Bio Paper"Story of Stuff"

Sustainability is currently a global concern. In recent years scientists have publicised theories that the Earth will not be able to cope with the exponential growth of pollution and resource consumption.

“Many current discussions about sustainability focus on the ways in which human activity...can be maintained in the future without exhausting all of our current resources… there has been a close correlation between the growth of human society and environmental degradation - as communities grow, the environment often declines” (603).

Do we have hope for our resources and our environment? I think it truly depends on all of us as the upcoming generation to make sure that our resources are used properly. For me it means using the resources, while not depleting all of them. The Earth doesn’t have to be raped, for us to live comfortably. Sustainability is made up of multiple different parts not just a single part.

The word ‘sustainable’ has been chosen as a second criterion, as the philosophy sets out to be

Sustainability can be defined as a method of harvesting or using of a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged. We must fundamentally excel in our research and studies to assure we are demonstrating all the correct, yet safe, practices in order to maximize the benefits of food and agriculture. The oil & gas sector can be labeled as very controversial. While one can insist it helps strengthen our economy and also keeps us from exporting from other countries, another could argue it is very harmful to our

In the introduction to Sustainability, Christian R. Weisser explains that sustainability is the ability for an item or idea to be maintained long-term. Specifically, Weisser describes that sustainability is the related to the correlation between human society and environmental degradation. As Weisser puts it, “as communities grow, the environment often declines” this addresses the cause and affects the human society has on the world and how understanding and using sustainability can fix that problem. For example, Weisser gives the use of disposal of aluminum cans, and how human society has advanced to reuse these resources and apply this to improve the future. Weisser insists that not only does sustainability show the relation

Sustainable development is defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (IISD, par. 1 ).

Solow defines sustainability as providing future generations the opportunity to be as well of as we are today. The availability of non-renewable resources

The average human being, multiplied by the Earth’s population, would need to have about four Earths just to supply enough resources (Footprint Calculator). Thinking of people around the world, the people of the United States seem to take a lot of their life for granted. Many people when they hear of the polar ice caps melting wave it off and either don’t believe in it or believe it is not their problem. Well it is their problem and if we don’t jump on the issue soon we will not be giving our future generations much of a life. This brings me to the idea of sustainability. A simple description of the word means that what we have today we will also have tomorrow, next week, next year, or even the next lifetime. Although that is the modest version sustainability is much, much more than just that. Sustainability is derived from three main parts of the human life: environmental, social, and economic. Each being just as important as the other. Environmental is the most well-known aspect of sustainability in human life, but both social and economic take their place in keeping this Earth sustainable.

“As of August 2, human beings have used up its allowance of resources such as water, clean air, and soil for 2017, according to environmental groups the Global Footprint Network and the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). And there’s still five months to go in the year. Great job guys” (Gaffey). That is very bad because those natural resources were supposed to last us the whole year we have used up in only seven months! It’s not too late to reverse the effects, but it will take some time. “The ultimate goal is to move Earth Overshoot Day back by 4.5 days every year; if that were the case, we would return to using the resources of just one planet by 2050” (Gaffey). It will take 43 years before that can happen. That is about half of someone's life, so theoretically we can see the earth return to its normal state but that is only if everyone does their part to conserve the earth's natural resources.

Sustainable Development is an ambiguous concept as individuals, governments and environmentalists have different opinions on what true sustainability really is. There are many people that think that it simply cannot be achieved and is just a term thrown around to convince people that development is a good thing, whereas others believe that it is proven to work. Sustainable Development can be seen as two completely different concepts, Visvanathan (1991) says that

In the 1987 Bruntland report, researchers defined sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” (Our Common Future 1987). This definition receives some criticism by scientists

As we look back upon history, we have considered our planet to have a never ending supply of resources that humans need in order to satisfy their needs and wants. However, if you look at the world recently, humans have started to realize that these resources aren’t unlimited and have started thinking about sustainability, protection and the preservation of the environment. Looking at the limited supply of natural resources and the increasing utilization due to the growing population and consumption, if we do not come up with a solution to this global environmental crisis, the over depletion of resources will be ongoing which will jeopardize the standard of living for future generations. Natural calamities, droughts, decreasing clean water supply, air pollution, and increasing global temperatures will all continue unless we start taking action immediately. For example, smog that was caused by air pollution in China led to water contamination for natives in China which led to wild life disruption with oil spills (Black,2007). According to theorists in the readings, development and underdevelopment are both caused by environmental situations. Economic development and environment issues are interrelated issues that need to be looked at together and that development processes degrade the environment which eventually can undermine economic development (WCED, 1987:3). Sustainability stipulates the situations under which individuals and environment can survive efficiently as a

Although the term 'sustainable development ' was first coined within the Brundtland report,5 the concept of sustainable consumption is not a new one, with it 's roots in historic forestry management practices.6 However, since the late 20th century the need for a sustainable form of development has increasingly becoming more and more evident. Advances in technology and increasing levels of global economic development coupled with a rapidly growing population levels has led to a

The concept of sustainable development has been at the centre of many big debates of late including world conferences on development and developmental planners. It is gaining impetus as people get more informed on the current effects of climate change and the looming devastating effects of the same on future generations increasing the unpredictability of the future. At the core of sustainable development is the fragile condition of balancing between protection as well as maintenance of the productivity of the environment and the quest for economic growth. This is a fundamental function of ‘environmental politics.’ The concept of sustainable development makes us believe that it is possible to realize economic prosperity and protect the environment at the same time (Carter, 2007).