The day came and passed without
much ado. September 23, 2008. Why is it special? It is the day that the earth’s demand surpasses nature’s budget
for the year. It is an unfortunate milestone each year, one that began in 1986, and is getting earlier each year. Hopefully
it is a milestone that can be reversed…soon.
What does this mean? How is it calculated? Just like your household or any company, the earth has a budget. The earth’s
budget is how much it can provide and how much it can absorb every year. In 2008, the earth’s population will use 140%
of earth’s budget. Another way of saying this is the earth’s population now requires the equivalent of 1.4 earths
to supply our needs. Our supply of natural resources is dwindling at an unprecedented rate and is not being renewed fast enough.
Earth Overshoot Day is a concept devised
by NEF (The New Economics Foundation) to calculate humanity’s demand on cropland, pasture, forests, fisheries, etc.,
and it compares this with what the earth can provide. The formula is simple: [world bio-capacity / world
Ecological Footprint] x 365 = Ecological Debt Day.
Put simply, we are in debt. Continual debt on the earth will lead to scenario’s we do not want to even think
about…but we must. If we do not want to see a barren earth, even if it is not in our lifetime, then we must set forth
on a path to lower our demand and let the earth recover.
I would like to challenge each
of you to think about your demands on the earth, and what you have done to help replenish what you have taken. Think about
what you use at your house…can you use cloth napkins or towels instead of throw away items? Do you waste food items?
Do you garden? Do you plant trees? What can you do to make a difference?
Without our mother and father, we wouldn’t be here.
Without our ancestors, our mother and
father wouldn’t be here.
Without
the earth, none of us would be here.
~ An American Indian Saying
