#earth overshoot day

Germany's Earth Overshoot Day fell on May 10th this year, that was a few days ago, but the message behind it remains just as relevant. 🌍

The Earth Overshoot Day marks the date on which a country has consumed more natural resources than the earth can regenerate over the entire year. Germany reached this point already in early May, after less than five months. In other words, from that date onwards we are living at the expense of future generations. A date that gives us pause for thought. If the entire world population lived like Germany, we would need several earths by that calculation. Globally, humanity is already consuming the resources of approximately 1.7 to 1.8 earths per year. The earlier a country's Overshoot Day falls, the greater its ecological footprint. This affects not only today's environment, but the room for action we leave for tomorrow.

One of many aspects of this is the question of how we handle raw materials, how we source, process and dispose of them. Plant-based residues that are left on the fields after harvest and are often disposed of in environmentally harmful ways are one example of untapped potential that we could think about differently. Raw materials that already exist, but have so far simply been overlooked.

At eco:fibr this is exactly the question we work on. Making purposeful use of existing residues as a raw material source instead of drawing on new land or resources is not a trend for us but the core of what we do. Approaches like this show that there are ways to use existing resources more innovatively and more efficiently than before. Not as a grand gesture, but as a consistent decision we make every day. 🍍♻️

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