“Perspectives,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

Almost a week ago, we passed Earthovershoot Day and I bet most of you didn’t notice.

To be honest, neither did I July 29 when this ominous day passed even though it doesn’t portend well for the future of the Earth, which has never looked as bleak as it does now.

So, what am I talking about and why should you care? Please listen up because Earthovershoot Day directly affects everyone living on the planet and the forecast doesn’t look good. In fact, it looks downright dangerous if we don’t change our wanton ways which we are loathe to do.

Earthovershoot Day was coined by the Global Footprint Network in 1970 to mark the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what the earth can regenerate in that year. You could call it an “ecological deficit” and it has been growing every year, except one, since 1970 and if you do a little thinking, I bet you can figure out the one year that the ecological deficit shrank.

That’s right! It was 2020, the year COVID-19 enveloped the world and all of us slowed down a bit – a lot actually – and the environmental results were obvious to everyone. The sky became a deep blue again. The smog mostly disappeared. Salmon were seen swimming near London Bridge, dolphins in the Adriatic Sea near Venice and we all felt a little better for it. Of course, much pollution remained, but the changes seen worldwide showed us dramatically a more natural world could return if we just gave ever-suffering Mother Earth a chance.

And how do we do that, you may well ask?  How do we get the ever-increasing footprint of our industrial civilization back in balance with nature? It’s not rocket science and it involves no pain or suffering. What it does involve is a different mindset on the part of all of us, a mindset less based on material consumption and “toys” to make us happy instead of pursuing happiness through raising strong families, contributing to your community and doing what you can to make this blue planet whirling through space a better place for all living species and not just a dead hunk of rock orbiting the cosmos.

And make no mistake about it, a dead chunk of rock is what our green Eden will become if we don’t clean up our act and start respecting our sylvan paradise that we’re relentlessly covering with waste and garbage from our industry and our own wasteful life-styles that are supposed to make us happy but are doing just the opposite.

Why do you think there are so many homeless inhabiting our streets? It’s one of the biggest political issues of our times along with our declining mental health which wasn’t even talked about in public until a few years ago.

Why are so many addicted to their screens? Even when they’re out for a walk, a meal or on a date. Even our children can’t live without the electronic pacifiers in their hands almost 24/7 and their parents are no better.

Hell, their parents gave them the habit. No wonder so many grow up to be dazed and homeless on the mean streets of Vancouver and Cranbrook. In my teenaged days, I was warned about the perils of demon weed. Now its deadly illegal opioids cut with fentanyl trafficked to our youth and legalized cannabis for sale legally to adults on the streets.

Okay, this has degenerated into a bit of a rant. Basically, what I’m trying to say is the world is at a threshold now and COVID-19 is the warning shot across the bow. As a society – for that matter – as a civilization, we’ve got to smarten up and change our thinking about the environment, climate change, race, gender, wealth and greed.

No Sally. No Billy, you can’t grow up and expect to have it all like your parents tried to do the last decade or so. We have to learn about balance, the Golden Mean, faith, tolerance and how to love or at least respect each other.

If we don’t, I don’t need to tell you what will happen. And it will happen soon enough.

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who does rant on occasion, but doesn’t expect anyone to listen.

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