What the fudge, fellow humans?
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, it falls on July 29.
Source: Overshootday.org
Yesterday, we used up all of the ecological resources the earth is able to regenerate in a year. That means that for the rest of this year, we are living on borrowed time. Taking from future generations.
We still have 5 months to go this year, people!
We have almost half a year to go and we have already exceeded the amount of resources we can use to live in any kind of harmony with this world. Our home. The only home we have. Our children will feel this. Our children's children will feel this. Heck, I wonder how many generations are still to come before we fudge this all up so completely, there is no coming back from it. We're kinda on that point of no return as it is, right?
We all know this is going on. We all know something has to be done. We should all know it's all hands on deck for this one. Yet when it comes right down to it, we all point fingers at each other, for fear of having to change ourselves.
"Oh, well I could take steps towards reducing my ecological footprint, but what about China, huh? What about them? They build coal power plants! What does it matter what I do if they don't change?"
"Oh, well the government doesn't care about this, so why should I?"
"Yeah, well my neighbour still has a barbecue, so what does my meat consumption matter?"
Yep. Great. Let's all point fingers while we watch the world burn. What an awesome plan. Kudos to us humans. We really are an amazing race. Such foresight. Such long-term vision. Such sense of responsibility.
Making a better world starts with yourself.
Vote with a long-term vision in mind. There is only one crisis we, as the human race, should care a damn thing about right now, and that is the climate crisis. Who cares about the economy when all of our homes are wiped out by floods and hurricanes? Will you still be pointing your finger then? Or will you finally turn it around on yourself? When it's too late?
Everyone can do something. Everyone.
You can keep pointing your finger at the government. You can keep shouting "It's all the big company's fault!" until you're blue in the face, but when will you realize that that government, those companies, are a representation of us? They would not be the way they are today, if we, as a whole, wouldn't have made them this way. They will change if the majority of us tells them to change. You need to do better. Vote better, buy better. Heck, buy less.
We might not be able to reduce our own ecological footprint to zero, but pointing fingers at others as an excuse to do nothing is just a sign of weakness. Governments won't change if we don't. Big companies won't change fast enough if we don't. Money talks, make your money say the right thing.
The easiest, cheapest way for you to change your ecological footprint in a big way is to change the way you eat. Buy locally grown food (or even grow your own) and best of all: make that change towards a plant-based diet. Animal agriculture has a huge ecological footprint. Any switch you can make contributes. Use plant-based milk, instead of cow dairy. Introduce a couple of meatless days into your week.
I shouldn't even worry about this. I have no children. My line ends with me. We can damn ourselves to hell for all I care. I'm just sad humanity will be taking so many animals and so much beautiful nature with it in its fall.
What do I do?
As I've mentioned to someone recently, does it really matter what my lifestyle is? If I kick my non-exisiting dog every chance I get, if I eat an entire pig or cow every day, if I fly over the earth and back every single weekend, I would just be a bad person. I am not a posterchild for good behaviour. I am not a saint. My actions don't excuse yours.
Nonetheless, as I am not a dog kicking, pig/cow eating, frequent flyer, I will tell you about a couple of things we're doing to decrease our ecological footprint. Maybe it'll give you some inspiration.
When we bought this house, we had a choice: low mortgage, or bringing this place to a higher, ecological standard. We decided to go for the latter. Our floors, walls and windows are now properly isolated and our roof holds quite a few solar panels. Our flat roof with no trees all around is perfect for this. As a bonus for spending more at the start, we now have lower monthly costs for energy consumption, aswell as a more comfortable house to live in.
Over the last few years, we have switched to a plant-based diet and I try to avoid any animal products in my life (work in progress). Although my main reason for this is to stop supporting animal abuse, it is also a very easy and effective way to massively decreate my ecological footprint. I'm also learning to grow my own food, so less of my food has to be flown in from all over the world. Fruits and herbs are easy and so far, veggies work out okay too.
While sadly, my work will be too far away for me to cycle to work, I do use a small car, instead of a gas guzzler and I will be working from home half of the time. I will also look into working from one of our offices closer to home, so I can cycle there, although my direct co-workers won't be at that office, so I'm afraid that will be a limited option.
My fear of flying really helps me to keep my ecological footprint low aswell!
And as I said before, I have no children. I know many people tell us this is the only way forward: less humans. And although I agree that humanity shouldn't grow indefinitely, again, it's just an excuse to do nothing. The lifestyle of the developed world needs to change, no matter how many people there are. Want less babies? Lift every single person up towards a more secure life. Most big families are created as a security for old age (aside from some religious ones). Take those insecurities away, give everyone a good life, and less babies will be 'bred'. This means more people will have to live the bigger lifestyle though, so we need to make sure that our lifestyle takes less of a toll on the earth.
How about you?
- Do you fear for our future, due to this climate crisis?
- What do you do to lower your ecological footprint?
- What excuses do you use to not take personal responsibility?
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