Earth Overshoot Day and Sustainability

Sustainability. It is a word heard but easily dismissed from our lives due to the easy access to unlimited food, water, and medicine. Many deny the existence of a limit on our resources because they are not confronted with a view of a forest line cut straight across with a razor or of the amount of land wasted on acre after acre of cows and the corn we grow to feed these cows. Instead, we turn our head to the window and enjoy the view of imported trees nourished by imported water. But, as the Global Footprint Network has calculated, the limit on our resources is very real and is becoming an ever more present problem.

The Global Footprint Network is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging sustainable practices. It reports on the ecological footprint of many countries and even has a calculator to determine your own, personal footprint.

In October 2006, the Global Footprint Network calculated the very first Earth Overshoot Day. Since then, this day has moved up in the calendar more and more with each year. While many people would celebrate an earlier Christmas, we cannot rejoice as Earth Overshoot Day climbs the calendar. This is because Earth Overshoot Day is a calculation of what day human consumption of resources has surpassed the allocated amount or that year deemed sustainable. This calculation is received through a simple equation where Earth’s available resources are divided by humanity’s ecological footprint and then multiplied by the days in the year. Since 2006, Earth Overshoot Day has risen from October to September to August. This year, the day was determined to be around August 8.

Sustainability involves a balance between resources expended and resources gained. One argument many critics have is that nature will eventually correct itself and balance itself out. This common belief is untrue because the rate of consumption of humanity has far surpassed the rate of recovery of the planet. Unsustainable practices can include aggressive over fishing in the oceans, mass consumption of goods that are almost always eventually trashed, and the use of large areas of land for unsustainable and unhealthy food.

Unsustainable practices also leads to a large imbalance in different parts of the world. According to Kelsey Kennedy, in their article “As of today, we have used up all the Earth’s resources for 2016,” it would take 5.4 planets to support Earth’s population if we consumed resources as quickly as Australia and only 0.7 of Earth to support the population if we consumed resources as slowly as India. This imbalance occurs in food supply today. If the time and money spent on growing food for our beef and pork was reinvested in growing food for humans themselves, not only would methane emissions plummet, but it would be possible to feed the entire world.

Action to combat our rising resource waste has been taken by many countries throughout the world. Last December, around 200 countries agreed to attempt to limit carbon emissions so that the atmosphere would not rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius. The United Nations have included goals for sustainability in cities, creating more sustainable practices, acting against climate change, conserving our oceans and seas, and restoring terrestrial ecosystems.

While these large long-term goals are exciting and good, they won’t be enough if regular people do not change their own habits. Even eating a vegetarian meal once a week can go a long way in encouraging a sustainable society and culture. Carpooling or biking instead of driving your own personal car can reduce carbon emissions. And recycling to reduce the buildup of trash and plastic in landfills can help save land and trees.

It can be difficult to recognize a problem one cannot see in front of them from day to day but, if action is not taken soon, Earth Overshoot Day will definitely be moving closer and closer to January. As a Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” Stopping the decline of our environment will not be without sacrifices but, in the end, it is worth it to live on this small blue pocket of life in the endless void we call space.

Sources: As of today, we have used up all the Earth’s resources for 2016, Earth Overshoot Day, Sustainable Development Goals

Photo credit: Gui Seiz via Foter.com / CC BY-SA

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