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Earth Overshoot Day
#1
I am familiar with the concept of earth overshoot, but I didn't realize they were keeping such a close watch. Earth overshoot is the day of the year on which our demands for resources  exceed what the Earth can give us in a year. That is bad news. Worse is the fact that the date of Earth Overshoot get earlier and earlier each year. Worst is the fact that this is the earliest year ever.

So 2018 is the year in which we used up more resources faster than ever. This is not a good thing.

https://www.ibtimes.com/world-celebrates...ry-2705033

This has consequences for the whole planet and all life living on it. We need to reduce our demands. Even if we don't actually reverse things right now, we do need to make sure that next year does not break an earliest Earth Overshoot Day record.
First, don't make things worse. Second try to make things better.

There is a video in the article about moving the day back. I am going to post it separately so people can watch it more than once without going back to the article. This is important and we need to think about it.

https://youtu.be/jgbY79Opn34

How can I move back my personal Earth Overshoot date. There must be things I can do that would help.
If we all made a few changes it would help.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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#2
I'm glad you posted this Catherine because I hadn't heard of it before! It is educational for me and I hope will be for anyone else who reads.
I am going to try to work out my own "overshoot day" and see if any improvements can be made.

I honestly had no idea we were living in debt like that!
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#3
Well I live a far far more frugal simple life than most people I have ever heard of but my personal "overshoot day" still meant I was using 1.5 Earths!

I know why too. Because I don't "carpool"....and because sadly if I buy sugar snap peas they come from Zimbabwe. But I don't buy them very often. So I was honest in the survey and guessed that maybe 12% of my produce was not local.
I would be happy to give people lifts on my rare visits to town, but there are no people to offer lifts to!
I wonder about the calculations.
If only the people who made this survey knew that I have
NO electric lighting upstairs except for 2 lamps.
I do not drive an SUV (like most other people seem to do)
I never travel anywhere except 10 mile round trip to town rarely
Have no washing machine, AC, TV, or run any other gadgets except laptop.
Shower with a washing up bowl in the bath. (i.e. don't run loads of hot water.)
Only switch on the water heater every other day and it's on "off peak" rate which automatically switches off at a a certain time
Never eat meat.
Make things out of old stuff and don't just throw away and replace. I made my kitchen fittings out of wood dumped in a field as garbage.
Recycle everything imaginable
Rarely buy anything new -ever.
Mend my clothes and rarely buy new ones. I'll only buy new when the stitching I've done comes apart 3 times! lol....and that's not even "new" most often, except for underwear. It's usually from the charity shop.
Will even take peoples' left over chips home to heat up next day or to give to the Crow.

And....yes I know this is NOT environmentally-friendly, but those people in Zimbabwe probably depend heavily on the income received from their produce. Some people have jobs on that farm which without it -they would maybe be jobless.
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#4
You are definitely one of the people who does not over use the earth. The calculations are based on people living in cities. They are very generalized. I score high because I travel so much in a day, but I take public transit. I go to people's homes so of course I travel. I switched to LED lights and I do not use my dryer. I try to buy local, but I live in Canada, we have to import vegetables in the winter. We could grow them using massive greenhouses, but they would have to be heated and they would need lighting. I think that would use more resources than shipping veggies to us.

I think we both live very conscious lives and use the resources well. I use second hand stuff and when I finish with something I pass it on to someone who can use it. I don't buy food with a lot of unnecessary packaging. I buy "imperfect" vegetables. It is a new movement. They sell the imperfect veggies in larger bags at a better price.  Four peppers cost $4.00 or 8 imperfect peppers cost $5.00. Not all vegetables are available this way, but many are. They are just as good.

I use my computer as my TV so I have one less electronic device. I do use a cell phone, but I don't run for the latest upgrades. I think I can get a few more years out of my current phone. When I do get a new phone, I will recycle the old one. I can keep my computer going a few more years and when it goes I will recycle it. I eat very little meat and I do not over eat or waste food.

I think I can reduce my plastic use if I am very careful. Our water is metered so I am very careful, but I bet I can save water if I try.
Like you there are no big changes I can make because I have already made a lot of changes for the better.

I think we are caught up in the overshoot because we live in countries that over use resources. Maybe the best thing we can do is lead by example and encourage other people to do better.


This site calculates carbon footprint and I come out okay. Maybe you would get a better read from this.


https://onetreeplanted.typeform.com/to/D24GZj

We can still find some ways to do better. I know keeping electronics going a little longer will help.  I will have to think about it and find some other small ways to help.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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#5
Okay, that was nice....
It says I am AWESOME ! Smiley4

But I did get a little bit told off for buying water in plastic bottles. which I know is not good, for various reasons, but sparkling water in glass bottles here is usually Perrier and is expensive. However the plastic bottles are picked up by the recycler every week. Plus it says that washing dishes by hand uses much more water than a dishwasher. Not so in my house, as I only ever have one pan, one fork, one knife and two plates to wash! And they don't know about the tiny trickle of water which comes out of my kitchen tap.
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#6
I knew you would do better with this test. It is more reasonable. I don't use anywhere near as much water as a dishwasher when I do dishes. Some people wash dishes under running water. I don't leave a tap running for anything. I am sure you are the same. You don't wash mounds of dishes.

I switched to a metal water bottle. I prefer not to buy water in plastic bottles. It is sometimes expensive here and our tap water is good. You need to drink the bottled water don't you? The only water in plastic I get is soda water. I like it plain and it settles my stomach.

The survey called me an Eco Warrior. I try, we both try. I am sure if we think of any way to help the environment we will do it.
That is what counts.  If we all try we can make a difference.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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