Earth Overshoot Day 2020: Have COVID-19 lockdowns made a difference?

Humans love getting more of what we like, and this is encouraged by a system that rides these over-consumptive tendencies.

But can our “parent”, the Earth, provide an unlimited stock of “chocolates”? No.

The Earth produces a finite amount of resources every year—wood, air, water, space, energy—through its processes. Ideally, we would take a year to use up these resources. But we are far from ideal.

Every year, we use up one year’s worth of resources sooner and sooner. Will there be consequences for overusing the available resources? Eventually. Almost certainly. The day we finish one year’s worth of resources is called the Earth Overshoot Day.

In 2020, the Earth Overshoot Day falls on August 22.

Is there something special about this year?

…..

No. Everything’s fine!

Over the last 10 years, the Earth Overshoot Day has steadily gotten closer to January 1 of the year, as we used up one year’s resources faster and faster. But this year, lockdowns across the world in response the COVID-19 pandemic have paused our relentless overconsumption.

The result?

Earth Overshoot Day has come 3 weeks later than it did last year—22 August as compared to July 29. If historical trends continued, we might have seen 2020’s Earth Overshoot Day sometime in the 3rd week of July.

Does that seem significant to you?

It might or it might not. On the one hand, it gives us hope. If we can put our head down and consume fewer resources, we can find a balance between what we need and what the Earth can give us.

On the other hand, it is a bit depressing to think that 5 months of reduced economic activity, including an almost complete lockdown for a few weeks in several major economies, has only shifted the date by 3-4 weeks. We will still end up using 1.6 times the annual resource production of Earth—called biocapacity—this year.

I can see why the shift has been so short…

We have reduced our consumption in some parts of our lives—like clothing and furniture and fuel for travel—but in other areas, like medicine and hygiene, our consumption has shot up.

The analysis for this year’s Earth Overshoot Day concurs. Most of the drop has come from reduced use of forest products, which fell 8.4% from last year and reduced carbon emissions, clocking a 14.5% reduction from last year. But our food intake has remained the same. (Or even increased in the case of some people. Oh, not you, I’m sure.)

I still see this as a sign of hope. If we can put our heads down and take large-scale action quickly like we’ve done for this pandemic, much of our natural resource degradation can be reduced and restored.

What can you do?

We obviously cannot rely on a lockdown every year to ensure we #pushthedate closer and closer to December. In 2018, I suggested several steps you can take in your lives to get better with your consumption practices. They are still relevant today.

There are some more steps we can take, given the lockdown. I’ll highlight just one. As schools and offices reopen, people are stressing the need to use disposable cups, plates, and lunchboxes to reduce the COVID risks. Reusables are just as effective as disposables, and come with a lower ecological footprint. Elaine from Living Lightly in Ireland makes a strong case for resuable wares as we slowly get back to work. I strongly urge you to give this a read.

Let us work together, and push the date as far down the calendar as possible.