If you haven’t come across the Global Footprint Network yet, check them out. Based in Oakland, CA, they produce fantastic data on the Ecological Footprint (EF) of nations around the world. EF is measured in units known as “global hectares” – an omnibus measure that includes resource use, waste and emissions.
The researchers at the Global Footprint Network calculate that our planet presently has enough biocapacity for each of us to consume about 1.8 global hectares per year. Anything over this means a degree of resource consumption that the Earth cannot replenish, or waste that it cannot absorb, and contributes to ecological breakdown.