Earth Overshoot Day
Symbolizing humanity's responsibility, and reflecting the urgency to restore balance by valuing and preserving Earth's resources for future generations.
Position your brand as part of the solution to resource depletion by launching sustainability initiatives and transparent impact reporting tied to Earth Overshoot Day.
- Calculate your personal carbon footprint and challenge followers to reduce their ecological debt before the next Overshoot Day
- Spotlight your company's renewable energy or circular economy commitments with a countdown to moving the Overshoot date later
- Partner with conservation orgs to show how consumer choices (sustainable products, reduced waste) directly delay Overshoot Day
- Behind-the-scenes look at how your supply chain is being redesigned to lower resource consumption
Earth Overshoot Day has an intriguing story that’s also a bit of a wake-up call. It all started with Andrew Simms, a thinker at the New Economics Foundation in the UK.
He came up with this concept, and in 2006, the Global Footprint Network teamed up with the foundation to launch the very first Earth Overshoot Day campaign. Since 2007, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a major conservation group, has also been involved.
This day marks when humans have used more from nature than our planet can renew in a year. It’s calculated by dividing the Earth’s biocapacity (what our planet can provide in a year) by humanity’s demand for those resources, then multiplying by 365 (the number of days in a year).
The date of Earth Overshoot Day has been moving up over the years. In the early days, in December, recently, it has shifted to August, reflecting our demand for Earth’s natural resources. For instance, the dates have moved from December 25, 1971, to August 2, 2023.
This movement isn’t just about dates changing. It signals that our ecological footprint is growing, and our planet’s biocapacity can’t keep up.
At the global level, we’re running a deficit, consuming more than Earth can regenerate. This overuse has various impacts, like carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
Andrew Simms’s original idea has sparked a global conversation about sustainability and how we can adjust our consumption patterns to live within our planet’s means.
It’s a reminder that every action counts and that by making more sustainable choices, we can help push Earth Overshoot Day later in the year, aiming for a time when our demands match what Earth can provide.