The Happy Planet Index

an index of human well-being and environmental impact !



Happy Planet Index
Your personal Happy Planet Index (HPI) is 47.7 This is above the UK average, about the same as the world average of 46, but well below the reasonable ideal we have set, of 83. Your score is above that of your country, 40.8.Below is a breakdown of the various components that make up your HPI score.
You:
47.7
Average:
43.5
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Life Expectancy
Congratulations. Your life expectancy is above average for your gender and country. Whether it's eating well, not smoking, getting regular exercise, or just being lucky enough to have the right genes, you're doing something right. However, nobody's perfect and we could all improve our health a little! Aside from getting all the above bits of your lifestyle right, there are some more surprising factors that can influence your life expect - for example, giving up your car, avoiding living alone, moving out of the city or shrugging off stress.
You:
84.5
Average:
80.7
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Ecological Footprint
Your ecological footprint is 4.26 global hectares, or 2.37 planets. This is equivalent to the average in Japan.Your ecological footprint is below average for the country you live in. You are using between and one and a half and three times your share of the planet's resources (assuming no resources are put aside for other species). This is an amount typical of people in many industrialised countries, though just below the average for the UK. As such, if you are living in an industrialised country, you are probably doing some things well and some things not so well in terms of reducing your ecological impact. Seven ways that everyone can reduce their footprint include:

It's obvious, but we have to say it. Conserve energy. Turn off the lights when you leave a room, buy energy-efficient bulbs and appliances, turn off your TV completely, rather than leave it on standby.

Reduce your waste. If there are ways to recycle where you live, try and do so. If you have a garden, start a compost heap. Re-use plastic bags. Give away clothes you don't use, rather than throwing them away. There are hundreds of little things you can do.

Live with someone! Whether it be your partner, family, children or friends, sharing your living space means sharing your ecological impact. It will probably also increase your well-being!

Leave your car in the garage. Car use has a huge impact on ecological footprint. Obviously it's easier for some people than others, but where possible, try to use public transport more. Or, even better, get on a bike, or simply walk!

Go local. Why buy tomatoes from another country, if you can get home grown ones? For those living in Europe - think about all those miles travelled by wine from South Africa and Australia, when Europe produces some of the best wines in the world.

You don't have to become vegetarian, but cutting down on meat, particularly beef, and particularly from animals fed by imported soya feed, is an effective step to reducing your footprint.

It has to be said that air travel is one of the biggest contributors to many people's footprints. For example, flying direct from London to Sydney and back would add 5.44 g ha to your footprint - that's the average Briton's footprint for an entire year. Flights with a connection add even more polluting air miles.
You:
4.26
Average:
5.32
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Life Satisfaction
You reported a life satisfaction of 7, which is about average for many Western countries, including the UK, Spain and Italy. Worldwide, 58% of respondents in the World Values Survey reported a life satisfaction of 7 or lower.
You:
7
Average:
6.75
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Well-being
The new economics foundation (nef) recognises that there's more to life than feeling good, which is why our model for well-being is based on four domains – personal feelings, personal functionings, social feelings and social functionings. 'Feelings' refers to your attitude to the way you, your future and society are. 'Functionings' looks at whether you have the opportunities to do the things that bring you well-being. Like with life satisfaction, a score of 5 is theoretically the middle score, but, given the way most people respond to surveys, is below average.

Personal Feelings
In this online questionnaire, personal feelings are assessed with two questions – one testing your optimism and one testing your self-esteem.
You are very secure about yourself and about your future.
You:
7.58
Average:
6.04
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Personal Functionings
In this online questionnaire personal functionings are assessed with five questions – two evaluating your subjective opinion on your health and how activity you are, the other three testing you for feelings of autonomy, purpose and worth.
You are healthy, active and full of strong feelings of worth, autonomy and purpose.
You:
7.22
Average:
6.15
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Social Feelings
In this online questionnaire social feelings are assessed with four questions – three assessing your opinion of your community, whilst the last looks at personal relationships.
You are unsatisfied with, or perhaps indifferent to, the community within which you live. Sense of community is an important aspect of well-being. It is often lacking simply because there is little engagement taking place, as people lead atomised lives.Another reason for this score, may simply be that you are currently unsatisfied by your personal relationships.
You:
4.78
Average:
5.68
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Social Functionings
In this online questionnaire social functionings are assessed with four questions – two assessing your job / studies, one your free time, and one your community participation. If you did not respond to the work / study questions, your score is judged purely on the other two aspects.
You are very satisfied with your job / course - it is very interesting, rarely stressful, and leaves you plenty of time to do the things you want to do, such as participating in community activities.
You:
6.51
Average:
5.6
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]

Calculations for the Footprint are based on, and are copyright of, Best Foot Forward Limited. Please note that calculations for the Footprint and life expectancy are based on UK statistics. Conversion factors are used for other countries, but these are conservative and may underestimate differences.
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