By George Nassos
We all know that there are many issues that are negatively impacting our environment. The one that is mentioned most of all is climate change, and it is justified as the atmosphere is continuing to become warmer every year and the impact it is having on all of us. As I mentioned in my article last month, the decline in the quantity of available freshwater globally is another major problem facing us
A third major problem that needs worldwide attention is the overconsumption of our natural resources. They provide our basic necessities such as air, water, and land for agriculture, as well as raw materials for industries, energy production, and infrastructure development. About 25 years ago, the Global Footprint Network (GFN) was created to develop the only metric that comprehensively compares human demand on nature against nature’s capacity to regenerate.
The GFN has identified data for more than 200 countries, which is updated every year, to track human demand and nature’s capacity to meet that demand. One metric that is useful is Earth Overshoot Day which marks the date in the year when humanity will have consumed the equivalent of the natural resources that will be generated in that year. In the early 1970’s Earth Overshoot Day was near the end of the year, but it has been earlier almost every year since. One exception was 2020 when Overshoot Day fell on August 18 which was 12 days laterin the year than 2019 and 13 days later than 2021. During the Covid epidemic people were more efficient in their grocery shopping and food consumption. Industries also became more efficient in their operations and reduced their consumption of necessary raw materials.
In 2025, Earth Overshoot Day was July 24 but this year it fell on July 30. This later date is not because of less consumption in 2026 but rather because of updated data sets that were used to calculate Earth Overshoot Day. The July 24 day in 2025 was the earliest Earth Overshoot Day ever, but in reality,this year it is even two days earlier than 2025. So, we are continuing to go in the wrong direction.
GFN also determines Earth Overshoot Day for each country. It is the date when humanity would have exhausted what Earth could renew in the entire year, if everyone lived like people in that country. So, it’s really asking: how many Earths would we need if the world lived like us? For the U.S. Earth Overshoot Day would be March 14, 2026, but there are countries worse than the U.S. Qatar is February 4, Luxembourg is February 17, and Canada is March 8. At the other end, wehave Honduras on November 27 and Colombia on November 25.
We must find ways to stop Earth Overshoot Day from becoming earlier, but more important find ways to move it later in the year. Ideally, the target would be to move it to the end of the year. There are several approaches that could improve the environment and move Earth Overshoot Day later in the year.Just consider eliminating or at least reducing food waste. Worldwide we waste about 30% of the food that is generated. In developed countries like the U.S. individuals purchase more food than is necessary for fear of running out of food. Grocery stores encourage purchasing more than is needed by offeringsomething like buy two and get two free. And the grocery stores purchase more than they expect to sell because they don’t want to offend their customers by having empty shelves. In the developing countries, they waste about 30% due to poor transportation, inadequate refrigeration and infrastructure.
According to Circular Computing, planting 350 million hectares of forest can push this date back by eight days, absorbing carbon dioxide, combating climate change, and restoring natural habitats. If we reduce the amount we drive or switch to electric vehicles to reduce our carbon emissions by 50%, use public transportation more often, walk or bike, then Earth Overshoot Day would move back thirteen days. By cutting our food waste in half, and reducing our meat consumption by 50%, we would move Earth Overshoot Day back by thirtydays. If each family had on average 1.8 children compared to 2.3 children we currently have, and family planning started twoyears later, our population would be at 7.7 billion by 2050 instead of the projected 9.7 billion, and Earth Overshoot Day would be moved back by forty-nine days.
GFN has implemented a program, #MoveThe Date, which consists of numerous recommendations on how to reduce the consumption of our natural resources and thus move Earth Overshoot Day later in the year.
As an environmental issue that doesn’t seem to be as important as climate change or water, it still requires our attention. The recommendations by the Global Footprint Network and Circular Computing should be implemented as soon as possible.