This commentary is from George Plumb of Washington, VT. George is a member of the board of BETTERnotbiggerVERMONT and Buddhist Peace Action Vermont.
Earth Day, Green Up Day, Overshoot Day or World Population Day?
Or recognize all four as being important.
April 22, widely known as Earth Day, began in 1970. This is the day to focus on protecting the Earth and all its resources. Various events are planned in Vermont for Earth Day, including one in Montpelier, which started at City Hall at 11 a.m. and featured people marching to the Statehouse for a rally calling for the protection of all species. Alternatively, we as individuals can find our own ways to celebrate Earth Day.
Vermont has its own Green Up Day, which also began in 1970 and this year will be on May 7. People are urged to get out and pick up debris left behind on our state highways and local roads. It is a good day for Vermont aesthetics but in the long run does little if anything to diminish our consumption of resources
Another important day is Earth Overshoot Day. This is the day when people living on the Earth have used up all the biological resources that the Earth can renew during the entire year. The faster humanity uses up these resources the sooner in the year Earth Overshoot Day is. In 1970, it fell on Dec. 30. In 2021, it fell on July 26.
World Population Day seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. It was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on July 11, 1987.
When I was born in 1937, the world population was about 2.3 billion. Now it is 7.8 billion and is projected to reach 8 billion in a few years. Similarly, the U.S. population was 131 million but now is 335 million. The Vermont population was 360,000 and is now about 645,000. The Earth has become such a more crowded place with much of the beauty of the Earth having been taken away, people’s quality of life having diminished and conflicts of all kinds much more prevalent as nations struggle to get the resources they need.
All these days are becoming increasingly important to all the inhabitants of the Earth including wildlife, which are now facing “the sixth great extinction.” But the human species is the only one that can do anything about it. We can celebrate Earth Day by engaging in any local activities that are offered. We can find other ways to help the Earth like doing something on our own land if we have the space or talking about it with our family and friends. We can support World Population Day by choosing to replace our bodies “one or none” as we reach agreements with our partner. If we have already done that then we can have a conversation with family and friends about this idea. We can also support population organizations like the outstanding worldwide organization the Population Media Center based in South Burlington. This organization works in a wide variety of countries by using movies to get the family planning message out.
In 2013, the groundbreaking report, “What is an Optimal/Sustainable Population for Vermont?” was published. It used 15 indicators, some objective and some subjective. When all the indicators were averaged, it was determined that a truly optimal/sustainable population for Vermont is about 500,000, but when just the objective indicators were used, a sustainable population would be about 415,000. Given all the changes that have happened in the past 10 years, I suggest that the report be updated in 2023 and this time Vermont really look at what actions should be taken to move toward a truly sustainable future.
One thing not to do is to support “smart growth.” This is an oxymoron and a failure. Although it will help preserve some open space, the end result is a path that will lead to ever more conflict over ever more scarce resources. What we really need to do instead is to “shrink smart.”
In addition to reducing our population, we should do everything possible as individuals to keep our consumption of resources as limited as possible. This means reducing our carbon emissions, limiting the amount of “stuff” we feel we have to buy, growing some of our own food or at least buying it locally when possible.
