Making Our Footprints Conscious

I was remembering that on August, 21st 2010, we hit Earth Overshoot Day: the day in which we exhaust our ecological budget for the year..

This year, it was 7th March 2011

I hadn’t even realised, until today, that I / We had overstepped the mark.

As we enter the endeavor of Collaborative Space Making – creating a literal 100sqm footprint on the earth, the consequences of this build are deep and far-reaching.  The question I sit with, and Maria and I played with in different ways, since coming to the land is:

Is Building Justified? This was explored in such terms as energy expenditure, environmental impact, societal benefit, financial expenditure – and what becomes possible / available in return?

The reality is that we humans create significant impact – yet how this impact is felt is determined by the choices we make and the intention we step with.

The reality is that our choices and actions have changed this piece of land forever.

Certainly though, the outcome of our musings was the benefits were deemed greater than the losses – and therefore we came to clarity that to build was appropriate and to proceed.  We know it will open a space of collaboration, real time, with others who also wish to be in the conscious creation of this space.  We know it will open a space of potential for others to be present on the land, in ways that have not be available so far.  We know it will invite Axladita and the living wholeness work to go to another level.  We know that the story lived will be a story of learning, not only of benefit to us here, but to others.

Yet our footprint is in the tender beginnings of becoming a real imprint.  Today the land was excavated to create the space for the foundations.

We are slowly reaching forward – trusting, hoping that our first step will be placed well, and that our choices and actions will be conscious and in alignment with life.

And our intent is also that our footprint does not add, in the end, to the ecological overshoot…

Information from The Global Footprint Network

Footprint Basics – Overview

Humanity needs what nature provides, but how do we know how much we’re using and how much we have to use?

The Ecological Footprint has emerged as the world’s premier measure of humanity’s demand on nature. It measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resource it consumes and to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions, using prevailing technology.

What is Earth Overshoot Day?

Earth Overshoot Day marks an unfortunate milestone: the day in which we exhaust our ecological budget for the year. Once we pass this day, humanity will have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can provide this year. From that point until the end of the year, we meet our ecological demand by liquidating resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.