Federico Pistono

Let us all rejoice: yesterday it was Earth Overshoot Day!

What is Earth Overshoot Day?

You may be asking what it it. The Global Footprint Network will help me elucidate this concept. Also called "Ecological Debt Day", it marks an unfortunate milestone: the day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilising resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.

Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. Put another way, in less than 10 months, humanity used ecological services it takes 12 months for the Earth to regenerate.

Of course, we only have one Earth. The fact that we are using (or “spending” natural capital) faster than it can replenish is similar to having expenditures that continually exceed income. In planetary terms, the results of our ecological overspending are becoming more clear by the day. Climate change – a result of carbon being emitted faster than it can be reabsorbed by the forests and seas – is the most obvious and arguably pressing result. But there are others as well: shrinking forests, species loss, fisheries collapse and freshwater stress to name a few.

The blogosphere is a complex organism which evolves rapidly in an ever-increasing motion. Discussions, philosophical insights, political commentaries, idiotic videos and lolcats cross each other in an apparently incoherent flow of information, unstoppable and uncontrollable. Then suddenly something extraordinary happens. On October 15 of each year the minds and hearts of the bloggers and internauts are captured by one word. Since its first edition in 2007 Blog Action Day has gathered the attention of thousands of bloggers, who were able to then reach millions of people. The idea is very simple as well as effective:

One issue, one day, thousands of voices

Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer. By asking thousands of different people to give their viewpoints and opinions, Blog Action Day creates an extraordinary lens through which to view these issues. Each blogger brings their own perspective and ideas. Each blogger posts relating to their own blog topic. And each blogger engages their audience differently.

I participated in both the events and gave my contribution. In the October 15 post "Blog Action Day - Zero Waste" with a post about the environment, I presented a series posters which encouraged people to recycle materials, which could then be used for future products, instead of considering them just waste. Recycling is of course just the last link of the chain, as people should first reduce and then reuse materials as much as possible. The cycle of production, consumption and disposal is a fairly complex issue, and it can't be explained in a few paragraphs, and many organisations have tied to find viable solutions to solve this problem. As far as I could tell, one organisation above all has its ideas and projects very clear and effective: the Zero Waste International Alliance. They have projects, publications, as well as real life case studies. So, what does the environment and the production of materials have to do with climate change? Quite a lot. What we decide to buy inevitably has an impact on the planet. Things are very much connected, soil degradation and the destruction of biodiversity do not allow plant to flourish, which cannot then absorb CO₂, nor purify water, nor provide oxygen and nutrients for the organisms that need it.

Th!nkCast - Special Edition #1
Published: Monday 24 August
Host: Domen Savič

Podcasters

• Domen Savič
• Conor Slowey
• Adela
• Hai Nguyen Van
• Federico Pistono

First episode: What has blogging ever done for us?

Description: Weblogs or blogs are slowly turning into an oldie but goldie phenomenon of the web 2.0. Still, all across the globe people are finding new ways to use this wonderful tool for several types of communication. Be it for forming a political movement to investigating climate change! So, what has blogging ever done for us?

I am delighted to announce that I was selected as one of the 81 bloggers in the world that will take part to the 2009 TH!NK2 Climate Change blogging competition.

TH!NK2 Climate Change is a 3 month blogging competition with a focus on UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December 2009. 81 bloggers from Europe with featured guests from India, China Brazil and the USA, representing the world's biggest players in climate policy, will come together on the European Journalism Centre's thinkaboutit.eu platform, to exchange ideas and debate the issues of climate change.

Participants are encouraged to report about stories in their own back yards; to bring out the local side of a global issue. The aim is to create a portal into the minds of 81 people, to show how each one experiences the effects of Climate Change policies every day.

To launch TH!NK2, TH!NKers head to Copenhagen! The FREE trip to Copenhagen takes place the 21-22 September and all participants must attend to be eligible as a TH!NKer. In Copenhagen, The EJC arms ALL particpants with a Flip HD to help them include multimedia content to their blog posts.

It is organised by the European Journalism Centre, the travel expense and accommodation will be covered by the EJC.

I am expected to write blog posts for the competition from 23 September to 20 December 2009. To stay in the competition, I need to submit at least 3 posts per month. Not a problem, it sounds much more like an incentive.

I am excited to be part of this project and I can't wait to start blogging from Denmark. ^_^