Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, is so known because it used to be the day that retailers traditionally went into the black.
Ergo by that criterion today is Red Monday as it is the date, for 2006, that mankind starts living off the future. As of today we have consumed all of the resources that Earth can replenish. According to the Global Footprint Network we first went into global debt in 1987. The date was 21 November in 1995 and 11 October last year.
The over consumption of the world's resources is driven by the profligate lifestyles of the west, especially the US. World wide there are 1.8 hectares per person. UK consumption is the equivalent of 5.6 hectares per person and the US consumes at the rate of 9.7 hectares per person. If we all lived liked Brits we would need over three planets and if we lived like Yanks we would need nearly five and a half. Something has to give don't you think?
National ecological footprint data may be downloaded from the European Environment Agency. You can calculate your own footprint here. (Prepare to be shocked even if you think you tread carefully on Mother Earth! Based on my current lifestyle my footprint is 1.7 planets - based on the lifestyle I had when I last lived in the US it was 6.1 planets!)
Ergo by that criterion today is Red Monday as it is the date, for 2006, that mankind starts living off the future. As of today we have consumed all of the resources that Earth can replenish. According to the Global Footprint Network we first went into global debt in 1987. The date was 21 November in 1995 and 11 October last year.
The over consumption of the world's resources is driven by the profligate lifestyles of the west, especially the US. World wide there are 1.8 hectares per person. UK consumption is the equivalent of 5.6 hectares per person and the US consumes at the rate of 9.7 hectares per person. If we all lived liked Brits we would need over three planets and if we lived like Yanks we would need nearly five and a half. Something has to give don't you think?
National ecological footprint data may be downloaded from the European Environment Agency. You can calculate your own footprint here. (Prepare to be shocked even if you think you tread carefully on Mother Earth! Based on my current lifestyle my footprint is 1.7 planets - based on the lifestyle I had when I last lived in the US it was 6.1 planets!)
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