However, the 1970s brought about a small phenomenon we know as globalisation. This meant that different countries who were once strangers suddenly became friends with benefits.
We could trade our stuff with their stuff, so that everyone could have more stuff. The world became a global market place to sell things.
That more stuff companies could produce and sell, the more money they got.
This was accompanied by rapid development, so it was easy for companies to mass-produce things. However, in the process of globalisation, we crossed a critical threshold: Human consumption began outstripping what the planet could reproduce.
Basically, we looked at our bank account and noticed that we were spending well within our means and told ourselves collectively “We should spend more”. And for a while, we arguably could. But hey, that’s probably also what Alan Greenspan told himself for twenty odd years before his bubble burst.
When this concept of Earth Overshoot Day was first calculated in 1987, the actual date of overshoot was December 19. Within the last 26 years, we’ve managed to over-consume so much resources that Earth Overshoot Day has been brought forward by almost four months.
That’s ⅓ of a year earlier in comparison.
Every kid loves the idea of Christmas coming early, but what’s that kid going to say when he/she grows up and has to live with the consequences of our reckless ‘spending’ now?
Everybody is mining and using Mother Nature’s resources without planning for the future, and these resources are disappearing.
This is the consequence of overshooting; our mining is no longer sustainable unless we start planning for the future and giving Mother Nature time to replenish herself.
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