What is sustainability?
Sustainability is the idea that things can keep going and sustain themselves, can continue to progress into the future exponentially.
As humans the sustainability of our planet is crucial as it means that it can continue to do what it is designed to do, and provide;
fresh air - clean water - food - and a (good) quality of life for all the creatures that live here.
Un-sustainability means the opposite, that it cannot sustain us. This is (though some would disagree) the situation that we find ourselves in now.
20 years ago some scientists got together in Sweden and developed a definition for sustainability with four key principles. Try to imagine that the earth is a system with everyone and everything fulfilling certain roles and jobs each dependant on the other (symbiotic). Everything is intrinsically linked; society - environment - economy.
The four principles that they came up with are a bit like the instruction manual for that system. If we follow these guidelines it is good for both the planet and us. As human beings we exist as part of the planets system, we are not separate from it, we cannot exist without it.
The four principles are;
- Reduce our dependence on heavy metals and fossil fuels.
- Reduce our dependence on harmful synthetic chemicals.
- Reduce our destruction of the natural environment and its resources.
- Ensure that across the globe, human beings are not being stopped from meeting their basic needs.
As our global population increases (currently 7 million) so does our demand on the earths natural resources (as our living standards rise the earths ability to produce the things we need diminishes)
Humanities endless search for prosperity growth and success is destroying the natural system that we rely upon to exist. We have become a threat to our own existence.
The only way to become more sustainable is to follow these four principles. Change the way we act, consume and live on earth to produce less pollution and waste.
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