What is Ecological Footprint?

Ecological footprint is used to measure an individual's or society's use of natural resources and their impact on the environment. It is evaluated by comparing it with biocapacity. Biocapacity refers to the ability of an ecosystem to produce natural resources, absorb waste, and provide ecosystem services. The ecological footprint shows whether individuals or societies have a level of consumption that exceeds biocapacity.

How is Ecological Footprint Calculated?

The ecological footprint is calculated by linking a person's or society's consumption of energy, water, food, transportation, and other resources with the waste produced. Ecological footprint calculations also include various factors such as resource use, energy consumption, transportation, eating habits, housing, and waste management. As a result of the calculation, data such as the extent to which individuals and societies consume natural resources annually or in a certain period and how much impact they have on the environment are revealed.

Ecological footprint calculations are considered important data for raising awareness of environmental sustainability and resource management. The calculations aim to help individuals and societies understand how they affect the environment and take steps to reduce these impacts.

What Happens If the Ecological Footprint Increases?

An increased ecological footprint indicates that an individual or society's consumption of natural resources has increased. This can lead to various negative impacts.

Resource Depletion: When limited resources such as water, energy resources, and agricultural land are consumed at a faster rate, resource shortages arise in the future.

Biodiversity Loss: Increasing ecological footprint puts more pressure on natural ecosystems, leading to deforestation, habitat loss, and ecosystem degradation.

Climate Change: Excessive consumption of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions are known to be associated with climate change. Increasing ecological footprint contributes to accelerating climate change and increasing its negative impacts.

How to Reduce Ecological Footprint?

Reducing the ecological footprint starts with energy savings. Reducing the use of electrical devices is considered the most important measure. Since transportation is also an area where fossil fuels are used intensively, it significantly reduces the ecological footprint. It is recommended to use public transportation and to prefer environmentally friendly vehicles.

Living in sustainable housing, saving water, and being a conscious consumer are also important steps to reduce our ecological footprint. Waste management and recycling are also among the measures we can all take in this regard.

Borusan Cat and Ecological Footprint

At Borusan Cat, reducing our ecological footprint is among the issues we focus on the most. In line with our company’s purpose statement, "We Create Solutions for a Better World", we continue to develop projects to protect natural resources, ensure energy efficiency and recycle in the most efficient way.

With the composite pallets we use in our Ankara location, we avoid the need to cut trees for wooden pallets. We save much more than the investment cost on an annual basis with the improvements we make to our Gebze CRC facility, such as electricity tariff changes, and weather system improvements, which are low in cost and high in environmental benefits.

Thanks to our energy transformation projects, we have managed to reduce over 3,100 tons of carbon emissions and continue developing and implementing new ideas to further reduce emissions. In our revision centers, we extend the life of old parts and recycle over 6,500 tons of metal. We believe in the value of reducing our ecological footprint for the future.

We continue to increase the importance we attach to energy transformation with the projects we produce in line with our company’s purpose statement, "'We Create Solutions for a Better World'". We see it as our duty to strive for our tomorrow to be better than today and we are confident to achieve our sustainability goals!

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