Overshoot day

The 29th of July was Earth Overshoot Day 2019. It is the day for this year when human consumption has outstripped what the planet can reproduce. We will have devoured a year’s worth of resources, such as water, fossil fuels and fibres like cotton, to produce everything from the food on our plates to the clothes we’re wearing and the gas in our cars in seven months. 

Basically that means that from the 29th of July until the 31st of December, we are in debt with our planet.  Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international research organisation that observes humanity’s use of natural materials, as well as the environmental damage they cause. As humans use more and more of the Earth’s natural resources, this date is arriving sooner each year.

You will know the small steps you can take to chip away at your impact on the planet: walking and cycling, planting a tree, reducing use of plastic, not wasting food and eating more vegetables.

Making substantial change is beyond the individual though. We have a system that uses up resources, creates products using those resources and distributes them. Often they are not durable so they are thrown away. I like the example of bottled water. We all did fine without water in plastic bottles 25 years ago.

It is the youth striking for climate change that gives me great hope for substantial change for the future. One of the things they want is governments to declare a climate and ecological emergency and act to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

This movement is now building worldwide with tremendous speed and is our best way of avoiding climate catastrophe. For a peaceful mass movement to succeed, only 3.5% of the population need to mobilise. That’s achievable. The success of this mobilisation depends on us. To help it reach the critical threshold you can join Extinction Rebellion Wairarapa on Facebook.

Jude Brown