ABSTRACT
The idea of the ecological footprint dates from the 1990s when two Canadian academics put forward the metaphor as a means of bringing home to people the impact that they were having on the ability of the Earth's biosphere to support life. The Global Footprint Network says that an ecological footprint is a comparison of the demands we make on nature and its capacity to meet such demands through biological productivity. In this, the size of the footprint represents the productive area required to provide for personal and social living. Goleman says that such positive psychology could encourage communities to drive sustainability as an idea. Some see footprints and handprints as complementary, and that the aim ought to be to have a larger handprint than footprint. The Sustainable Development Goals are one means of helping the first of these to happen, without leading to an increase in our global carbon footprint.
