Ecological Rucksack

By Ismael Gil
 What is it?
Ecological Rucksack is the total quantity of
natural material that was moved or disturbed in
order to produce one product. It is measured in
kg minus the actual weight of the product.
Ecological Rucksack represents the degree of
stress exerted by goods on the environment.
 How is it calculated?
It is calculated by subtracting the weight of the
product from the material intensity (MI) of the
product or service

ER = W -
MI
 ER = W - MI

ER represents the ecological rucksack

 ER = W - MI

W represents the weight of the product

 ER = W - MI

MI represents the material intensity.

 Materials Displaced

Materials displaced are put into 5 categories.

 1) Abiotic raw materials
Abiotic components or materials are non-living
chemical and physical parts of the environment
that affect living organisms and the functioning
of ecosystems. Things like gases, minerals, and
liquids.
 2) Biotic raw materials
Biotic components or materials are the living
things in the environment. These are animals,
trees, and other materials that contain carbon
and are capable of decay.
 3) Moved soil
This includes agriculture and forestry. Mining is
a big example of damage caused in order to
extract a material.
 4) Water

The water that is being displaced to clean

materials or displaced to extract materials.
 5) Air
Fresh air that is being displaced by creating a
product. These can be fumes from a factory to
the carbon dioxide coming out of cars for
transportation of products.
 Ecological Rucksack of common
materials
Diamonds- 53,000,000kg:1kg
Gold-540,000kg:1kg
Steel- 21kg:1kg
Rubber- 5kg:1kg

Keep in mind that 1kg is equal to 2.2 pounds

 Reducing Ecological Rucksack
We can reduce the effects of ecological rucksack
by using recycled materials. They still have an
ecological rucksack but it is far less than
unrecycled materials. For example the ecological
rucksack for aluminum is 85:1 (85 kg materials
moved for every 1 kg of aluminum obtained),
but when recycled the ecological rucksack is
only around 3.5:1. That is a big difference.
 Reducing Ecological Rucksack
Another way of reducing ecological rucksack is
by using alternative materials that have a lower
ecological rucksack to produce products. This is
crucial because the more we use a product and
the more we extract it from the earth the more
rare it becomes. For example, copper has moved
from an ecological rucksack of 1:1 when copper
nuggets were easy to find to 500:1 where
copper is being extracted from places that are
harder to get to.
 Conclusion
Ecological Rucksack is a concept that was created to
measure the amount of natural material that is
moved to produce one product. It is carried by
every product from when it was extracted to when
it was used by the consumer. It is essential to
reduce the production of these products in order to
preserve our natural resources and in the long run
to preserve our own existence. Using recycled
products and materials is ideal but what is best is to
produce less and consume less.