Green Living Today

You know how every year there is a big to do about reaching a certain date where finally you have worked enough to pay the government and now you can work for yourself? I’m not sure when that is but I remember it well when I was in the work force.

Now we have “Earth Overshoot Day.” Yes, this is the day when “humanity begins using more ecological resources and services in a given year than Earth can regenerate in that year.” In other words, all the time before “Earth Overshoot Day” we are using the same amount of resources that can be regenerated by the Earth. After that day, we are using up the resources of the Earth. In other words, we are borrowing from future generations.

In 2009 this date was September 25. In 2008 it was September 23. In less than 10 months we have used the ecological resources that it takes the Earth 12 months to regenerate.

That is the same as saying that we are living beyond our means. Hmmm! I think we do that in other areas, too, don’t we? Living beyond our means seems to be a sign of the times. Certainly many of us live beyond our financial means. Lots of people live beyond their physical means. And now we are living beyond our ecological means.

I often wonder how we got to this point. I’m not placing any blame here or saying that I’m not guilty, too. But somewhere along the line it seems to have become OK to live beyond our means. Credit is (or was) easily available. There are plenty of ways to go beyond our physical means. More fast food, less time to shop and cook, too many things on our schedule, no time left to exercise. The list goes on. And now – although it is not new news – we are learning more about how we are living beyond the Earth’s means.

So what to do? All these things you’ve read about and heard about. Except many of us don’t do very much. It’s great to brag about recycling at curbside, but what about growing your own vegetables? Or just shopping at a local Farmer’s or Tailgate market? Turning off lights. Unplugging everything not currently being used. Eating in. The list is much too long but I think you get the idea.

Everything we do uses up part of the Earth’s resources. So think about what you are doing and how it impacts the Earth. Can you drive less? Can you shop locally? What else?

Why not make this a family mission? Sit down and talk about all the ways you use the resources of the Earth and then brainstorm how you can use less. Your kids will love this and so will the Earth.

Thanks for reading.

(The information about “Earth Overshoot Day” was taken from The Global Footprint Network. They can be found at http://bit.ly/aACJu. Check them out and you can see the daily percentage of how much of the Earth’s resources we have used for the year.)

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