How To Reduce Your Environmental Footprint in Honor of Earth Overshoot Day

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTOR:
Alexa Smith | Content Marketing Specialist
APTIM | Environment and Sustainability
Alexa.Smith@APTIM.com
Alexa Smith is a Sustainability Marketing Specialist at APTIM, where she focuses on promoting our environmental, energy, and sustainability services, as well as internal environmental, social, and governance efforts. Learn more about Alexa.

 

 

Did you know that on Aug. 2, the human population will have used up all the natural resources the Earth will generate in 2023?

Earth Overshoot Day is a date calculated annually by subtracting the resources demanded by humanity from the resources generated by our ecosystems for that year. According to this equation, a global resource deficit has persisted for the past 40 years.

Population growth and consumptive lifestyles have continuously increased demand for resources, pushing this day of overshoot earlier and earlier each year.

This year, Earth Overshoot Day falls on Aug. 2, which means that past this date, humanity is exceeding the capabilities of ecosystem services like crop and livestock production, timber production, seafood culture, waste management, etc. Even if we collectively decided not to purchase, manufacture, extract, combust, power, or throw away a single thing for the last four months of the year, we would still run the risk of taking more than our Earth can give.

Fortunately, shedding awareness on overconsumption through this day of observance empowers us to change our habits and systems for the long-term preservation of our environment and, hopefully, drive back the date of overshoot. Individual, household, and community-level solutions can be boiled down to three categories: consume less, increase efficiency, and engage others.

Consume Less

As an individual, we may feel overburdened by the weight of global environmental challenges and disempowered to do anything to change our trajectory. Turns out, doing nothing can be one of the most effective ways to create change, but this “nothing” includes the consumption of products and energy as well as the generation of waste. “Turning off the tap” can help to address the issue of overconsumption at the source.

Increase Efficiency

In addition to our daily choices, we can also make larger investments to reduce the impact of our family or household unit for the long term. For instance, opting for energy and water efficient appliances and choosing to live within a walkable distance of your most frequented locations (e.g., grocery store and workplace) are one-time decisions that can greatly benefit your footprint without continuous input.

Engage Others

On a community level, educating and leading by example can spark a sustainable transformation. It may start with the power of one, but with intentional activism and engagement, solutions can cascade into something much greater. Resilient, inclusive, safe, and sustainable systems of transportation, food, and energy come about through collective action.

To provide continuing education on how we can reduce our global environmental impact, our team will be releasing articles in the coming weeks focused on solutions for sustainable food systems, energy efficiency, and urban transportation.

As a company committed to accelerating the transition toward a clean and efficient energy economy and building a sustainable future for our communities and natural world, we offer the solutions needed to push back the date of overshoot. Connect with our experts in e-mobility, waste minimization, energy efficiency, and sustainability planning to learn more.