Originally, Alaskans acquired almost everything they needed locally – including clothing made from hides, hair, feathers, fur and fiber; food hunted, harvested and gathered; and shelter, heat and transportation provided by trees. Resources were produced and consumed locally with very little waste.
Many Alaskans still practice traditional ways and rely on Alaska’s wild food resources, requiring deep local knowledge of landscape, weather, seasonal cycles, ecology of resources and acquisition, preservation and storage of foods.
Modern Indigenous Alaskans continue to nurture deep connections to places and processes they have known and used for millennia. Such intimate knowledge is vital for their communities to thrive. Knowledge of resource locations, abundance and timing are all woven into stories, songs, dances and art.
Providing nutritious, locally acquired food is one of Alaska’s greatest gifts. But it’s not as easy as driving to the local market and
filling up your cart. It requires a substantial investment of time and energy – neither of which is cheap in remote Alaska villages.
Apart from food, Alaskans rely daily on material goods – our computers, TVs, cars, and our household appliances. All of these goods require raw material resources and use a significant amount of energy in both production and transportation to Alaska.
To gain a better understanding of our degree of consumption and the amount of resources needed to support our lifestyles, we use the term ecological footprint. An ecological footprint is a measure of how much land, water, and resources are required to support the lifestyle and consumption of an individual or population.
A more resource-intensive lifestyle results in a larger ecological footprint. By estimating our footprint we can assess how much impact we have on the earth’s resources and ecosystems, gain a better understanding of a product or activity’s true cost, and discover ways we can change our lifestyles to reduce or eliminate negative impacts. In addition to measuring our ecological footprint, we gain a better understanding of our consumption and energy use by tracking specific items to their origin.
In calculating the impacts of our consumption, it is important to remember that there are significant environmental and social impacts associated with the extraction, transportation, and use of resources and energy. Environmental impacts include land degradation, intensive water usage, use of nonrenewable resources, and use of toxic chemicals and pesticides.
Social impacts address community and labor conditions, including fair wages, safe working conditions and adequate protections for workers and communities.
Environmental and social impacts are termed “external costs” or “externalities” because they are born by society at large and not the individual consumer.