The earth gives us its resources, but we take more than it gives. It is therefore necessary that we wake up and understand that taking and giving must be in balance so that Overshoot Day no longer has any right to exist.

What is Earth Overshoot Day?

Resources are not unlimited. Renewable raw materials are only available to the extent that they can regenerate. If they do not have the appropriate time for this, the person consumes more than can be made available to him again through regeneration. Chaos is inevitable. Under the term "Earth Overshoot Day" is understood to mean the day of a year on which humanity has used up all natural resources that can be restored and made usable by nature within a year. This year falls Earth Overshoot Day, which is also known colloquially as Overshoot or Earth overload day is referred to as August 01nd. If we look at how this day moves forward by a few days with each passing year, it becomes clear that we can no longer carry on as before.

In which direction is the critical day shifting?

The Global Footprint Network, a non-profit organization, has launched an annual calculation of World Depletion Day, an action that is intended to remind us that there is an equal give and take in nature. Anyone who doesn't follow this rule and lives beyond their own means will have to bear the consequences. The deadline changes from year to year. This year it falls on August 02nd. Last year the resources were exhausted on July 28th. If we go back a little further, we see the following balance:

  • 2023 - August 02st
  • 2022 - July 28
  • 2021 - July 29th
  • 2020 - August 22st
  • 2019 - July 29th
  • 2018 - August 1st
  • 2017 - August 2st
  • 2016 - August 8st
  • 2015 - August 13st
  • 2014 - August 19st

The trend is clear and shows that we are using up the resources available to us every year more and more quickly without creating the corresponding reserves. It is possible that the effects of this behavior will no longer affect us, our children and grandchildren definitely will.

Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay

How is the World Exhaustion Day date calculated?

In order to determine exactly to the day when the annual resources are used up, the earth's biocapacity has to be determined. First, the yields of productive land areas are determined. At the same time, it is calculated to what extent the ecosystem can dispose of the human-produced waste. The resulting value is set in relation to the so-called ecological footprint, which means the resources that are required each year. The day on which the requirements exceed the actual availability of resources can be determined from all parameters.

The overshoot day of individual countries in an international comparison

The imbalance between available resources and consumption above that occurred for the first time on December 21.12.1971, XNUMX. This year the date falls on 1. August. That is 5 months earlier than 50 years ago. Let's take a look at the statistics to see which countries are at the forefront of this negative trend.

Auf dem american continent America and Canada are among the top consumers, while Mexico only has its World Exhaustion Day at the end of the second half of the year.

In the European countries all dates are before August. Only Albania, Ukraine and Moldova have a date in the second half of the year (Albania and Ukraine in September, Moldova in December).

In Africa Mauritius and Reunion Island come first when it comes to the imbalance between resource consumption and natural resources.

These statistics can be justified with the gross domestic product of a country - the lower the standard of living, the less is consumed. In Europe, Luxembourg is very negative, because the World Exhaustion Day of this country is already in February, closely followed by Denmark with a deadline in March. This means that it would take 12 earths to meet the needs of Luxembourg alone. But that is beyond healthy thinking. This fact is due to a large carbon footprint. In Luxembourg, there is also the fact that the country has the lowest share of renewable resources in all of Europe. Denmark has the highest car density and also produces the largest amount of waste per person per year in Europe.

Are there also countries without Overshoot Day?

They are few in number, but they do exist - countries that use fewer or as many resources as nature makes available to them. In Africa, many of these countries are located south of the Sahara, and on the American continent, the ecological balance is maintained in Honduras, Jamaica and Haiti. In Asia, for example, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, North Korea and the Philippines are at the forefront when it comes to a balanced relationship between give and take. Since these are mostly poorer countries, the claim that low consumption uses the fewest resources is confirmed.

Reasons for reaching Earth Overshoot Day earlier from year to year

  • Unchanged high CO2 emissions that did not exist 150 years ago
  • Deforestation, which allows the CO2 stored there to escape into the atmosphere
  • Food waste
  • Garbage generation

Can the relationship be brought back into balance?

People often only change when it hurts physically or becomes existentially threatening. It is therefore questionable how many people will wake up in time and face the necessary changes. But what can be done?

Put an end to food waste

A third of all food produced is not used. If only half of the resources used for this were unused, Earth Overshoot Day would be postponed by two weeks.

Reduce CO2 emissions from traffic

Traffic and transport routes cause CO2 emissions. If this amount can be halved, Earth Overshoot Day could also be postponed by two weeks and resource consumption would be reduced. To do this, people would have to do without the car, cover their distances using muscle power and also think about alternatives with regard to the annual holiday flights.

Lowering meat consumption

A plant-based diet is not only healthier for humans, it also helps to save resources. Enormous amounts of grazing land and fodder must be made available for meat production. If meat consumption could be reduced by half, resources could be saved for a further 17 days.

Economical use of water - resource-saving watering

One of the most important resources for all of our lives worldwide is water. Not all people still have access to sufficiently clean trick water. And this situation is being progressed through Climate change reinforce. In our regions, which historically have not exactly been characterized by major water shortages, it can be seen that water is becoming a scarce resource due to the increasing uneven distribution of precipitation in the form of longer and longer dry periods and precipitation that occurs more and more frequently as heavy rain. The dry summers of recent years have meant that in some regions the groundwater levels are falling continuously and are no longer able to regenerate sufficiently. In some regions it was even so severe that the water supply through the mains network collapsed in some cases during dry periods. At the same time, we need more and more water to irrigate our plants - including our trees - during dry periods. Therefore, water-saving methods of watering our trees and plants are becoming increasingly important. The irrigation variant that can save the most water is the so-called drip irrigation. If you want to support the trees in your garden or the city trees on your street during longer periods of drought and protect them from drought stress, you will find ours Tree watering bags therefore an ideal opportunity to water trees by means of drip irrigation, saving water and time.

Watering trees to save water by means of drip irrigation with tree irrigation bags

#MoveTheDate

Positive changes can also begin on a private level by thinking more consciously about our lives. Do we really have to consume everything that comes into our field of perception or are there not countless possibilities in our everyday life to live better in harmony with nature? We have families, children and grandchildren who will inhabit the world after us. So let's make sure that the blue planet can still exist in abundance and beauty.

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