could leave out in the future that doesn’t contribute to this! Do you think this would significantly reduce your ecological footprint?  

Reflection:  

  • At the end of the month, use the calculator to recalculate your footprint! Were there any areas where awareness raising has already helped you to reduce? What do you think has brought positive returns and added value to your life, and what has caused more frustration? Which habit would you keep for the longer term?  

 

Author: Máté Kovács  

 

The challenges include ideas from students of the Business and Management program’s Sustainability Management specialization. In writing this article, we used the ChatGPT artificial-intelligence platform as a source of data and inspiration.   

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