Earth Overshoot Day 2023
Today is the global Earth Overshoot Day – the point in the year when humans have used more ecological resources than the earth can regenerate within that year.
It’s the day that we have used too much stock of our resources and accumulated too much waste (primarily carbon dioxide). In 1993 Earth Overshoot Day was the 27th of October, so in just 20 years its 86 days earlier. What’s more concerning closer to home is that the UK’s Earth Overshoot Day was back on the 19th of May.
The date is worked out country by country considering a multitude of factors. The date considers the earths supply which includes bio capacity and biologically productive land and sea. As with supply, there is demand and the date includes our ecological footprint, demand for food, space and energy. The main areas that have been identified in the overshoot calculation are the supply and demand for forest products, our carbon footprint, our need for land for crops and animals, built up land and fisheries.
We all have choices and by making forward thinking decisions we can turn this around. Every single person can do their bit no matter how small. We need to identify how we can reduce consumption trends but still maintain our quality of life. The technology is there or being quickly developed and by being innovative and using technology we can make huge changes as a population.
We need to improve how we manage cities, power our homes & businesses, how we feed ourselves, we need to help nature thrive and consider the global population size. There are so many ways we can help improve this situation globally, all of which we can take part in on a very small scale as individuals and a slightly larger scale as businesses. Some of the key things we can consider include:
Renewable Energy systems to power homes and businesses
Battery technology and energy storage
Food waste prevention
Transport infrastructure
Reduced working weeks
Eating locally produced food
Choosing sustainable building techniques
We just need to turn on the news or social media to see the impact that global warming is having on our planet. This has been the wettest July on record for the UK and the hottest on record for many other countries in Europe and around the world. It is a worrying time as individuals and as a business but by working together it is possible to turn things around.
At SCC we are doing our best to keep sustainability at the forefront of our designs when working with clients. We have invested in our own office and understand the barriers to sustainability when it comes to installing renewables. We are investing time and money into research and learning so we as a MEP Engineering practice can guide our clients towards renewable energy and reducing waste. It would be great to see this date improving over the coming years. We must do all we can to #movethedate