This August 22nd is Earth Overshoot Day.
For those unfamiliar with this day, it was established some years ago by the Global Footprint Network (GFN) as a way to visualize that we’re now living off about 1.75 Earths of resources each year. Of course, for many that’s hard to understand. If we’re living off the planet, how can we be overusing the planet? The simplest way to explain is to compare this to one’s personal finances. You can expand your spending by tapping into your savings instead of living off just your income, perhaps even for many years. But eventually your savings will become depleted and you’ll go broke. And in that state, if a crisis occurs—you get sick or your car breaks down, for example, you’ll be in far more fragile, or less resilient, place to afford or address that crisis. That’s what we’re doing with the planet.
Read the full article here.