EN World Overshoot Day

EN World Overshoot Day

The Urgency of Earth Overshoot Day

Understanding Earth's Resource Limits

  • The planet cannot sustain current consumption levels; we use more natural resources than the Earth can regenerate annually, requiring 1.75 Earths to maintain our lifestyle.
  • Earth Overshoot Day marks when humanity exhausts nature's annual budget, typically occurring in late July or early August since 1970, indicating a state of ecological debt for the remainder of the year.

Disparities in Resource Consumption

  • Different countries experience varying timelines for overshooting their resource budgets; some reach this point as early as February while others do not until December.
  • The linear model of production and consumption leads to overproduction and waste across various sectors, particularly in hospitality where guests consume significantly more resources than locals.

Environmental Impact of Hospitality Industry

  • Hotels contribute to environmental degradation through excessive water usage, chemical runoff from products, and significant food waste—often discarding tons every few days.

Pathways to Sustainable Change

  • Individuals can make impactful changes by reducing consumption, opting for plant-based diets, minimizing food waste at home, and choosing reusable items over single-use products.
  • In the hospitality sector, implementing energy-saving technologies and redesigning offerings can reduce waste. Encouraging guests to support sustainability efforts is crucial.

Collective Responsibility for Future Generations

  • Every action contributes either to positive change or exacerbates existing problems; individuals must consider their choices carefully. Together, we can work towards reversing Earth Overshoot Day.
Video description

Today is hashtag#WorldEnvironmentDay, an important moment to reflect on our relationship with the planet. Coinciding with this day, the Global Footprint Network has announced that Earth Overshoot Day 2025 will fall on July 24. This marks a significant and worrying shift from August 1 in 2024, showing that we’re exhausting the planet’s resources even faster than last year. In the tourism sector, we know there’s a lot of room for improvement but also a lot of potential. Because while the problem is global, solutions often begin locally in hotels, restaurants, within tour operations, and in the operational decisions made every day. To mark the day, our Patrycja has created created this short video to show how even small changes in the way we operate can help to hashtag#movethedate in the right direction. We’re also pleased to share that we’ll soon be transitioning from Travel Without Plastic to Triple Impact Hospitality, a name that better reflects the broader work we do across environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Plastic reduction remains a key part of our work, but it’s just one piece of a much bigger picture. We’re looking forward to sharing more about the name change and the stories behind it in the coming weeks.