Lower Thirds: 

0:03	Report by Beatrice Christofaro
0:15	Mohammad | Recycled garbage dealer
1:10	Mathis Wackernagel | Co-founder, Global Footprint Network

Script: 

0:00
This is one of Mumbai’s major recycling hubs. Every day 600 tons of waste finds its way to Dharavi, known as Asia’s largest slum. That’s more than half of the city’s trash.

0:13
+++Mohammad, Recycling garbage dealer+++
“By collecting waste, the city's garbage is considerably reduced. We select what’s needed, sort it by quality, and sell it. This is how much of the plastic ends up recycled. If this stops someday the traffic will come to a standstill.”

It’s a delicate issue. In Dharavi, most workers in this industry operate without basic safety precautions.

But right now, it’s the only way for them to make money – and for tons of old plastic bottles, aluminum cans and electronic items to be turned into new products.

Reusing and recycling is becoming more important everywhere – not just in India. Because we are depleting Earth’s resources faster and faster every year.

The day when humanity has used up nature's entire budget of ecological resources for the year is known as Earth Overshoot Day. And it's calculated by international sustainability organization Global Footprint Network and York University in Toronto, Canada.

01:08

+++ Mathis Wackernagel, Co-founder, Global Footprint Network
"It is a classical pyramid scheme, our use of resources is far beyond what it can regenerate, and we have somehow this collective understanding that we do as if it was fine. But we're fooling ourselves." +++

As consumption grows, Earth Overshoot Day has crept ever earlier since the metric was introduced in the 1970s.

This year the day comes just over a week earlier than in 2024. Mainly due to the fact that oceans are absorbing less CO2 than previously reported. The states that overshoot earlier tend to be higher income countries. For example, if everyone consumed as much as the average US resident, we would need five Earths to meet that demand without borrowing resources from the future.

Some countries don’t have Overshoot Days at all. Take India. If everyone lived like the average Indian, humanity could survive off the planet’s resources.

Overshooting also has economic implications. The fewer resources we have, the more expensive they become. And the more our ecosystems and climate suffer, the harder it becomes for businesses to function.

02:16
+++ Mathis Wackernagel, Co-founder, Global Footprint Network
“So we are burning the candle from both ends like we're increasing inflation and we are we are decreasing our economic prowess.” 

But not all hope is lost. The key is to invest in systems that depend on renewable resources. Decreasing food waste and eating less meat could push back the overshoot by several days. And of course reusing, repairing - and recycling, like here in Dharavi, also extends our resources’ lives.

TEXTENDE: 02:41
BILDENDE: 02:42