Digital lifestyle makes us so busy that we are unaware about its impact on the environment. Over the past decade, there has been a severe change in the lifestyle, the way of operation of business houses and also in government policies. Huge deforestation, unchecked emission of greenhouse gases, extensive toxic emissions from industries and automobiles, indiscriminate usage of chemical and fertilizers in the agricultural sector, and extensive usage of non-biodegradable polythene bags on a daily basis, etc., are exposing the life of modern man to major health hazards. Unless we adopt sustainability as a strategy for safe living, human existence on earth will become a matter of challenge in the future. A layman may not be conscious about these facts but statistics shows very awesome figures such as the Ecological Footprint (EF) has exceeded the earth's biocapacity - as of 2003 by about 25%.It means the earth's regenerative capacity will not support life in near future if the unsustainable consumption pattern continues at the present rate. It means the rate at which people are generating waste is faster than the rate nature can turn these wastes back into resources. This growing pressure on ecosystems creates tremendous threat not only to biodiversity but also to the human well-being.
In this context, EF is a most popular indictor to identify and measure consumption pressure not only at an individual level and for corporate entities but also for the whole country. |