Environmetal footprint calculators for food in education and an introduction of Nutritional Footprint as a tool for supporting sustainable food consumption
Abstract
The study deals with the concept of environmental footprints and their publicly available calculators (typically web applications) in Czech language in Czechia with a specific focus on food consumption. The first part of the study comprises a review of existing calculators, their characteristics, most common shortcomings and their use in education and outreach from the point of view of published peer-reviewed studies.
The second half of the article then introduces the concept of Nutritional Footprint as a tool for supporting environmentally sustainable and healthy eating and the development of a new educational tool in Czech language associated with it, a Nutritional Footprint Calculator. The Nutritional Footprint concept is then discussed in the context of other more commonly used environmental footprints and their calculators (ecological, carbon, water footprints).
Last but not least, future potential research for effective use of calculators in environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) is outlined.