8 • The Southwest Portland Post
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Dear EarthTalk: I read that a
single child born in the U.S. has a
greater effect on the environment
than a dozen children born in a de-
veloping country? Can you explain
why?
– Josh C., via e-mail
It is well known that Americans
consume far more natural resources
and live much less sustainably than
people from any other large country
of the world.
“A฀child฀born฀in฀the฀United฀States฀
will create thirteen times as much
ecological damage over the course
of his or her lifetime than a child
born in Brazil,” reports the Sierra
Club’s Dave Tilford, adding that
the average American will drain
as many resources as 35 natives of
India and consume 53 times more
goods and services than someone
from China.
Tilford cites a litany of sobering
statistics showing just how profli-
gate Americans have been in using
and abusing natural resources. For
example, between 1900 and 1989
U.S.฀ population฀ tripled฀ while฀ its฀
use of raw materials grew by a fac-
tor of 17.
“With less than 5 percent of world
population,฀the฀U.S.฀uses฀one-third฀
of the world’s paper, a quarter of the
world’s oil, 23 percent of the coal,
27 percent of the aluminum, and
19 percent of the copper,” Tilford
reports.
“Our per capita use of energy,
metals, minerals, forest products,
fish, grains, meat, and even fresh
water dwarfs that of people living
in the developing world.”
Tilford฀ adds฀ that฀ the฀ U.S.฀ ranks฀
highest in most consumer catego-
ries by a considerable margin, even
among industrial nations.
To wit, American fossil fuel con-
sumption is double that of the
average resident of Great Britain
and two and a half times that of
With less than 5 percent of world population, the United States of America uses
a third of the world’s paper, a quarter of the oil, coal and aluminum, and 19
percent of the copper. The USA ranks highest by a considerable margin in most
consumer categories as well. (Photo courtesy of Comstock/Thinkstock)
the average Japanese. Meanwhile,
Americans account for only five per-
cent of the world’s population but
create half of the globe’s solid waste.
Americans’ love of the private
automobile constitutes a large part
of their poor ranking. The Na-
tional Geographic Society’s annual
Greendex analysis of global con-
sumption habits finds that Ameri-
cans are least likely of all people
to use public transportation—only
seven percent make use of transit
options for daily commuting.
Likewise, only one in three Ameri-
cans walks or bikes to their destina-
tions, as opposed to three-quarters
of Chinese. While China is becom-
ing the world’s leader in total
consumption of some commodities
(coal,฀copper,฀etc.),฀the฀U.S.฀remains฀
the per capita consumption leader
for most resources.
Overall, National Geographic’s
Greendex found that American
consumers rank last of 17 countries
surveyed in regard to sustainable
behavior.
Furthermore, the study found that
U.S.฀consumers฀are฀among฀the฀least฀
likely to feel guilty about the impact
they have on the environment, yet
they are near to top of the list in
believing that individual choices
could make a difference.
Paradoxically, those with the
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lightest environmental footprint
are also the most likely to feel both
guilty and disempowered.
“In what may be a major discon-
nect between perception and behav-
ior, the study also shows that con-
sumers who feel the guiltiest about
their impact—those in China, India
and Brazil—actually lead the pack
in sustainable consumer choices,”
says National Geographic’s Terry
Garcia, who coordinates the annual
Greendex study.
“That’s despite Chinese and In-
October 2012
dian consumers also being among
the least confident that individual
action can help the environment.”
Readers can discover how they
stack up by taking a survey on
National Geographic’s Greendex
website. But brace yourself if you
are a typical American: You might
not like what you find out about
yourself.
Contacts: Sierra Club’s “Sustain-
able Consumption,” www.sierra-
club.org/sustainable_consumption;
National Geographic Society’s
Greendex, www.nationalgeograph-
ic.com/greendex.
EarthTalk® is written and edited by
Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a
registered trademark of E - The Envi-
ronmental Magazine (www.emagazine.
com). Send questions to: earthtalk@
emagazine.com.