Human Footprint Research Paper
Kali Fisher
Biology I
May 24, 2012
Page 1
Human Footprint Essay
The impact of the earth is influenced 83% by humans and human consumption. In the first 2 ½ years of a humans life the parents use 3,796 diapers. These diapers take 1,898 gallons of crude oil, 715 lbs. of plastic, and 4 ½ trees to manufacture. It takes diapers 500 years to biodegrade. If parents would use cloth diapers they would take 22,455 gallons of water to wash them.
Humans also use tons of animal products. We consume 968 pints of milk in one year. 2 ½ tons of beef, 1,223 chickens and 176 billion eggs are consumed in a year. 266,000,000 turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving. We consume 9,917 lbs. worth of potatoes, 55 loaves in a year, 129 hamburger buns, 14,518 candy bars, 1,056 lbs. of sugar, 5,067 bananas, and 700,000 gallons of water. …show more content…
Humans also use 156 tooth brushes, 198 bottles of shampoo, and take 28433 showers in a lifetime.
The average person watches 12 ½ years of TV and will read only 6 books a year. A book is published every thirty seconds. 500,000 trees are use a day to make a newspaper. 1,000,000 magazines are bought in a day. 1.9 bullion cards are sent around the holiday season. 20,000 Christmas trees are cut down every year. 900 Christmas gifts will be given to us in our life time. In America 30% of the cars owned in the world are on our roads. We will own up to 12 cars in our lifetime. 31,350 gallons of gas will be used to power those cars. Air planes take off every 2 seconds and 2,685 planes will take off from Atlanta every day. 1,540 tons of carbons are burned. 156,000,000 people use a cell phone. 1.2 billion Cell phones are in use right now in the
world.
Page 2
125,000,000 cell phones are thrown away each year. 2 acres of open land get bulldozed down to make room for future development every minute. 550 animals are endangered because of future development. Humans consume 32,320 pills in a lifetime. The average life now is 72 years and 9 months and we will know 1,700 people in our lifetime. With the growing amount of new medications and healthier adults people live longer which also means more consumption. Some of the things that we can do as humans to help with the human footprint would be to use less gas by moving closer to work, riding a bike, and walking more often. Using public transportation or carpooling can also save gas and smog. We could also use less paper and trees by paying bills on line instead of getting paper billing. Reading on a tablet instead of making paper books also can save trees which will cause more oxygen for our planet. Humans that wanted to save water could use filtered pitchers instead of buying water bottles which bottles stay in our landfills forever. Timing showers and turning off water while you are brushing your teeth can save gallons of water a day. Only flushing every other time you go to the bathroom, planting low watering plants in your yard and creating desert landscaping is also a water saving idea. Solar power is smart and cost effective and saves a lot of energy, buying smart cars that are hybrid is something that can save a lot of money on gas. If every person did something every day to save energy, gas, water, food and trees we would have a much nicer earth to leave to our next generation. Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.
Biology I
May 24, 2012
Page 1
Human Footprint Essay
The impact of the earth is influenced 83% by humans and human consumption. In the first 2 ½ years of a humans life the parents use 3,796 diapers. These diapers take 1,898 gallons of crude oil, 715 lbs. of plastic, and 4 ½ trees to manufacture. It takes diapers 500 years to biodegrade. If parents would use cloth diapers they would take 22,455 gallons of water to wash them.
Humans also use tons of animal products. We consume 968 pints of milk in one year. 2 ½ tons of beef, 1,223 chickens and 176 billion eggs are consumed in a year. 266,000,000 turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving. We consume 9,917 lbs. worth of potatoes, 55 loaves in a year, 129 hamburger buns, 14,518 candy bars, 1,056 lbs. of sugar, 5,067 bananas, and 700,000 gallons of water. …show more content…
Humans also use 156 tooth brushes, 198 bottles of shampoo, and take 28433 showers in a lifetime.
The average person watches 12 ½ years of TV and will read only 6 books a year. A book is published every thirty seconds. 500,000 trees are use a day to make a newspaper. 1,000,000 magazines are bought in a day. 1.9 bullion cards are sent around the holiday season. 20,000 Christmas trees are cut down every year. 900 Christmas gifts will be given to us in our life time. In America 30% of the cars owned in the world are on our roads. We will own up to 12 cars in our lifetime. 31,350 gallons of gas will be used to power those cars. Air planes take off every 2 seconds and 2,685 planes will take off from Atlanta every day. 1,540 tons of carbons are burned. 156,000,000 people use a cell phone. 1.2 billion Cell phones are in use right now in the
world.
Page 2
125,000,000 cell phones are thrown away each year. 2 acres of open land get bulldozed down to make room for future development every minute. 550 animals are endangered because of future development. Humans consume 32,320 pills in a lifetime. The average life now is 72 years and 9 months and we will know 1,700 people in our lifetime. With the growing amount of new medications and healthier adults people live longer which also means more consumption. Some of the things that we can do as humans to help with the human footprint would be to use less gas by moving closer to work, riding a bike, and walking more often. Using public transportation or carpooling can also save gas and smog. We could also use less paper and trees by paying bills on line instead of getting paper billing. Reading on a tablet instead of making paper books also can save trees which will cause more oxygen for our planet. Humans that wanted to save water could use filtered pitchers instead of buying water bottles which bottles stay in our landfills forever. Timing showers and turning off water while you are brushing your teeth can save gallons of water a day. Only flushing every other time you go to the bathroom, planting low watering plants in your yard and creating desert landscaping is also a water saving idea. Solar power is smart and cost effective and saves a lot of energy, buying smart cars that are hybrid is something that can save a lot of money on gas. If every person did something every day to save energy, gas, water, food and trees we would have a much nicer earth to leave to our next generation. Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.