Talking to kids about big environmental problems is hard - you want to give them information so they understand the situation, but not overload them with too much information. You want to keep it positive but also realistic. In this blog we discuss Earth Overshoot Day and give some tips on how to talk to kids about it.
What is Earth Overshoot Day?
Earth Overshoot Day is the day of the year when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services exceed what the earth can regenerate in that year. Ideally Earth Overshoot Day should be 31st December (or into the next year) as then we’d only be using the resources that can be regenerated within that year. In 2025 Earth Overshoot Day was on 24th July which means that we’re running on debt for half the year. 2026’s Earth Overshoot Day will be announced on World Environment Day on 5th June (although judging by how humanity seems determined to rush headlong into disaster, they’re going to have to start thinking about moving that announcement date forward).
Not everyone on earth lives equally so Country Overshoot Days give us a better idea of which countries are using resources faster than they can be regenerated.What is a Country Overshoot Day?
Country overshoot days mark the date when Earth Overshoot Day would be if all humanity lived like the people in that country. Differences in wealth and consumption mean that every country has a different overshoot day. Some countries don’t have an overshoot day because they are living under the biocapacity of earth. This highlights the deep inequality we’ve created over the last 50 years: Qatar, Luxembourg and Singapore overshoot biocapacity in February, while if we all lived like people in Jordan, Philippines and Senegal we’d only be using 1% of the earth’s resources.
We need people in all countries to be living within the earth’s capacity without poverty and inequality.
When is Aotearoa New Zealand’s Overshoot Day?
In Aotearoa New Zealand our Country Overshoot Day for 2026 is 10th April. This means that if everyone on earth consumed as many resources each year as we do here in NZ, we would have exceeded what the earth can regenerate by 10th April.
We often find this hard to believe because NZ’s ‘Clean, green’ image and ‘100% Pure’ marketing has been drilled into us. In reality we have the 6th highest per capita car ownership rates in the world, high intensity dairy farming polluting our rivers, high meat consumption and the 3rd biggest houses in the world.When was the last Earth Overshoot Day?
In 2025 Aotearoa New Zealand’s Country Overshoot Day was 30th April, shockingly within one year, NZ’s overshoot day has jumped 20 days earlier.
Globally Earth Overshoot Day has been getting earlier and earlier. 1970 was the last time humans were living within the capacity of the earth. The relentless forward march of the day freaks me out, and is a complete waste of resources. In the year 2000, Earth Overshoot Day was in September, still too early but so much better than today. And I don’t feel like this increased use of resources has made us happier than we were 26 years ago. We have more stuff and more convenience and higher expectations, but happier? I don’t think so.
What happens when we pass Earth Overshoot Day?
Well…nothing much. That’s the problem. If you were paid your entire salary for the year on 1st January and had used it all up by 10th April, you’d be making some better decisions the following year! But the earth is operating on a different time line and has savings in the ecological bank, and at the moment we can keep exploiting it after we’ve used the allocation of resources for each year. But the signs are there that we’re running out of savings: extreme weather, pandemics, rising CO2, coral bleaching, water shortages…
What is Earth Overshoot Day for kids?
None of this is very positive, and for kids who are already feeling overloaded with information about climate change, biodiversity loss and other negative news, it’s yet another bad news story for them to take on board. With 75% of kids and young people feeling worried about their future because of climate change, and the heartbreakingly matter of fact way they talk about the loss of the natural world, it’s really important that we do our best to talk to them about topics like Earth Overshoot Day in a positive and hopeful manner.
How to talk to kids about Earth Overshoot Day
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Listen to them Kids will have learnt a lot about climate change and the environment from school, friends, social media and the news. Firstly listen to them, find out what they understand and where there might be holes in their knowledge.
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Give the facts The level of knowledge will depend on their age, sometimes it’s best just to answer questions they ask. If you don’t know the answer, it’s absolutely ok to say you don’t know but you can find out together. The Earth Overshoot Day website has a section for kids and teachers - this is a good place to start.
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Talk about how they feel Remember to validate how they feel. Their feelings might be different from yours, or they might not be able to express them easily. Tell them it’s ok to have lots of feelings about climate change and the environment. If it’s appropriate, tell them how you feel. If they’re old enough, and it’s appropriate, show them the climate change emotions wheel from Climate Psychiatry Alliance and check out the other resources on the website.
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Assure them it’s not their fault There’s a lot of pressure on younger generations to ‘fix the climate’. It is completely unfair to ask the youngest, least powerful members of society to fix a problem that was caused over generations by multi-billion dollar fossil fuel companies and governments. Climate change and Earth Overshoot Day are symptoms of an exploitative system that we’re all living in. Assure your kids that it’s not their fault and it’s not their job to fix it.
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Talk about solutions and cooperation Hope is an essential part of coping with the emotions we have around climate change and Earth Overshoot Day. Talk about times when people and countries have worked together to solve big problems (for example women’s suffrage, the ozone hole, ending whaling, civil rights). Explore the Solutions and Power of Possibility pages on the Earth Overshoot website to learn more about how we can #movethedate and start living within earth’s capacity once more.
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Take Action While it’s not our fault taking action is an important part of empowering young people and ourselves towards solutions. When our actions have meaning, and we become part of a community who is working towards a better future we gain strength from taking action. There are plenty of ways kids and families can get involved in taking action: learning to cook vegetarian meals; walking, biking or busing to school and work; closing the curtains when it gets dark to conserve heat; growing veges or herbs; encouraging insects to your garden with a bee bath or log pile; planting flowers and native plants and buying less stuff.
Have your kids asked about Earth Overshoot Day? How did the conversation go? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Check out the Earth Overshoot Day website for details on how Earth Overshoot Day is worked out.