Re-envisioning the Ecological Footprint The “ecological footprint” has come to be a widely used term in the sustainability community. Mathis Wackernagel developed the concept as a measure of the demands made by human societies on the ecosystem—a larger footprint represents greater demands and therefore more strain on the Earth’s capacity to sustain the living systems upon which we all depend (and by “all” it is meant not just all humans but all our companions in the wondrous process of life). As such, the term in common usage carries something of a negative connotation. People think of their ecological footprint as a source of guilt, a sort of environmental original sin…
