Just in case you missed Earth Overshoot Day or in case somebody told you things are getting better or even stated that everything was just perfect, please read on. According to a new study we are consuming our planet’s resources in EVER-ACCELERATING destructive volumes. Hey, that means things are not just getting worse, they are getting worse faster.
This year humanity had devoured the entirety of Earth’s annual resource output on the 1st August. That was two days earlier than in 2017. Earth Overshoot Day is defined as the date in the year at which consumption exceeds nature’s ability to regenerate. This overshoot was first recorded in 1970 when it took place on the 29th December. The article says, ““Our current economies are running a Ponzi scheme with our planet. We are borrowing the Earth’s future resources to operate our economies in the present. Like any Ponzi scheme, this works for some time. But as nations, companies, or households dig themselves deeper and deeper into debt, they eventually fall apart.”
That’s the important thing to realize, the whole world economy is actually a giant Ponzi scheme. Remember Bernie Madoff? The problem is that all of our smart leaders know that but are still calling for economic growth. Economic growth leads to short-term rising tax-revenue and rising income for corporations and (sometimes) private households but in order to do so we are liquidating and monetizing the very asset that ensures our continued existence, our biosphere.
We need to reduce and shrink our economies not increase them! The article makes suggestions how the situation can be improved. For example, if we all would go vegetarian the Overshoot would be pushed back by 10 days. I’d imagine if we’d all go vegan that would be significantly more. Important is that we don’t wait for our governments to lead because many of them as a result of our political system are anyway in the pockets of the multinational corporations. It’s the choices of each individual consumer that matter most.
For more suggestions how to improve our situation and context please go to https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/23/earths-resources-consumed-in-ever-greater-destructive-volumes