Sustainability A Call to Action Part I

Individual Scale

Linda C Pope

• Publisher: Square Root Press LLC
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9780997756012
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Biological Sciences

Sustainability: A Call to Action Part I (2 nd Edition) provides the perfect antidote to environmental despair. The author blends solid science with a recognition that even small individual actions are available and beneficial. Our current path isn’t necessarily our fate. Ample tested tools and methods already exist. The author reviews and links to all of these, encouraging readers to find simple and do-able shifts in behavior that don’t feel onerous. Chapters look at the restoration of natural ecosystems, changing our use of water, our food and agricultural choices, our built environment, and our commitments to healthy communities. The book’s Table of Contents, and this edition’s comprehensive index, allow readers to dip into the text quickly for information, resources and inspiration.

CHAPTER 1

SUSTAINABILITY: WHAT IS IT?

For decades, if not centuries, we have each contributed to the current degradation of our ecosystems. Garrett Hardin (1968) explained the dilemma in his classic tale of unsustainability, The Tragedy of the Commons. Unless a common, in this case the pasture, is regulated in some fashion, we take advantage of and abuse the situation to our individual benefit, to the detriment of all. Individually, we will continue to add more cows to the common pasture until our standard of living declines and the ecosystem fails.

After learning more about sustainability, we understand that this does not have to be our fate. It does mean that we have to change the way we currently do everything. The current model of taking from the earth to make new products that are quickly sent to the landfill must be replaced with a cyclical model, in which resources are used in continuous cycles, and there is no waste. This must be the focus of our efforts for change in the next 3 to 4 decades.

We live in challenging times. Every day, we are bombarded with disheartening news and, with each situation, we have the choice to ignore the issues or ask, “What can we do to change this?” There has never been a time in which an emphasis on hope and inspiration is more important than now. Moore (2013) describes hope as a free energy source and a powerful influence that will strengthen our ability to overcome all challenges. Recognition of this energy source could not have come at a better time! I am writing this book, a condensed source of information regarding our current status, to give hope and inspiration, and to provide possible solutions for now and our future. This book is asking you to “step up to the plate” and act!

The terms “sustainable” and “sustainability” are commonplace, and they are often overused. People confuse environmental science with sustainability. Environmental Science is related to all of the earth sciences (biology, chemistry, soil science, atmospheric science, geology, ecology, geography), whereas sustainability includes the interaction between humans and nature, and economic and social aspects of fairness and equity. Learning how to live in harmony with the planet and nature is essential. If we each can work to leave this world in better shape than we currently find it, we will succeed. None of us have to do it alone. We have each other to lend support. We just need to start, to do our part no matter how small, and to keep looking for new and better ways to find the harmonious balance we seek, as well as to become a source of inspiration for others.

The most commonly quoted definition for sustainability was first described by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations (1987): “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” If humankind is to survive, then embracing sustainability in all of its forms is crucial. However, even sustainability is not enough; we need to move beyond sustainability, (which “involves scarcity and minimalism”) to a world that is thriving with “abundance and enrichment” (Edwards, 2010).

This is an exciting time. Those who truly engage this challenge will get to redefine the way our world functions at every level. There is almost nothing that is already perfect just as it is other than nature. There are rumblings of change everywhere. We are on the cusp of a tipping point. Because of this, it is important that we each find our piece in this puzzle that we can contribute to transform this world, and our future world will become the amazing place we all want it to be. Sustainability involves finding methods for humans to develop and grow within the bounds that nature provides. Thriving, on the other hand, includes not only sustaining the environment but also restoring it to its former health and well-being, while at the same time providing a multitude of possibilities wherein we can each express ourselves and grow.

What is science? It is the main tool we use to understand our surroundings. We use our senses and our ability to think in order to collect data that will explain what we experience. Science represents what we know as well as the process we use to gain that knowledge: the scientific method. This method is a procedure that has attempted to explain natural science for over 400 years. It consists of systematic observation, careful measurement, and repeated experiments after the formulation and modification of hypotheses (Oxford, 2013). Where pure science may seek information for its own sake, environmental science seeks to solve environmental problems.

These problems were not created intentionally, and in fact we may have been oblivious to the potential harm we were causing. The Earth is so large and humans are so small. Surely it is not possible for humans to change the Earth in any significant manner!

Why do we need to change? We are discovering that all webs of life and all food chains are interconnected. And because of the misunderstanding we have had regarding our place in the world, all ecosystems are in decline (Millennium, 2005). The current culmination of all environmental degradation is a result of people trying to survive, trying to make a living, and then those actions expanded to the point of greed. Many of these environmental issues are controversial. Sometimes they are fabricated, or clouded by special interest groups; sometimes they are caused by contradictory world views; in many cases the problems are just very complicated. Environmental science is the most complicated of all the sciences. It requires understanding many interacting disciplines: earth and life sciences; psychology, culture and sociology; history, politics and economics. It is our place in history to deal with the ramifications of centuries of abuse to nature and to each other.

Environmental science describes the natural environment and its imbalances within systems, either natural or anthropogenic (caused by humankind). Sustainability addresses how we can refrain from further degradation by changing our methods and by the use of conservation. Using principles of thrivability, we can bring systems back to health, referred to as restoration ecology. Sustainability and thrivability function at many scales, and this will be described in subsequent chapters.

Monitoring and assessing our progress along these paths of change requires a way to measure progress, or some form of an indicator. This monitoring is frequently organized in the form of “The Triple Bottom Line” (Figure 1.1). Unless all aspects of life are taken into account, nothing can be truly sustainable. As Ray Anderson, former CEO of Interface Inc. says: “You can't make a green product in a brown company, and you can't have a green company without a green supply chain” (2006). Similarly, you cannot have a green (sustainable) city if the state is brown (unsustainable), or a green country if the rest of the world is brown. By this I mean no one, no region, no time period can be degraded at the expense of creating one “perfect” location. For example, if we send our trash to the other side of the world, it will be burned there, but the toxins will enter the air stream and return to us in the form of chemical-laden rain. There is no “away.”

Figure 1.1. The Triple Bottom Line. Source: Adapted from the University of Michigan Sustainability Assessment (2002).

The Triple Bottom Line (Figure 1.1) represents what needs to be measured in sustainability, but not how to measure it. The Cities Programme of the UN Global Compact has modified the traditional diagram to include a measurement indicator (Figure 1.2), the Circles of Sustainability. An indicator informs you when a condition is operating as planned; it can also indicate the direction needed to bring an issue back into balance. Indicators are varied, but they always have some characteristics in common: they must be relevant, easy to understand, reliable, and based on data that is easily accessible (Hart, 2010).

Figure 1.2. Circles of Sustainability. Source: UN Global Compact Cities Programme Secretariat, directed by Paul James.

Instead of using the Circles of Sustainability provided by the United Nations, the United States issues reports. For example, the National Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee summarizes the concerns of the United States in a report of over 1,000 pages; individual chapters are available online (NCADAC, 2013). The executive summary is a frank description of the degradation that is currently happening in our country and what is expected for our future. The last 2 chapters address mitigation and adaptation, and these are recommended for review (NCADAC, 2013). However, the average person might better understand our current status if we used a visual graphic such the Circles of Sustainability instead.

How can we know that we are making the right choices? The best answer is to use nature as a guide. This emerging field of looking to nature for answers is called biomimicry (Benyus, 1997). For example, as temperatures increase, the mountain pine beetle is no longer killed off during the winter months. An increase in their population leads to excessive forest decline. We respond by harvesting the dead or dying trees to increase yield from the forest. When a tree dies naturally, the wood, needles, and leaves decay, and return nutrients to the soil. By harvesting this timber, we prevent the natural cycle. According to Hawken (1993), when these trees are dying they put out a noise, some may call it a song, which is heard by the beetle. This calls the beetle to feed on the tree and to turn it back into rich soil for the next generation. What if there are not enough nutrients in the soil to support healthy growth, and the tree can sense this limitation? In response, it “sacrifices itself” for the benefit of future trees, and calls the beetle so that its return to the soil will enrich the growth of future generations. If this is true, then we continually prevent the nutrients from returning to the soil. We are disrupting the natural sequence of events. Is the solution to let this generation of trees die so that the future forest health can be restored? Would it be best if we learned how to help nature to heal itself? These are questions for this generation to address.

As a species, we have been living a wild teenage life, doing whatever we want. In comparison to all life on Earth, we are a young species and have not fully grasped the consequences of our actions. We have reached a point in history where we must now mature as a species and get on a sustainable path. Oren Lyons says, “What if we choose to eradicate ourselves from this Earth, by whatever means? The Earth goes nowhere. And in time, it will regenerate, and all the lakes will be pristine. The rivers, the waters, the mountains, everything will be green again. It'll be peaceful. There may not be people, but the Earth will regenerate. And you know why? — Because the Earth has all the time in the world and we don't. So I think that's where we're at, right now” (DiCaprio, 2007). We do have another option. We can choose an alternative path, the one of sustainability. It is up to us to make this decision everyday, in every action. It will not be easy work, but the work will always be amazing.

The population of the world is over 7.2 billion people. The questions we have to ask ourselves are, “What is the carrying capacity of the earth?” and “Are we smarter than yeast?” Yeast is added to grape juice to make wine. The yeast cells multiply and consume the sugar in the juice until their numbers have expanded to excess. This continues until all the sugar is gone, and the yeast cells die. The shape of their lifespan on a graph is called “overshoot and collapse” (Meadows, 2004) (Figure 1.3). The current shape of human population growth is following the exponential growth shown by yeast as it expresses unlimited expansion (Figure 1.4). Will we control our population growth and unrestrained use of resources and bring our civilization into a carrying capacity in balance with other ecosystems, or will we follow the path of yeast in...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Preface
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Sustainability: What is it?
• 2. Importance of Vision and Sustainability Models
• 3. Natural Ecosystems
• 4. Water: Capture, Reuse, and Proper Disposal
• 5. Recycling and Zero Wastes
• 6. What We Eat
• 7. Sustainable Agriculture and Permaculture
• 8. The Built World
• 9. Energy
• 10. People, Culture, and Community
• 11. Transportation
• 12. Things We Make and Purchase
• 13. Work
• 14. Recreation
• 15. Health
• 16. The World
• Index
• About the Author