Earth Overshoot Day marks the date each year when humanity has used all the ecological resources that Earth regenerates during that entire year.
This year, Earth Overshoot Day falls on 28 July
In other words, if we were to live sustainably on this planet we would take a year or more to use the ecological resources that the Earth can regenerate in that year. Instead, this year, we will have consumed those resources in 208 days. That means that for the rest of the year we will be drawing on “capital” resources and reducing the the planet’s capacity to support life for the following year.
Another way of looking at it is that, when we were living within the Earth’s biocapacity we only needed the one Earth in order to supply our wants. Now, if we were to be able to sustain our wants, we would need 1.75 Earths.
But of course, there is no Planet B.
In order to #MoveTheDate, in order to allow all life to thrive within the means of our planet, we need to act.
We need to differentiate between our wants and our needs. We need to learn to live with enough rather than too much.
Maybe we should take a lesson from the People of Israel in the wilderness as they journeyed from the slavery of Egypt to the Promised Land. Maybe we should learn what is enough and praise God for “our daily bread”.
You can read more on the Earth Overshoot Day website and on the Joy in Enough website.