Earth Overshoot Day is an annual reminder to us all that we’re sharing a planet with a limited capacity to absorb our collective impact. Earth Overshoot Day (also referred to as Ecological Debt Day) marks the point in the year where we, as collective tenants of the planet, consume more than the Earth can annually renew or provide.
Earth's Biocapacity
Earth Overshoot Day is the point in the year when the approximate global footprint exceeds the approximate annual global biocapacity. Consumption surpasses the earth’s capacity for the entire year, and we start (or rather continue) living beyond our global means.
Curious to learn more? For anyone unfamiliar, I encourage you to take a few minutes to visit the Overshoot Day website, discover what Earth Overshoot Day is all about, and talk with your family/friends what you might do to make a difference.
Small Changes to Lower Our Collective Footprint
Little Efforts Add Up to Create Big Results
Sometimes, the sheer scale global issues feels overwhelming. It can be difficult to get motivated for individual changes. After all, each of us is just a drop in the big bucket, right? I keep reminding myself that everyone’s small individual choices (including ours) can combine and add up to much bigger changes – for better or for worse.
To help inspire exactly that sort of cumulative effort, Earth Overshoot Day team have all sorts of solutions that could help contribute to change, big and small. Why not join in?
Earth Overshoot Day Actions and Changes
Earth Overshoot Day Ideas for Individuals
When this post was first written and shared, the annual theme was about individual pledges for activities. Those were way out of date when we were moving things around here on the new blog, so we refreshed the post with new ideas and links for anyone who is looking for some Earth Overshoot Day (or any day) inspiration for small doable actions. Their old pledge links are still active for now though, and I’ll pop them into a footnote below for anyone looking.
Ideas for Activities and Actions for Earth Overshoot Day
- Calculate Your Individual or Household Footprints. Start off your Earth Overshoot Day discussions by looking at your own consumption and how it compares with the averages in your country and the planet as a whole. Are there areas that surprise you? Personal activities or habits you might like to change?
- Lower Your Household Energy Consumption. Every little bit helps, even just a single degree on the thermostat. We’ve just wrapped up a mini-series on reducing energy use, including heating and cooling, lighting, and appliance energy use.
- Reduce Your Household Waste. Take a look at your rubbish, recycling, and other household waste. Are their doable changes you might make to reduce waste or dispose of it better? Reducing use, reusing prior to recycling, and having an effective home recycling system are all parts of our own household efforts to reduce waste.
- Consider the Full Footprint of Your Foods. There’s often a strong emphasis on reducing meat or animal products when people talk about the impact of food, but the full picture is much more complicated. Swapping locally grown or produced foods for factory made pre-packaged products shipped from the other side of the world doesn’t mean your vegetarian or vegan meal is a greener (or healthier) choice. Shop smart, eat smart, and be healthy. And try to lower your food waste, too. You’ll be helping the planet and your bank balance.
- Grow More. Whether it’s a simple houseplant or a full food forest garden, you can add to the earth’s biocapacity by growing more plants. Bonus for supporting bees, helping wildlife, feeding your family, and sharing with friends, too!
Rewind Through Time: We don’t have a biocapacity time machine, but we can do a link time warp. As noted above, we’ve updated our post, but the old/outdated pledge links from the Earth Overshoot Day annual theme way back when this post was first shared are listed below.
