September 23 is Earth Overshoot Day

Just like any company, nature has a budget - it can only produce so many resources and absorb so much waste each year. The problem is, our demand on nature's services is exceeding what it can provide. Since the 1980s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot, using resources faster than they can be regenerated and putting carbon into the air faster than it can be reabsorbed.

Globally, we now demand the biological capacity of 1.4 planets, according to Global Footprint Network. But of course, we only have one. The result is that our supply of natural resources - like trees and fish - continues to shrink, while our waste - primarily carbon dioxide - accumulates.

If we continue with our wasteful ways, we will not only imperil the current generation but future generations as well. This is a stern warning for all of us to check our lifestyle and make amends Growth should be guided by principles of sustainability. Over and above our responsibility of securing goods and services for the current generation, we also have to provide for the future generations. Addressing this challenge requires the concerted effort of all individuals, businesses, government authorities and other stakeholders.

Each year, Global Footprint Network calculates humanity's Ecological Footprint (its demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries and space for infrastructure), and compares this with global biocapacity—the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb waste. Ecological Footprint accounting can be used to determine the exact date we, as a global community, begin living beyond the means of what the planet produces every year.

"From now until the end of the year, we're dipping into our ecological reserves, borrowing from the future,"

said Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, Executive Director of Global Footprint Network.

"This can go on for a short time, but ultimately it leads to a build up of waste and the depletion of the very resources on which the human economy depends."

Ecological overshoot is at the root of many of the most pressing environmental problems we face today: climate change, declining biodiversity, shrinking forests, fisheries collapse, and many of the factors contributing to the current global food crisis.

Earth Overshoot Day is creeping ever earlier as human consumption grows

Humanity's first Earth Overshoot Day was December 31, 1986. Ten years later, humanity was using 15 percent more resources in a year than the planet could supply, with Earth Overshoot Day falling in November. This year, more than two decades since we first went into overshoot, Earth Overshoot Day has moved up to September 23, and our rate of overshoot stands at 40 percent more than the planet can renewably supply.

Global Footprint Network and its international partner network are focused on solving the problem of overshoot, working with businesses and government leaders bring ecological limits to the forefront of decision-making everywhere. Citizens can determine their own Ecological Footprint and learn how to reduce it at www.footprintnetwork.org. They can have an even greater impact by encouraging government and business leaders to build communities that help to end overshoot with smart infrastructure planning and best-practice green technology.

With international commitment to end overshoot, Earth Overshoot Day can become history instead of news.