Sustainability

Why Sustainability Has Become Such A Vital Issue

Sustainability has become one of the most important issues in the whole environmental issue. Much of the way we live today cannot be sustained indefinitely into the future, meaning that we are going to have to change our ways if we are to maintain our standard of living into the future, and provide hope for future generations. The materials which we use to construct and manufacture products need to be fully replaceable by future growth, and the energy sources we use need to be changed over so that they can be maintained when the fossil fuel supply runs out.

In order to determine whether a product is sustainable, we need to have some kind of a benchmark with which to judge it. That benchmark is to determine whether or not the manufacture of that product could be extended indefinitely into the future. The true measure of a product has to consider every stage of the product's life. This starts with the very moment the raw materials are extracted. Are the materials produced in a way which can be sustained? A good example of a sustainable product is one which is made of wood from sustainable forests.

Wherever trees are planted to replace any trees which are felled for timber, you have a situation of sustainability. This is the model which we, as the human race, need to be following in order to maintain a quality of life for future generations. The judgement of sustainability continues throughout the manufacture of the product, although there are obviously areas which are unclear. The same process, for example, can take place using energy created from fossil fuels, or from energy produced from genuinely renewable sources. In theory, this should have no effect on whether or not the product itself is judged as sustainable, but it will obviously have an effect in the real world.

The subject of energy is one of the most contentious of all environmental subjects, and one which is surrounded by controversy. Many of the largest businesses in the world are involved in the extraction and use of fossil fuels, and the vested interests involved have been successful in influencing politicians to act against the long term best interests of the average citizen, and of future generations. The pendulum will need to swing in favor of the rank and file citizen if we are to make sustainable progress.

We need to make the move to sustainable energy sources while we still have enough fossil fuels left on Planet Earth to make the change. There is more than enough wealth in nature to harness for our needs. Solar energy can be generated on so much of the Earth's surface, and in the more hostile climates of the temperate zones, there is plenty of potential for wind power. Combine these with hydrogen as a storer of energy, and we can create a fully sustainable energy system which will last long into the future. It is our children who will benefit from this sustainability.

 

 

 

 

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