oh, wah!! we leave a "footprint"..... so what! i long for the day that ALL of the idiotic whacko enviromental fanatics who hate the human race disappear!

Is it fair to suggest that Obama will be the best environmental candidate because he has the greatest chance to gain the congressional support to pass the tough environmental laws we need to avert disaster?
www.envirobama.com

Poor "John Doe "....Wah, wah...
Wonder if he happened to notice the AP story this weekend about the pharmacutical (sp) drugs found in our drinking water...
We do leave footprints, and they are not pretty.
I'm not an enviromental fanatic by any means, but I am at least aware of the damage that the human race is inflicting on itself!

John Doe, silly little John Doe... The moment a smart person sees that you've posted something with a fake name, we know.

It's gonna be okay. Nobody is going to hurt you.

You're not a bad person. It wasn't your fault, you were just a kid. Your parents just weren't ready.

Are we getting anywhere?

On a more serious note: Nature's destructive power is something we're familiar with. Nature finds a way to fix the problems we cause. That doesn't mean we should just do whatever we want. Some people go through life without any idea of what accountability is. Nature will deal with them as well.

It's just sad that they're not interested in evolving beyond thumbs.

I think you guys need to realise that the film isn't about the Negative effects of humans on the earth. It looks at everything like, how many tears we cry, how many oranges we eat, how many books we read.
It's is a footprint, good or bad. You should do the research before you talk about something you know nothing of. It's a pretty cool film actually. They did it in the uk before here. Google it, channel 4.
Losers.

Where can I find the list of musics in this show?

Before I put in my two cents, you CAN end a sentence with a preposition. It is accepted grammar when arranging the sentence differently would become less clear or awkward.

If you read Jared Diamond's "Collapse" you would be able to directly tie in what this video's information and how important it is.

From the civilizations of the Mayans, the Hopi and today-- societies have risen and fallen by their ability to sustain the population. When we destroy and environment or significantly alter it to make it unable to yield enough food, water and resources the people suffer.

The planet Earth will live for billions of years with or without people. It will heal or adapt to what we have done to it. Life will go on-- but perhaps not human life.

Amazingly, unlike the Mayans, we have the knowledge to figure out how to adapt and manage our natural resources to keep this planet sustainable for humans. We are just unwilling to do so.

Stop making convenient disposable water bottles, and force us to reuse personal containers would eliminate nearly ten percent of our plastic waste.

Stop selling diapers that will have a longer life span than most uranium ores.

Put cooling and heating limiters on homes to limit power usage.

Subsidize personal solar and wind power instead of corn ethanol, which is highly-inefficient when you consider the overall costs on an economy and environment.

Seriously push to reduce the bovine population and consumption, which is the cause for most deforestation and greenhouse methane emmission.(I love steak, but I make it an occasional treat rather than a Big Mac everyday).

Finally-- look at real carbon footprinting. It takes less energy to get wine shipped from Europe to Pittsburgh, than it does trucked from Napa Valley, California, to Pittsburgh. It is cheaper to grow and ship tomatoes from Mexico than it normally is to buy it locally.

We need to work smarter-- not harder!!

I am very concerned about the footprint that we leave and I do my best to reduce and reuse. However, there is so much time spent talking about what "we" can do and ignoring the fact that big business is an integral part of the garbage in the world. It is truly amazing how much packing one item can be wrapped in. Businesses need to make a concerted effort to reduce. It enrages me that everytime you turn on the television there is a commercial advertising another disposable item being added to the world for our convenience. Are we so busy to use a rag for dusting instead of the swiffer things. How hard is it to put vegetables in a covered container instead of the new ziploc steam bags? It's just crazy, I mean we might actually burn more calories if we didn't have so many "convenient" items to use to get our lives in order. Come on just grab a real mop and bucket to do the floor people.

While you're trying to lower the impact of your individual footprints on the Earth, the NUMBER of those footprints are growing to 7, 8, 9, 10 billion. So, all your efforts are confounded by the growing population.

How many people can the Earth support? The Pacific Ocean and its wildlife are already choking on megatons of plastic garbage produced by more people every day. So, either we reduce the human population through family planning programs Worldwide, recycle 100% of all waste and garbage, or go extinct. The tipping point has arrived.

Here's an easy fix: STOP EATING ANIMALS. Take that market away, I'll let you figure out just how effective it is. You'll be surprised.

Wow! How amazing! Never would have thought it. Obvious facts dressed up as journalism. But where is what really counts: the analysis of how immoral and repulsive this consumerism is, a consumerism brought to perfection in the country with the highest rate of obesity in the world? And the one country that outstrips all others in the quantity per head of environmental destruction.
I hope this program does not just gawp at the quantities and that Nat Geo has had the guts to make a stand on how disgusting this behaviour is. And by the way: only a tiny fraction of the world consumes these repuslive quantities: the USA. Not 'the average person'. Get some perspective on the planet guys.

Yes, It is unfair and it would be wonderful if everyone were like you Kate. But admit, the majority - not only of americans - eat crap and buy useless stuff. We have to be more selective, because we are what we consume.

" O planeta como um cachorro eu vejo... se ele não aguenta mais as pulgas se livra delas num saculejo " Raul Seixas

GO GREEN!
Buy a lot of green stuff!
Buy Buy Buy!

It's funny how our "footprint" will now have a bunch of environmental sustainable junk added to it.

Try and remember why we have such a big footprint...bcs we can't seem to reduce or reuse. Recycling is important too, but not AS important as just reducing.

It's crazy to me that people buy fast food, cutting edge high tech junk, disposable cleaning products, and tons of plastic/petrolium based products...then go online and complain that somebody has to do something about the environment.

Face it - it isn't just conservative oil barrons who are to blame...

It's the Jones's and everyone out there trying to keep up with them.

Did you buy a new car, new house, new cell phone, new computer, new hdtv, or anything that will end up in storage?

Does it take you longer than 10 minutes to drive to work or a grocery store?

think about it.

Check out my post about "Human Footprint" at redeyechicago.com/practicallygreen

holy _ _ _ _ I am so sorry two people concieved me with out my permission I feel sorry for being a human. or maybe we are witnessing the rise of big electricity...big piles of batteries leaking fluids all over drilling for more copper for windings more oil to produce the light weight plastic that batteries can haul.etc.etc.
did you know NBC is owned by General electric and that democrates have finally found a way to gain power..1st makes us feel bad for being alive then say its ok we will manage every aspect of your lives for you so you can be green, really skinny over taxed(so you won't have money to spend on fun that requires more consumption) wake up we need 16% oxygen to breath when we get below that we die off earth recovers or we all die from cancer from the sun.

what is the foot-print of other animals in this world? how much solid waste does an elephant produce in its lifetime? how many endangered zebras does a lion kill in her lifetime?

what is the foot-print of other animals in this world? how much solid waste does an elephant produce in its lifetime? how many endangered zebras does a lion kill in her lifetime?

The real bottom line problem is that there are too many people in this world for the resources we have. Solve this problem and you solve all problems. Of course, this will never be done.

I'm fascinated by the wide range of responses/reactions in this discussion. We have the freedom to change our behavior--or not. To be threatened by others who think differently, or who are telling us something we don't want to know is obviously the first thing that needs to change. When our thinking changes, our behavior will change. I am especially struck by "environlamo"'s statement that "the environment can take care of itself and I'll worry about my own life" -- as if there is a difference between the two. Everything in the universe is connected, and to believe otherwise generally ends in pain for the one who has this dualistic view. And, yes, the environment (of which we are all a part) WILL take care of itself, and we may disappear as a species. If the time of the human race comes to an end, so be it. What's not okay with me is if humans die out in a fog of denial and willful ignorance. The alarm is going off, it's time to wake up, let's quit hitting the snooze button.

I think it's great to get people thinking about the impact they are making on our environment, but how much waste was generated and energy expended to create this visual representation of the human footprint.

Seems a bit hypocritical, but maybe there is a good answer that I am unaware of.

I am a civil engineer working in the environmental field for over 20 years in California.

Though it claims to be the first, I've seen similar studies that show "human impact" on the environment. Regardless, shows like these are usually presented 1 of 2 ways: As educational "factoids" that present the information and help demonstrate why conservation can help reduce impacts on the environment; or as propaganda. I'm really hoping this comes out like the former (which can be a really fun way to educate children) and not like the latter. My fear is that this kind of presentation with "visual" guides is really a way to exaggerate the consumption of people, and therefore skew their thinking. It turns, what really should be common-sense information, into a guilt-ridden, anti-human rant.

For example, who is surprised we consume 30,000 gallons of water over a lifetime? Does the program then show how many acre-feet of clean water fell from the sky during that time? How that rainwater is stored, cleaned and transported to your faucet?

No. Of course not. But nothing is static in this world. To me, this comes across in an almost juvenile, alarmist manner. The end result is that people feel guilty for their consumption (and you shouldn't); feel as if "something needs to be done" (and conservation is really what we're talking about); and ironically, ends up being anti-human. I'm not surprised that we're starting to see posts that call for population control or eliminating people to solve the problem. It's this kind of whacked out thinking that gives terrorist organizations like ELF justification to their twisted minds that blowing up a car dealership or burning down a housing development will "save the world".

Love your country. The USA is one of the most environmentally conscience countries in the world.

It is unavoidable to stop consuming or to stop breathing as someone else sggested.. What we can do is recycle garbage and use it as fertilizers and alternate sources of energy such as ethanol and methane gas and cremate the rest cooling off the exaust. Our economy, jobs etc... depend on those production iniciatives.

I find it funny how extreme and polarized the views are on both sides. Environmental do gooders have goofed up our forests and cause the flash fire issues. Right now everyone is going crazy of Polar bears because they are cute, ignoring the fact that they are over populated far beyond what nature intended. And why do we pretend that nothing that comes from the earth is renewable? Like the arguments about paper and trees. No one mentions that most wood products in the US and Europe come form farmed (Planted) fast growing trees not from old growth forests. Or that much of what we consume and the waste we send to landfills came from the earth to begin with.

Yes we must learn to be better stewards of our planet, yes we must develop technologies and habits that are more energy and waste effective, yes we need to reduce pollution but not at the expense of freedom, jobs, or access to our world. We need balance, fairness, and consideration for those who do not believe the same things as ourselves. Education is key, legislation, law suits, and extremism only makes matters worse, more expensive, and polarizing.

The problem is over population and greed. Especialy in the U.S. where the more we have the Biger the better we think it is, and quite honestly it's "discusting".. What we need is education and global birth control, to better improve the global quality of life...
MY grand father who was Italian, who drained the rain water from his storm drains on the side of his house into huge three barrels that he used to water his vegetables. Alway's used to say if every one in china wanted to build a brick house, there wouldn't be enough bricks in the world.. An what's happen now...
THis all being caused by our arrogance.. Look who we elected as president twice..
DOn't expect the U.S. to set the standerd for China..
"whose going to LIsten"

I do not have the national geographic channel. Can I see this episode on the internet?

Consumption is so ramprant why is anyone having children to make matters worst? They have a hopless future.

lower the housing and rent near where i work and i will live closer,until then I will not live under an overpass with my two kids...it sounds like most of you hate humans..would you prefer disease to lower the numbers and what if you were one of the diseased? should we start shooting people what if you were one of the ones no no what if someone you loved were exterminated to lower the numbers. it isn't only smokes or alchohol that gives cancer you can just get it. I dare any who posted here to come down with cancer and refuse treatment. it sounds like you all are still in highschool drinking kool aid

I would like to comment on the show, "the human foot print", as my family and I watched it we came to realize that this is a great program in thoery but in its execution there was unnecessary amount of food wasted. Especially the eggs we found most disturbing, the amount could have been shown without them being all broken, the eggs among other food that was wasted could have been food donated to shelters and other such organizations where a starving individual could have had a meal for more than a week. As for the NG slogan of "teaching people how to prserve and save and help our planet", this was a terrible way of showing it.

I understand what Varvara and Gineries are saying. In my thinking I would rather waist that amount of food and change millions of peoples behavior because this will save many time over the resources waisted once. Besides it seemed they tried not to waist anything, i.e. they did not use milk and donated the bananas. The show is an eye opener. the most provokative question is: Do we really need to use these much resources to survive and survive well? for how long can we sustain this pace of consumerism and where are we goign to find new resources? And some wonder why we do wars?

What seems to have been missed from the previews I have seen is the amount of fuel the average USA car uses. In the UK the average is around 30+mpg (my car does 50mpg) yet the average USA car does 15mpg from what I have seem.

Does it not click that all that gas is costing the USA a massive amount of money? Just think what you as a country could save if you decided to drive a car not a truck

You are all missing the point! We have a responsibility to our next generation! We all have to change our wasteful attitudes, resources don't last forever, and we have to stop feeling so entitled to the world's resources. What one change can you make today? Try asking yourself what one person could do...

You are all missing the point! We have a responsibility to our next generation! We all have to change our wasteful attitudes, resources don't last forever, and we have to stop feeling so entitled to the world's resources. What one change can you make today? Try asking yourself what one person could do...

I just want to say, I recycle as much as I can. I get sad when people litter trash, throw cigarettes out there car windows and destroy such a beautiful planet. The other day I was hiking and saw plastic bottles littered on the ground in a National Park.

It is sad that people that when one person wants to make a difference that will impact us all, others such as JOHN DOE and Charles refuse to support such a great show. Elizabeth Vargas I am thankful this show is on TV. I do belive those that are so closed minded are missing the point.

so this program is part of the 'preserve our planet' series???

way to show us how we are wasteful wonderlicks then proceeding to DESTROY a lifetime of eggs....

was that really necessary?

i got the point...there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO WASTE ENOUGH EGGS TO FEED A SMALL TOWN......

shameful...

it's not enough eggs to feed a small town that they waste, it's only enough to feed one person.

i got the point...there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO WASTE ENOUGH EGGS TO FEED A SMALL TOWN......

shameful...

umm if you were REALLY watchin and listening THEY SAID the eggs were about to expire. would you wanna eat them??????????? i didnt think so!!!!! the whole point is LISTEN AND WISE UP PPL

VALUES based thinking sees the world in terms of whether things have values to humans or not. If it cannot be consumed by someone, and preferrably your own team, it is a problem. That's why values based world views without ethical maturity are so challenged by any attempt to put any restrictions on opportunities to consume. Consumption is equated with 'growth' and the assumption is that the only alternative is stagnation.

ETHICAL based thinking sees the world in terms of sustainable coexistance. Humans are part of that world and understand sustaining a healthy world is valuable whether or not every part of it is consumable by humans. To the extent people support ethics as well as personal values, they will mitigate their consumption and accept restrictions on consumption to accomodate sustainability. Sustainability is equated with 'healthy change' that continues to provide opportunities and the assumption is that destructive or unnecessary consumption are not growth, but rather loss.

Because the global environment is the largest 'playing field' on which all humans participate, environmental ethics are the most important type of civic maturity necessary for humans with different values and different levels of access to both shortages and plenty, to mitigate their own values and coexist within collaboratively arbitrated restrictions on consumption necessary for the overall sustainability of the playing field and human fairness to preserve future opportunities for those on the short end of the stick as well as those currently in the gravy bowl.

Hmm...A lot of the documentary didn't pertain to me. I'll probably have a MUCH smaller footprint. I'm Vegan. Don't drive. Small home. Off grid energy. Carbon Offsetting. Adoption. Shop sustainably. I wonder what a footprint of the "average" ecologically conscious person is.

That said, MOST of it or at least a great deal of it pertains to me. I'm trying tho'.

would like to comment on the show, "the human foot print", as my family and I watched it we came to realize that this is a great program in thoery but in its execution there was unnecessary amount of food wasted. Especially the eggs we found most disturbing, the amount could have been shown without them being all broken, the eggs among other food that was wasted could have been food donated to shelters and other such organizations where a starving individual could have had a meal for more than a week. As for the NG slogan of "teaching people how to prserve and save and help our planet", this was a terrible way of showing it.

Posted by Varvara | April 13, 2008 9:35 PM

where do i find music that was on the human footprint?

This documentary just made me feel good about myself. There were so many things on their that I don't use at all. My footprint is MUCH smaller than the average.

This is airing at the moment as I type this... My main concern is the amount of product that was damaged / wasted to show real size/actual amounts. I believe that with the technology we have today, Computer Animation would have been the way to go. The bananas, the oranges and the Milk carton scene. The bananas probably got brused and the milk cartons were too far spaced apart. Lets not forget the "Egg Omelet", all those thousands of eggs wasted to show a footprint. Poor production choice but the idea is valid. I was getting upset at some of the way the examples were being shown and changed channels. I'm recording it though for future viewing.

Thanks for reading,
Chris

This show is bad. What a bunch of lecturing hypocrites that manage to waste so much produce and goods in the process just to make a point. My family felt disgusted and extremely agitated for the poor choices made during the production of this supposedly educational show. We immediately switched to another channel.

The execution of this show is a mockery to all the countries suffering from hunger and to other people who takes recycling serious. Like someone mentioned earlier in the other posts. All the goods and produce could have been virtually created and it would still be believable.

I have never been a big fan of NGC, but this show just manage to put the final nail in their coffin. I hope the producers will have many sleepless nights.

This show was just another in a long line of scare tacticts to get all of us to conform to the Global Warming mantra. I guess the only way to lower our footprint is to just go extinct.
This show is just part of the typical hipocritical Global Warming crowd. The hostess keeps talking about all the resources that are used in all the products that are mentioned in the show. What about all the resources that where wasted during the filming of this show? Let's talk about all the resources that humans use, but don't worry about all the items we are going to waste during the filming of this program.
And if I hear the hostess mention CO2 gas again, I will think that Al Gore directed this program. And just like Al Gore, she keeps mentioning how much us Americans use. That's right, blame the Americans first! Shame on us. In order to save the planet, just us Americans should go extinct. That would make the Global Warming crowd happy!

Although I do agree with most of the other posters on the blog I do think that for the most part we are stupid and will buy in to the mass hysteria that ng is propagating with here. For there own political situation and the future of the corporation. But I also think that we should take every thing that we read and see on TV with a grain of organic reclaimed recycled pinch of salt. THINK about what you can do. I love the fat that we are becoming more aware of our ever consuming need for things.
I DO my part but it is more out of pure hatred for the establishment than wanting do do right by the planet. That is just a bonus

Why are so many people posting so many negative comments instead of sharing their ideas and ways of lessening their own 'footprint' on our Mother Earth? I am a 're' queen - recycle, re-use, and re-purpose. Star Trek is coming, folks, but it isn't here, yet. We only have this one planet, with its finite resources, to inhabit, so we need to think very hard about taking care of her. I encourage everyone to remember the old farmers' creed - think seven generations down the road - not one or three.
Even just one aspect of this show could save many lives. Most cell phones can be donated to charities that provide emergency communication to victims of domestic violence. They are programmed to only dial 911, but that could mean the difference between life and death for some people, including many children. Everyone with a negative attitude toward making this world a better, safer, more environmentally, humanly, and wildlife freindly, place needs to - STOP - THINK - and post some ideas that we can all share, instead of bashing National Geaographic for wasting time and energy. That time and energy was well spent to help many people open their eyes to exactly what the 'human' impact is on our one and only home.
We are supposed to be the most intelligent species, the top of of the food chain, etc. - don't you think it's time we start acting like it? Stop griping, and start sharing. Stop pointing fingers and start holding hands!

Dear Ms Vargas (and others),
Congratulations on a very well produced program. You've done an exceptional job visually demonstrating how much each of us consumes.

But I am afraid I must point out that you have entirely missed at least half the story. And the part you missed is vitally important.

I hope you will do a follow-up program that just as skillfully lays out what would happen if each of us reduced our consumption as you suggest we do.

You see, each one of those products we consume represents countless jobs. Not just here in America, but jobs all around the world. Jobs in design, manufacturing, harvesting, packaging, printing, trasportation, marketing, advertising, stocking, sales, and on and on.

And each one of those industries represent countless jobs. People have to make the dyes, and manufacture the transportation, and provide the energy, etc.

In fact, there is a HUGE moral implication to what you are asking people to do. When you get right down to it, you are advocating shrinking the world economy. That is the unquestionable result of reducing consumption.

So I hope you will do a follow-up story that just as compellingly shows how many farmers, manufacturers, truckers, designers, managers, stockers, receptionists, sales people in countries all over the world would be unemployed if we all did what you suggest.

How many people in the third world, who have been lifted out of poverty because someone somewhere is buying what they do, would be thrust back into poverty? How many people would go hungry if we all cut back just a little?

But fear not.

The answer isn't as bleak as you think -- for the environment or for the human race. For I used to think just as you do, that saving the environment means curtailing human activity in one form or another.

But the truth, I have since discovered -- as I hope you will too -- is exactly the opposite.

So dont stop there. Keep on with your research. You will discover, as much to your amazement as it was to mine, that you are looking at the problem wrong. You will discover, for example, that there are a great deal more trees in the United States now than at the beginning of the century. That, in fact, the air, water and earth are much cleaner now than 100 years ago. We have learned to produce far more food on far less land. And economic progress will allow us to improve more.

It is wealth, economic development and progress, Ms. Vargas, that has made it possible for America and the West to become so much more cleaner and greener. And it is economic development and progress, not regression, that will spur the innovation and technology that will allow us, and the third world the luxury of becoming greener still.

I know it seems counter-intuitive at first, but what you, as I once did, are actually advocating by urging people to cut back, is the slowing of the economic engine that makes more environmentally friendly practices and policy possible. Not only would reducing consumption thrust countless millions of people around the world into unemployment, poverty, hunger and starvation, it would also slow or even halt the progress that allows humans to leave a smaller footprint.

And THAT is the part of the story that desperately needs to be told. I hope you will tell it.

It's amazing that we've reached a point where a show like this has impact.

The first generation of children born since the first earth day are now in their 20's - late 30's and are becoming parents themselves. Children who in the 70's, 80's and 90's were taught in schools to be aware of their environment - that's where the eco-consciousness has started to have a business end.

With our consumption approaching the threshold of choking us out of our natural resources, we in the U.S. are smarter and better for The Human Footprint... thanks NatGeo!

Now let's hope the dvd's and packaging for the Human Footprint series won't end up in land fills someday. Note to NatGeo... keep the replay-ability of the series MP3/4 capable only... no packaging, no plastic dvd's, no promotional paper!

The only flaw in this production, that drive me nuts with
most of N/G productions, was their intrusive background music.

When i first heard of this show coming, i was looking forward to watching to get an idea for what we comsume. i have read many of the responces from other people. alot of you had good responce. the one that many of you are talking about are the eggs. i guess they weren't listening, mrs vargas said the eggs are bad. they have a shelf life like everything thing else in the store.
the main point of the show, was to show up how much me consume, no one said anything about how many chickens or hotdogs or cows we eat, but the eggs, got everyone talking. did everyone see the pigs eating the the bananas. i personally thought that was alittle over kill. they could of just used a pile to show it, instead of dropping it. no one has mentioned about what they said about the plastic bags we bring our groceries home in, then just throw that away. or how much water is waisted, just by flushing the toilet, or shower. i am 40, ask the older generation, what was life like when they were young. what did they have.

the point was what is one little plastic bag, one little coke can. most of us recycle all cans, some plastic, some glass, but not everything. i am the first to admit, i could and should do better, at least for the generations that will follow all of us.

i liked the show, it was a basic show, just to show us how much consume as humans. the funny thing is, now we each said our peace and got us thinking about it, right?

One of the previous bloggers asked why we don't stop leaving negative comments and leave ways to better the enviroment. That is a good point. But what the rest of us are negative about is the method and message that NGC put forth with this program. They used the typical Doom and Gloom scare tactic to make us become a greener people. Had they just stated the facts without being so dramatic or trying to scare all of us, then I think that all the bloggers would have different comments to make. And those comments would probably offer more solutions and less negatice posts about how NGC put forth their message.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. According to my calculatons, these statistics are not quite believable-- 13 oranges a month, 11 hot dogs a month from cradle to grave? 12 hamburger buns a month from the moment of birth to death? Please!!!
Certainly each of us makes a footprint on this earth, and we need to raise our awareness,but has the enivromental movement now decided sensationalism is truth?

Just finished watching the show and I must say, it appears more than half the posters here didn't bother watching it at all. If some had, they'd know everything used to create a visual representation of the human footprint was recycled or otherwise reused. For instance, the clothes were donated to shelters, the bananas were donated to a pig farm. The "milk" containers were filled with water.

But that's not why I'm blogging. I have some criticism of NGC's presentation.

1. The show lacked any serious, viable alternatives. A newborn doesn't have a lot of say in the matter of cloth versus disposable diapers. NGC's take on this appeared to be, both are bad. One uses too many resources, the other too much water. This is just the first of many examples of how each choice we make as American consumers is wrong/bad/unhealthy/killing the environment, etc.

2. There seemed to be a shifting paradigm in the context of the program. The first shift is "who" is creating the footprint. Most of the time, the show seemed to imply it is Americans behaving this way, but then there were references that other nationalities' impact are also involved. The second shift is "when" the footprint is being created. There was a vascillation between "x" per year, and "x" per 77.9 years.

3. Either the host or the writers of the script couldn't seem to decide if this was a fun ride or an issue of character. It felt at times like the information was set up to be amusing (like the eggs and oranges) but the host occasionally sounded like a third grade school teacher expressing her disappointment in us all.

4. No follow through. "Here's a picture. It's ugly. There's nothing we can do about it." The W/M Waste Managment commercials had more insight on how to be "greener" than did this program.

I recycle, eat meat, vote in every election, buy cell phones and clothes, wish I had mass transit as an option for getting around, but I don't; I try to do what I can for the environment, when I can, but let's face it I'm an American. Can I really stop being a consumer of mass produced goods as long as I live here? Probably not. Not if I want to stay in my home and keep my job.

I could be living in China where the idea of recycling is more about reusing until no use can be had from an object. I could live in the sub-Sahara Africa and live with the constant threats of disease and war.

NGC - your program seems like the only viable answer is for every American to enter into an immediate suicide pact and end it all NOW.

But then where would YOU be? Viewerless and without sponsors.

I'm so into little kindnesses it is not funny. Just yesterday, I was eating orange and gave some to a neighbor.

In at least two places, you talk about wasting water. FYI, water is not wasted globally, only locally. All water, contaminated and pure, returns eventually to the sea or aquifers to be cleansed and returned to the land as rain. Here is someone else's comment on that aspect of the show: www.straightrecord.com/randomrants
Otherwise, good show.

Yeah, Shariq is my real name. I am very concerned about the environment. I am the most liberal person in my grade, and what really sucks is that a large amount of the resources that can be recycled aren't. This is really bad for everyone, the mess we're in. Also to the blog dude, don't post this if the first one wasn't.

Incredible story and eye opening. How about adult diapers? Paradigm shift is the only way to start thinking and acting "Green" today.
There is a new device that is sooooo green and is a urine management system. It's called Care Clean 3000. Made in Korea. Check this out at www.regionalmed.net. Excellent job by Elizabeth Vargas reporting this to the nation and the world. Wake-up time folks!!

To John Kerry

for the record Al Gore used the superior application from the Mac side of computers called Keynote. That's why it made such a lasting impression on you. Unfortunately you are not able to see the truth it contains

Will Stileman

To anyone that knows... I'm ignorant, & I admit it.

How does nature remove CO2 from the air?

How much CO2 in PPM is causing "Global Warming" How can you prove it?

Please educate those of us that don't buy CO2 as a pollutant.

Thanks!

Elizabeth - what a great segment you hosted! Now that you've quantified just a few of the basic items that Americans "touch" on a yearly basis, your next segment should be on the secondary products that are created to get the products that consumers buy/use to stores & eventually to their homes. Example: Plastic hangers, or packaging, etc. There are approximately 20+ BILLION hangers imported into the USA each year. Many come with the garments from overseas factories. The garments are also packed inside of cartons. If you've ever shopped in a clothing store, you can do the math & get overwhelmed by the amount of clothing that's transported to get to the selling floors - of all retailers accross the USA. Now that's a footprint that can be measured (I know - I've done a bit myself). Multiply the number of products shipped to the USA on a yearly basis & you've got a foot print that "serves" the Human footprint - which isn't very far behind; perhaps even ahead of your piece. The amount of oil based(polyolefin) plastic, paper for cardboard cartons, wrapping, packaging, fuel to transport, etc gives off one heck of a CO2 footprint. There are alternative materials that are renewable & should be / could be mandated. If it grows in the ground, you can be pretty sure it'll be there next year. And nothing wrong with stimulating the American economy by using the natural resources we have in our own back yard. Let me know when you're ready to do a segment on the secondary "stuff" - because there's a lot more of that than you may even think. Just look around at everything you buy.......

WHAT HOPE?

Look, here we are, a creeping, cancerous glob
Consuming the vast biomass of Earth,
Not stewards but a mad, voracious mob
Converting our world’s plenty into dearth.

What help for this but quickly to evolve
Into the wisdom of our hopeful name,
Since only Homo sapiens can resolve
The problems we have caused and clear our shame.

And yet, what likelihood is there of that,
That in one lifetime someone might grow wise,
Transcend our tendency for falling flat
And from our stubborn stupor then arise?

Our only hope for wakening is fear
And seeing clearly that our end is near.

FROM: College debater, teacher of inner city reading + Sp. Ed., social sciences history hobbyist, essayist on "hidden hard facts" in cosmic science, child literacy, genetic incidence of natural inherited "protein parasite" life cycles linking mammal populations. JRN of Clinical and Infectious Disease (May of 1999). "Cat protein parasite accelerate to 190 new species blamed on cats,perhaps mistakenly!"

National Geographic specials like this could "restore consumer" & "voter-child confidence" to make "USA" classrooms the envy and model for all 105-nations who enjoined the "World Courts!" Nations not embracing the "World Court" ecology or peace agenda are now five lonely major "war-like" nations---USA, China, Israel, Iraq,Qattar.

This documentary invitesa
"Child-Female Literacy Bill of Human Rights" for "NO CHILD UNDER AGE *
READING BELOW 70-90 Words or 270 Consonant Letters" for all nations on earth!
West MI did this for nearly three decades in its Title I, ESEA programs tax payer funded in high school and 1st grade inner city settings (80% of free lunches and entire grades unable to recall over six to ten letter or word sounds in the "assembly-line" texts corporate mandated with some districts choosing to "text drill depart!"

In a world where each inner city child reads aloud within< 30 hours at 90 words or 270 consonant letter per minute aloud, our "debate and forensics, our vocal and instrumental programs shall by ten times the number of children on the football team. (1,000 per building with 3,000 kids in the bulding). Could a USA have half the high school for 13,000 USA districts in band as well as choir and have the 73% dropout rates in Detroit Schools transform to a less 5-10% dropout rates by a 10% of the school year insertion of "non-text phonics friendly drill skills"? This must embed before Christmas of 1st grade to secure a maximal "literacy and neurological 3-D MRI" stage of at least 30-million glial cells.

These Principles of "Acoustical=Phonic Science" were "elocutions expedited" in 80s to 90's WestMI districts by myself and a Friesan Dutch Ph. D. for Whole Language. We are both currently retired and do only 'self-voluntary audits' on a Massachusetts
90' state laws to "Word/minute reading aloud assessments" in 1st-12th. Is it possible we were the only "auditors" for "acoustical-friendly physics phonics" over the past centuries? Why were ISD laws on audits "70's" deleted"?

If this "Human Fingerprint" could be shown in classrooms globally, the entire "oil-gas demand of the planet" and "water demand" could begin to shrink by double percentage points each year! If these "writers" could compile a "Patient Heal Thyself" series of documentaries. The Health Care costs of retirees at currently $13,600 per person over 65 yrs., may soon dip to a fraction of this amount. It is currently $280/month in Japan where double the number of MRI scans are done in 2007. In Cuba the entire cost per year is just above this monthly figure. The MI attorney General tells us January of 2008, the "profits" per day are $1-million for the "Middle Man" for MI Health Care firms.

If writers and designers for "Human Footprint" could do "parallel" presentations on the authors writing on "USA history" dated to the writings of "Marines General Smedley Butler" (a quaker)who saved the life of FDR from two assassinaton attempts by " U.S. global corporate" boards as documented in the 1942 Congressional Record, the mistakes of history would not be over and over again repeated!

Re: Alan Nordstrom's poem: "WHAT HOPE?

Look, here we are, a creeping, cancerous glob
Consuming the vast biomass of Earth,
Not stewards but a mad, voracious mob
Converting our world’s plenty into dearth.

What help for this but quickly to evolve
Into the wisdom of our hopeful name,
Since only Homo sapiens can resolve
The problems we have caused and clear our shame.

And yet, what likelihood is there of that,
That in one lifetime someone might grow wise,
Transcend our tendency for falling flat
And from our stubborn stupor then arise?

Our only hope for wakening is fear
And seeing clearly that our end is near"

There are some blogs on here that might say you're anti-human and that we have the right to swarm the earth like insatiable locust but I agree with the poem.

Look, I don't think self abolition is the answer because we all want to live and want our loved ones to live. What I don't understand is, how come whenever the topic of overpopulation comes up, people are so resistant to even consider the fact that if we continue spreading at this rate, we will phase ourselves out. Our behavior seems just as instinctual and savage as any creature that eats as much as it can until there is no more. There is no thought, just insatiable urges.

Aren't we supposed to be smarter than a mosquito that will keep biting your leg until it meets it's end with a smack. I hope we start using our brains.

Balance is happiness and moderation
is the key.

Wow there are some very small minded people on here. Why do So many people not seem to care about, or HAHAHA Doubt that we do leave a mark, A negative mark on this earth.

WHy is there such an aversion to shrinking the conomy. The measure of human progress used is not up to par. GDP is defunct. WHile the US GDP keeps rising so too does the debt. Everytime a woman is diagnosed with cancer, the GDP rises. Everytime loggers are called to log the rainforest, the GDP goes up. The GDP is not a measure of prgress but merely a measure of consumtpion. Besides, we shouldn't be nearly as woried about the economies of develoiped countries as about developing and underveloped countries. It's more important to close the gap.

Why so many people attacking the data? Its pretty easy to find current sale data on products like Coke, Pepsi, Pampers, etc online. Newborns use at least 10 diapers a day for the first 2 months. What I took from the show was:
Objective: how much we (based on an average) consume?
Goal: Lets have some moderation
For me is common sense... you use resources and some how they need to be regenerated if you don't reuse or recycle them. I want to know how "Nature is going to take care of itself" when we easily can go to our backyard cut a tree, but it takes years for a new tree to grow. Plastics takes years to disintegrate. Honestly, I'm pretty sure builders are not responsible for replanting all the trees that we need to build a new house or office spaces.
Saying that the USA is the most environmentally conscience country is far from reality. We're a powerful nation and we need to do more. Other 3rd world countries that don't care about the environment, their excuse is that they don't have the money to fix it. We don't have a mandatory recycling program, we give away all those plastic bags at dept and grocery stores. I bet that if stores start charging 25 cents per bag, people will start using canvas bags or reuse old ones or simply after paying for the items they will place them back in the cart (Costco/Sam's style). We don't do it because it's easy to get free ones. This government needs to push more for environmentally friendly laws.
Like some people mentioned, other countries have a more aggressive approach to reduce emissions and depend less on oil. And please lets not celebrate that we are #2 behind China on pollution. The reason why China is #1 now is because they need to supply the USA's (and others) demand like toys, furniture,etc.
and that they open 2 coal energy plants every week. For those radical people, stop breathing, eating, taking showers, etc that is not realistic. Lets just reduce and recycle.

I think I understand the purpose of this program. All of society needs to eat a bullet inorder to save the world for all of the rest of the animals.

Nat Geo hates humans and we, especially the USA is the big evil at the source of everything that is bad. Kill All Humans......
That is what Nat Geo believes is the best for Mother Earth

thanks for the show. i learned a lot, and now i'll make sure to recycle and do the other things suggested! :]

John Kerry,
No one is telling you you have to cut down and raise/lower your thermostat. You do have the freedom to do (or not do as the case may be)to change the way you live, and if you don't you won't see the effects of it. However, if we don't change NOW, then by 2100 when the planet won't be able to sustain humans because of over population, and your children and grand-children suffer because of your ignorance, and you are long dead (good ridance)then it will be too late!!!:(

John Kerry,
No one is telling you you have to cut down and raise/lower your thermostat. You do have the freedom to do (or not do as the case may be)to change the way you live, and if you don't you won't see the effects of it. However, if we don't change NOW, then by 2100 when the planet won't be able to sustain humans because of over population, and your children and grand-children suffer because of your ignorance, and you are long dead (good ridance)then it will be too late!!!:(

Hi,

I have a concern about the show. I think the concept and message are great. However, it was never stated why all the eggs were wasted when they could have been given to a homeless shelter or shelters. What was done with all the unused foods? Please tell me these items were not wasted just to make a point. The items could have just been copied and duplicated using photoshop. This meathod would have really supported the message of the show and let viewers know how thoughtful the production crew was.

Again, great concept and solid execution. I just hope great and green thought was given to the use of the visual examples.

Thank you,

Kim

Someone please tell me that the food used for this elaborate views of what we eat in a lifetime are either spoiled or just about there items...I would hate to like a show as great as this that wastes it. I couldn't imagine they would...would they?

Sorry, going to have to change the channel on this show. How much of a "footprint" did it take to MAKE this show is the real question? How much of a "footprint" does the producer of this show make as opposed to an average joe like myself? PISS OFF people, this is sensationalism at the very best. Not buying it!

I only wonder how much more waste this documentary has added to our already poluted planet...I get the point of the whole thing, but who is going to use all those diapers dropped on the ground? all the crushed eggs, all milk that probably went bad while filming etc. Couldn't they use these eggs to feed people in Africa instead of smashing them on the ground? If you are going to make a documentary to build awareness about the environment, DO NOT CREATE MORE WASTE!

I was awed by this show for multiple reasons. I know that we have a large impact on this world, and I am one of the wierdos who walks around and picks up garbage off of the street. So I feel as though one may say my awareness is high.
What alarmed me the most was the lack of concern for the waste that this show was creating. I could have gotten the point about the eggs from the cartons that they would have inhabited. Why was it necessary to demolish a whole life time worth of eggs? Careless.
Also, I know that as far at the Health Department is concerned the Milk that they used in the show would be considered unfit for consumption after the filming. Another waste, and imagine what the Dairy Cows went through to produce it.
Who cares about our watching our footprint on TV, when the show abuses the privilege of not only having food to eat, but to waste only to bring the point home. As a country we are selfish, wasteful, and careless. Not each individual. (no one should feel the need to defend themselves, I would LOVE to be wrong, this is no attack, it is a broadened statement), this show shines a light on our egomaniacal mind set, and our lack of concern for the rest of the world.
Shame on National Geographic for not only showing us the truth, but demonstrating what it means to be a careless citizen. I am sure they made a pretty penny, and not enough was done to make a difference.
I shake my head at this, and I am alarmed that no one at NGC thought this deeply into this show.

Sincerely Disappointed,
Magie

I don't get it. On the show you stated that there are a little more then 300 million Americans and we consume 178 million cans of soda a day. According to them that means that we will each consume 43,371 cans of soda over their 77 years on this earth. Well that makes no sense what so ever.

If 300 million people drink 178 million cans of soda a day then that means that the average person drinks almost .6 cans of soda a day. .6 times 365 is 219 cans of soda a year per person. 219 times 77 years is 16,863 cans of soda in a lifetime. Where did you get 43,000?? Are they expecting soda production and consumption to triple?

No stupid "about to expire"...as far as I am concerned that means they are still good. "About to expire" is not the same as "expired"...no stupid how long where they good for then. As far as you know they could have expired with in the next minutes or even seconds. So that mean transporting the eggs somewhere else to use them would have been a waste of time and resources. The eggs "wasted" for this scene, are saving more than anything. Their small contribution has already paid for itself tenfold.

No stupid "about to expire"...as far as I am concerned that means they are still good. "About to expire" is not the same as "expired"...no stupid how long where they good for then. As far as you know they could have expired with in the next minutes or even seconds. So that mean transporting the eggs somewhere else to use them would have been a waste of time and resources. The eggs "wasted" for this scene, are saving more than anything. Their small contribution has already paid for itself tenfold.

Ok, now that I've seen the show, I have to ask/state the following.
I find it interesting that only the USA was "profiled."
While I get that we use 25% of the planet's resources, it came across to me that if you really want to be a "caring" member of society, you'll stop using so much resources, and revert to some non-descript version of a pre-industrial life.
What exactly are you guys attempting to accomplish here?
Just inform us, or get us to change our lives to match the environmentalists perspective of how life should be lived.
It came across to me as being inept at actually showing what each person uses on a daily basis.
Sure, tell me I supposedly eat some 5000 bananas in my lifetime, or drink 45,000 cans of soda.
How about telling me how many cans of soda I drink in a week, and develop it from there up to the 45,000.
That way I can gauge what I'm actually drinking, or eating per week. Forget the fact that if I personally drink a soda more than once a month, I'm being a bad boy for my own personal health issues.
I say that because you spent enough time showing us backstage ditty's to keep some semblance of humor to it all.
One of the feelings that I got out of the show is that I am incapable of being more than a collection of wasteful usage of pointless resources that someone else would be a better person to make use of.
Another feeling that I got out of this show is that it completely discounts, or ignores my value-- all humans' value in providing other, what we call non-tangible benefits to society as a whole.
Our employment, while various to be sure, actually benefits the whole of society.
Admittedly, I think the cost we spend on transporting textiles, shoes, etc.... could be better reduced if we were to manufacture everything within our own borders.
I get the reasons why we're importing so large a variety of our wares, but at what point does the expense outweigh the benefit overall?
The next time you guys do a show like this please do the following.
1- make smaller examples of shorter periods of time so we can get a better grasp of what we're actually doing.
2- don't give the impression that you believe our lives are worthless, and we're only poisoning, cluttering up, being wasteful, or aren't worth being allowed to live on earth.

I got the dinstinct impression that you no longer believe humans have the right to live on earth.
So much so, that I'm now wondering how many people are going to start committing suicide to make it easier on the less unstable.

wow, so what was so alarming that my blog comments went umposted????

Truth I guess is offensive. Frankly if you can't post real commentary that isn't offensive than shut this blog down!!!!

You are a virus. You consume all available resources until there is nothing left.

Well it has already been proven that CO2 lags temperature, and nature produces more CO2 than humans, so it doesn't matter how much we produce. We have no impact on global warming or the environment.

"Doug.....Love your country. The USA is one of the most environmentally conscience countries in the world."

This is a joke right?

Having visited quite a few country's my conclusion is, the USA is concerned only with quantity not quality and as a consequence cars are massive and waste gas, the people are massive and waste food.

The USA was up until very recently the worlds biggest polluter, only surpassed by the China but considering there are the worlds manufacturer its no surprise. Per capita the USA citizen is still the worlds largest polluters and always will be.

Those great people whom see there is an issue and want to do something need to be applauded those who do not (and there are millions of them) are just examples of why we should be really worried.

Lastly ask your self the question would you say that the USA model is one every one should aspire to? If you answer yes then the rest of us are doomed

I live in a rural area where the landfill is failing (overfull & sliding down a hillside) & our recycling program has been unable to financially sustain itself.

Right now the money is being targeted at the landfill (not a small pricetag). It is generally agreed here that we desperately need a recycling program.

On a personal note
"What goes around comes around" - We have the ability to affect our own standard of living & those of our offspring. This planet & its ecosystem is a treasure, which deserves to be treated well - if not our lives will be alot less bright!

It is obvious that human being has an impact on the planet and the natural resources. The show should also mentioned about the growth in the human population....6 billions now, 8 billions in 2020. NatGeo should also teach people to have fewer kids per family. We cannot have +10 kids per family and sustaining this rate worldwide.

I strongly believe in the pro-green aspect of human life, and I'm proud to say that I'm a vegetarian, and live as green as I can. As said in the Matrix, humans are the only creatures that do not live in perfect harmony with their surroundings...other than viruses; we destroy, we burn, and we waste.
I think that it's interesting that humans are the only creatures that use other means of transport than our legs; we're also the only beings whose immune systems generally prevent us from eating uncooked meat.
Have you noticed that humans are not physically equipped for much of anything? We do not have claws or wings, great eyes or noses, etc. We think that we have such great minds, but, honestly, all we do is contaminate, pollute, and kill.

"NatGeo should also teach people to have fewer kids per family. We cannot have +10 kids per family and sustaining this rate worldwide"
from April 20, @4:57, by Frank.

Frank.
I can remember in the 1960's & '70's all the talk about population explosion.
They tried then to do what you're talking about in your post-- reduce how many children people have.
They believed then that by 1990 the planet would run out of resources, and we'd be living in a wasteland, with no resources to feed all the people.
Well, it's 2008, and we're still going strong-- resource wise, and people wise.
I wonder if it'll be the same in another 30 to 40 years.
If you want to stop the population explosion problems, there's only one way to start-- start by removing your own life from the resource drain. I.e., while indeed cruel, kill yourself so others can fill in the gap.

No?

I didn't think so.
But this attitude of-- keep others from having the right to enjoy what you enjoy is not yours to promote.

This is essentially the same thing Hitler wanted to do. I understand other dictators wanted, and continue to want the same thing.
This was my very point when I posted back on the 17th.
People with your attitude will begin coming out of the woodwork, and saying that only certain types, races, or "resource users" people have the right to live.

Are you now saying that?

Are you now saying that humans-- or government has the sole right/power/authority over who lives, and who gets to have children?
I remember a few movies about that. It didn't last long. Fringes rebelled, and sought freedom. In a couple of cases it resulted in the implosion of the sytem that promoted it.
Recently, I've heard talk about a not so new set of ideas known as "societal engineering." At first it sounds like a lot of conspiracy theories developed to explain things that have occurred.
what I found spooky is that the explanations actually made sense.
I don't think there's any question that humans use an extensive amount of resources. But the question has to be asked-- are we allowed to?
Are we allowed to live lives of our own choosing? Or, are we to only serve the greater good of society, and as such only be allowed to make use of a limited quantity, and once we exceed that quantity, suffer the consequences by some form of penal punishment, or banishment from that society? Doesn't that become a dictatorship at that point?
Or perhaps only those with power and wealth have the right to use, and enjoy free lives, while the rest serve the greater needs of society, be sacrificing their own free lives so those with power, and wealth get to enjoy what we all would like to have?

How long dose it take to fill up a landfill???????

what is the most found object in the common landfill

This is one of the worse programs I have ever seen. There is a huge discrepency between NG Magazine and NG Channel. This is an example of that. You know a show lacks substance when the most interesting part of it is "behind the scenes" portion. Seems like most of the show was a shot of things falling , like potatoes from a truck or bananas from a whole in the ceiling. Only briefly do they discuss the actual human impact, and even then, is it good or bad? Renewable or not? What a horrendous show!!! And I wasted an hour of my time watching it!

I really do not think this is a good way to create conscious in people, it does not give any alternatives and/or solutions and also the episode with the eggs, I think is a waste of food.

Jonh.... John..... Do you only think about yourself ? then you are a BIG selffish person because you dont care about our earth and maybe even not for your family put it is your problem!!!!! Would you fix it???

I can understand how and why some veiwers might think this show was a waste, I get that.... but I also know it's about thinking about how we can help. We have to eat. (Most of us) have to and prefer to shower. It's about taking inventory on what we use, and how small things we do can help. One small thing that I am personnally trying to do is to buy as much locally grown and raised food products. Not only does that substantially cut down on fuel used to deliver our food, it is also freasher and tastes better. That's win/win in my book. I'm also trying to research more on how I can cause less harm on the world. I am in no way claiming sainthood, I'm simply trying to reform my personal consumption so I can do my part and try to set a good exsample.

It was an eyeopener for me. I've cleaned out a couple of estates of elderly relatives so I've come face to face and very personal with some of the waste an individual can generate.

Why should we as individuals be entitled to waste anything. Because it's good for the economy??

Sorry I don't buy that. The purchase of unnecessary goods does nothing for the consumer's bottomline, it's lead to many people falling into debt and foreclosure.

I say BRAVO National Geographic!

And I am rational about the whole green thing. I am not throwing out my incandescents until they burn out.

Why purchase anything you don't need?

NatGeo,you are awesome.Thank you to all the dedicated volunteers who made this interesting and alerting show.It'd be great if more came on TV like this one.But you know,America is a hunk of spoiled brats.If the electricity goes off for 5 minutes we pout and go crazy just because we can't watch the rest of ridiculus Hannah Montanah or continue on MySpace.com ect.We all,young and old, rich or poor,proud or humble have a duty to controbute to this one and only earth in some way,even if it's just picking trash off of the ground or switching to recycling.I care greatly for this earth and the humans that inhabit it and for the vanishing wildlife.And hey,to all you people out there who like to waste and don't care,woe is you.And after everythings all said and done,what really matters?Your salvation?where you are going to go after you die?and what you've done good for others and the planet?I am 13 and think heavily on these subjects.Whoever posts on this blog next,please tell me your thoughts on what really matters in life.I am NOT nosey just curious.

There is only one solution that will work; reducing the human population. Reduce your baby count folks, if you love your children you will do it. Parents with large families are definitely not, in any way, wonderful.

Hungry,

THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW TOO! ALL THOSE CARTONS OF MILK SITTING IN THE SUN? ALL THE BREAD USED TOO? HOW MUCH GAS WAS USED TO TRUCK ALL THIS STUFF AROUND AND TO MAKE THIS SHOW?

i think this is a waste of good food and anything else yall use and to the inviromental fanatic whose not dissapering get a life

As to wasting all that food--the eggs were past their sell date, the milk cartons were filled with water--that was later used to water plants--the bananas were fed to pigs, as were some of the other foods. Clothing and appliances were sent to the Salvation Army.
All this was specifically addressed at the end of the show--don't criticize something you obviously were too lazy or inattentive to watch carefully.

Sara

First of all, to Doug... I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but actually, less and less children are being born in most first-world countries. Which makes the fact that these countries use the most resources even sadder. Most of the countries with booming populations are third-world and actually use a lot less.

And remember, people (if no one has said this already): We do not inherit the earth from our parents. We borrow it from our children.

Dear Ms. Vargas,
I love your show"The Human Footprint" I'm doing a project on "The Human Footprint" You inspire me! Thanks!!

hi! bye!

John Doe:

oh, wah!! we leave a "footprint"..... so what! i long for the day that ALL of the idiotic whack-job environmental fanatics who hate the human race disappear!

Being a environmentalist doesn't mean being a wackjob, I know that's what you've been taught by watching idiots chain themselves to trees and generally just engaging in eco-terrorism. That's the extreme side of environmentalism.

Being a environmentalist means you don't want to pollute the water you drink, and that you do wish to lower your risk of cancer. That you don't want our marine food supply to go away completely or be poisoned. Hell, it also means that we hopefully leave this world better of then when we came into it.

Not using all the resources, and leaving the future generations to fend for themselves.

I actually wanted to comment on the actors who played the 25-35 year olds. I thought they did an amazing job and it really made the production. What did everyone else think?

I am so thrilled that so many people have contributed positive and motivational comments - It is a step in the right direction to understand the power that the you, the individual has. Keep it up and eventually the message will reach even the most ignorant. Ignorance is simply lack of knowledge... and the beauty of knowledge is that it can be shared even it it takes perseverance. mel

If you want to save the planet and resources, the answer is NOT recycling your little newspaper or changing out your desk lamp bulb, nor is it car pooling one day a week or using cloth bags instead of plastic for groceries, the answer is STOP BREEDING- ADOPT!! and STOP having 5 kids per couple!!!

hi, someone knows what's the name of the song that sounds ending this special?...it's an opera song.. :/