C02 is a red herring. Sunspot activity correlates more strongly than C02 to mean temperatures. What is the point of this show? To show how wasteful the USA is? BullSh%^! The USA is the cleanest country with the lowest emissions per capita in the world. Don't let this BS propaganda sway you, use critical thinking ability to see through this anti-USA 'mocumentary'...

One more comment here and 'out': Does Elizabeth Vargas suggest here that the USA should stop all child births going forward in this country? What is Elizabeth Vargas? An actress? Umm, Liz, you can go f yourself. Please get off of my TV, preferably forever, Thx.

As a retired professional statistician and engineer, this kind of "numbers for idiots" show really ticks me off. It does nothing to educate anyone, and merely sensationalizes and demonizes a healthy and modern way of life. I've been to many 3rd world countries, and believe me you don't want to descend to that level of subsistence. So get off it.

great show!!!!!!!!! makes me want to go on a diet.

great show!!!!!!!!! makes me want to go on a diet.

great show!!!!!!!!! makes me want to go on a diet.

great show!!!!!!!!! makes me want to go on a diet.

PS: Tell Fat Al to bite me.

I found alot of the information accurate to my own research and informative in the areas where my own studies have been lacking. it is my belief that this show does not 'demonize' the human condition but better explains it in terms even the simplest minded of people should have been able to understand but, from the other comments I have read this may not have been the case. Ms. Vargas, I thought the show was well done and knowledgable, and though I am no Harvard scholar I am sure of the fact of its' accuracy and I cannot wait for the next episode.

Cordially,
LTK

I had been looking forward to The Human Footprint however it is still on and I am can't sit there any longer. Too long, too drawn out. Do we need to look at bananas falling or milk cartons being laid out for 10 minutes? Are you getting to a point!!! other than the US uses too much of everything. Something we all know!

I think the show had potential but my son and I gave up on it after an hour. Too much time spent on each shot, it got boring frankly. That milk shot must have been 5 minutes long, 4:30 longer than it needed to be to make the same point. Also gave me to much time too wonder why NG would waste thousands of milk cartons to do the shot. It seemed irresponsible to me.

Would have liked to see more on what to do to make things better. Obviously, eat less, particularly less protein. Would have also like to see some thought on packaging for instance. I have heard that 80% of what is grown in the US makes it to the consumer where in less developed countries it is a much lower percentage. Part of the difference is in our packaging. Was any thought given to what the balance should be? A show about this would be interesting, at least to me, as it would look at what we should be doing differently.

I had also been looking forward to watching this show but found it so disappointing. What a missed opportunity. This was a chance to show why other nations and cultures have such a smaller footprint than we have. Why not focus on what we need to change both as individuals and as a country?

In watching the Human Footprint show, I was extremely dispointed that the opportunity to focus on the impacts of our overconsumption was ignored in favor of an eye and brain candy presentation. With the world under such environmental stress, it is a shame that the focus was not on CHANGING OUR HABITS.

Not me. I never intend to own a car. Walking, biking, and public transportation for me.

In watching the Human Footprint show, I was extremely disapointed that the opportunity to focus on the impacts of our overconsumption was ignored in favor of an eye and brain candy presentation. With the world under such environmental stress, it is a shame that the focus was not on CHANGING OUR HABITS.

In watching the Human Footprint show, I was extremely disapointed that the opportunity to focus on the impacts of our overconsumption was ignored in favor of an eye and brain candy presentation. With the world under such environmental stress, it is a shame that the focus was not on CHANGING OUR HABITS.

I was disappointed at first, but realized that the show was showing everything we used, which I thought was unnecessary(trying to give the benefit of my huge doubt). I thought the show should show the waste we had in our lives only, not the food we consumed. I was glad to see the food they wasted did go to a good cause(except the eggs), but why was 7-up one of the advertisers. I found that ironic. I feel the companies are to blaim for the majority of this. My computer is a 1999 with Windows 98SE. I am using it now, it works great, but it is now obsolete. I cannot do my taxes on it since the operating system is no longer supported. I do not remember when I bought this that it had an expiration date. Things are made so poorly now that they are not made to last hence the cheap price. I am very disgusted that I am supposed to throw out this perfectly good computer because it is 9 years old and for no other reason. My sisters and brother are one their third Dell and Gateway and E-machine and I am still typing away on my $299.00 computer with no antivirus which I believe is a virus. I think this should be illegal for the big companies to force me out of my computer. I did not think of myself at all as an environmentalist, but it turns out I do not drink soda, will never even get near to spending 52,000 on a wardrobe(Goodwill), have no where near $9,000 in furnishings(and I am decorated and furnished to the hilt). I still do not have a cell phone(personal choice) and I will never have 12 cars in my lifetime. I have done the best I can raising my family on not a lot of money and find my family nice things for good prices. Our splurge is traveling and seeing this great country. Just think of all that American Airlines has contributed to the environment these past couple weeks. Turns out I am tip-toeing through life not leaving much of a footprint at all.

I did enjoy the show, it brought about very good points. The alternatives to overconsumption, however, were not hit on hard enough, in my opinion.

I have to also bring up the layouts of the products mentioned (milk, diapers, newspapers, eggs, bananas, etc). I am glad to hear that everything got recycled...ACCEPT THE EGGS!! I was very disapointed to see how they showed how many we consumed. Having them dropped was a very BIG waste.

All in all, I was pleased with the show. I just hope the people who needed to see it, did. The people who do NOT think about where the products they use come from, and how much waste they actually produce.

I have to agree with the majority of what everyone has written here. It was a good & interesting show, however, TOO LONG. Panning over the milk cartons & the dumping of the eggs took forever! We get the point. I also agree that more of what we need to do to make less of a "footprint" should have been (or should be) addressed. Most people don't care where it came from, how it got to them, or what happens to it once they're done with it - perhaps this presentation of how much we use/waste will open some eyes and encourage people to start being more conscientious and not so wasteful (wishful thinking I know, but if even a handful of people are positively affected that's a step in the right direction!). What I want to know is, they explained what they did with the bananas, but what did they do with the milk cartons, diapers, oranges & everything else? Too wasteful in my opinion (if they salvaged the items that's great, but they should have been more explicit in saying what they did with EVERY item) for a show of it's sort. & even if the eggs were about to expire, I'm surprised to hear they couldn't find ANYONE who would want to eat them (can we send them to a shelter & cook them BEFORE they expire or is smashing thousands of eggs for effect a better use?)

I also have to add to my previous comment that recycling is mandatory where I live. I find it is a pain in the butt to rinse out containers, but I do it and have been doing it. It amazes me how many long term guests I have had that do not get it. I get so mad the repeated questions about is this recyclable, is that? Or the bag of garbage brought in from the car with soda bottles in it and I end up having to dig through garbage. I did not go to college and get a degree in recycling so I don't understand what is so hard to get. It is not rocket science. I also want to know how much my waste will be after doing this for the last 50 years of my life. How much energy am I saving and why can't it be mandatory everywhere.

I get it. Anyone posting here obviously has enough between their ears to understand this, but think about that person you work with that is out of touch with our waste. Sometimes the eye candy gets used on other media formats and helps spread the message. Besides, it is hard to ignore that we here in the U.S. like to waste things. Kudos to those wanting more info on how to change that. Yeah, parts were longer than needed, but thanks NG for investing in education!

Human Footprint: What a drag. It sounded like Elizabeth Vargas was reprimanding kids in school. "Give me a break!"

Watched the second hour of this "scolding" from Elizabeth Vargas. UGH!

Now that she has presented us with the "problem" how are "we" going to arrive at a "solution?" Oh, I know, stop consuming and bring the world to a stop! All a bunch of hogwash. The world will survive as it has for millions of years!

I liked the show. I was able to catch some tips mentioned to reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere, which is the cause of global warming. I think we all could reduce the amount of electricity we use in our homes, which would save on CO2 in the atmosphere. We should change out our lightbulbs, to the energy efficient ones,which they have proved that in the long run, not only saves energy but money too. Recycle as much paper, glass, cans,and plastic as possible, and I agree that our government should help us out with that.
Finally, as far as vehicles, we Americans are not at fault, but rather the government failing to adopt any other options, especially in cities. In other countries, there is less vehicles on the road. But for now, we just have to not drive as much and buy hybrid vehicles, which will save us $.

I actually liked the show, even though I must admit it was long. It showed us how much we use and even though I agree that they should of concentrated more on how we are going to fix things rather than how badly we've screwed things up, all in all it really shocked the viewer into opening their eyes to how much we affect the environment, even if they just watched 20 minutes of it. Maybe there will be a second part which shows us what we can do to make our wrongs rights.

Can someone please tell me where I can find out what happened to all of the product they displayed on this show? How can you dispose of that many rubber ducks when your show is about waste we create?

Oh my God!!! You supid buffoons must all be americans. And please no offense to those wonderful Americans that produced this and recognize the folly. My comments are to those who have blogged and this if my first time - normally I just don't bother with the ridiculousness of this internet crap - frankly I do have better things to do , but personally I was so impressed with your show, not because it was horrifying (and yet it was) and not because it was enlightning (and yet it was) It is becaue you delivered it in a way that I Pray...and I don't do this often. That it would reach the idiots that just aren't getting it. You were in my opinion very conservative, but if anyone can do math...at least a bit of math...they SHOULD get it.

HOWEVER HERE IS WHAT I THINK OF THE FIRST PAGE OF COMMENTARY I READ ON THE BLOG, I APOLOGIZE TO THOSE OF YOU THAT I DID NOT READ AND THAT GET IT.

HERE IS WHAT I SAID......

My god are you all so stupid that you didn't get that this just isn't about an interesting show....that this is about everything that all of us do, about everything, EVERYTHNG WE DO IN OUR LIVES and not only that. PLEASE JUST THINK FOR A MOMENT, THINK ABOUT all our invigorization of the Chinese economy. What happens when you the american consuming and obviously oblivious public are not the only alpha consumer on the planet. Did you not get the point that you consume 25% of the planets resources, THE PLANET!!!!!!!! not walmart. YOU are only 5% of the Consumers. JUST IMAGINE WHEN 200 BILLION chinese want exactly the same STUFF that you do!!!! Do you guys truly not get this????? Frankly the only comment I can make to NG is Bravo... you completely spelled it out to those of us who could get it, and likely we already had atleast to some degree. I applaud your 'conservatisim 'in hopes of reaching the many- because JO BOB is just a little bit slow.... Because I too hoped that they...above would get it....However I am interested in only this. Proliferating the education and ultimately the message. There is a phenomenal amount of things to do...As a resident of this planet

Oh my God!!! You supid buffoons must all be americans. And please no offense to those wonderful Americans that produced this and recognize the folly. My comments are to those who have blogged and this if my first time - normally I just don't bother with the ridiculousness of this internet crap - frankly I do have better things to do , but personally I was so impressed with your show, not because it was horrifying (and yet it was) and not because it was enlightning (and yet it was) It is becaue you delivered it in a way that I Pray...and I don't do this often. That it would reach the idiots that just aren't getting it. You were in my opinion very conservative, but if anyone can do math...at least a bit of math...they SHOULD get it.

HOWEVER HERE IS WHAT I THINK OF THE FIRST PAGE OF COMMENTARY I READ ON THE BLOG, I APOLOGIZE TO THOSE OF YOU THAT I DID NOT READ AND THAT GET IT.

HERE IS WHAT I SAID......

My god are you all so stupid that you didn't get that this just isn't about an interesting show....that this is about everything that all of us do, about everything, EVERYTHNG WE DO IN OUR LIVES and not only that. PLEASE JUST THINK FOR A MOMENT, THINK ABOUT all our invigorization of the Chinese economy. What happens when you the american consuming and obviously oblivious public are not the only alpha consumer on the planet. Did you not get the point that you consume 25% of the planets resources, THE PLANET!!!!!!!! not walmart. YOU are only 5% of the Consumers. JUST IMAGINE WHEN 200 BILLION chinese want exactly the same STUFF that you do!!!! Do you guys truly not get this????? Frankly the only comment I can make to NG is Bravo... you completely spelled it out to those of us who could get it, and likely we already had atleast to some degree. I applaud your 'conservatisim 'in hopes of reaching the many- because JO BOB is just a little bit slow.... Because I too hoped that they...above would get it....However I am interested in only this. Proliferating the education and ultimately the message. There is a phenomenal amount of things to do...As a resident of this planet

The only 'other' thing I want to say is what can I do, what can I teach, I am willing and effective - let me know.

After seeing only half of this show I now realize how liberal NGC is. Americans apparently are FULLY to blame for global warming. however
I see the best buy tag on your home page header whats up with that. I am now inspired to get legislation written for a national assisted suicide bill for all of you who feel you are making to big of a carbon foot print.

After watching this program (which was an hour too long), one has to wonder...okay National Geographic, why did you have to use real products for demonstration purposes? I know they mentioned that the bananas were fed to pigs and that the milk containers were filled with water, but what a waste. The bananas that would have normally been consumed by humans, they had been fed to pigs. Why wasn't their footprint included? I know pigs aren't usually fed ripe bananas, but they were fed this time with perfectly good bananas that humans would have normally eaten. Now about the milk cartons...even though they were filled with water, they were produced with paper, ink, electricity etc, thus wasted resources just for sensationalism! The cartons may have been recycled, but then what? I believe they said the eggs were out dated, but since I'm not an egg producer, I find that hard to believe that that many eggs could be found where they were filming and would be out dated. Plus, you had the oranges and potatoes, another waste of perfectly good food that would have to be replaced for human consumption because they were taken out of the retail chain.

Early on, they talked about potatoes and our consumption of them and during the second hour they mentioned them again for potatoes chips. Once would have been enough.

The producer said early on in the program that they chose to use real products rather then animation. I'm no tree hugger, but to me, many of the items could have been digitally replicated and would have achieved the same effect.

BTW, for the person questioning the waste of the "rubber ducks", the producer mentioned that the company supplying them took them back for reuse.

Bottom line, many of the products shown are recyclable, renewable and/or reusable (like water), thus not a big waste in my eyes. The biggies would be the non-renewable's like oil and coal. But most literate folks already know about that. Next time National Geographic, use less time and resources to get your point across AND provide recommended solutions to your perceived problems.

I thought that the show itself was very wasteful. Yeah they said that the eggs were about to expire but the milk and the oranges sure weren't. Were all of the rubber ducks pre-manufactured? What a disappointment. Shame on you National Geographic. How much oil, gas, food, & electricity did you waste making this show?

Wow, way to contribute nothing to any environmental discussion. The contention of this show appears to be that human beings consume natural resources. Yes, we do. More specificly, it seems to contend that Americans consume a great deal of natural resources. This is certainly goundbreaking! Wait...no. The amount of x a person consumes in their lifetime is so abstract that it means nothing to that person. Without comparative estimates it's just numbers without meaning or context.

your waisting food to show us how much food we waist! Where's the logic in that, you could of given that to a 3rd world country where they could of used it. Also you do put America down, we have alot of people, so when you crunch your numbers don't compare us to a country with 40 or so million people. Were just under the Entire E.U. in Population, yet bigger in land area so do an entire show on them. Thanx.

Last Thing to say, and I'm off your channel and over to the History Channel. You say on average for your numbers. maybe some of us won't drink that much beer! I might, but alot of people don't. In fact all of your statistics are "on average" We have vegetarians, lactose intolerance, and people who can't afford all the crap you say we buy. like all those appliances! I like alot of your shows, but I agree with everybody else on this. Show me what we can do, don't give me all these visuals of what I waste, just scroll the numbers across the screen and get on with the show. Other than that quit bashing America with this show.

I am a 6th grade teacher in HI. After reading Time for Kids this week and looking at the blurb about the show the Human footprint, one of my students had a question. SHe stated that the show angers her and her mom becuase they feel it is wasteful. What happens to all of the Milk, bread, diapers, clothes, and other items? Where did they come from? Please comment we are very curious.

Thanks
Mrs. Robbins
6th Grade Class

I agree that it was a waste of a lot of things, including time.. To me it seemed like it was produced by one of those "not really news" news show, overly stretched out segments and like trying to make news out of something that is pretty obvious.

What was the point? We still need to eat, to buy groceries, etc. They could've achieved their purpose without so much waste and time, mine especially.

dude your a fagot get a life