Why sustainability doesn’t need to depend on high tech solutions

It’s a popular idea that the path to sustainability lies in high-tech solutions. Making everyday items more sustainable. cars electric, and installing smart systems to monitor and reduce energy use, it seems we’ll still be able to enjoy the comforts to which we’ve become accustomed while doing our bit for the planet – a state known as “green growth”.

This approach comes with a lot of risks. Modern technologies often use rare earth elements, such as cobalt, lithium, and copper. These are MetalsThey are found in devices such as cell phones, televisions, and motors. They are limited in supply, and large quantities of them are not available. Energie are required for their extraction and processing – producing significant emissions.

Many of these devices are also inherently safe. DifficultRecycle. Because they are often made from small quantities of complex materials, it is difficult to recycle them. It’s very expensive to collect and separate them for recycling.

Among others, these limitations have led some to question the high-tech direction our society is taking – and to develop a burgeoning interest in Low-tech solutions. These solutions prioritize simplicity and durability, local manufacturing, as well traditional or ancient techniques.

What’s more, low-tech solutions often focus on conviviality. This means encouraging social connections through, for instance, communal music or danceInstead of encouraging hyper-individualism promoted by resource-hungry devices,

“Low-tech” does not mean a return to medieval ways of living. But it does demand more discernment in our choice of technologies – and consideration of their disadvantages.

Low-tech is the beginning of low-tech

Critics have declared the There are downsidesTechnology that is too advanced for centuries, starting in the 19th century LudditesTo the 20th century WritersLike Jacques Ellul or Lewis Mumford. It was the western. Energy crisisThese ideas were popularized in the 1970s.

British economist E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 book Small is BeautifulIt was a powerful critique on modern technology and its depletion. fossil fuels. Instead, Schumacher advocated for simplicity: locally affordable, efficient technologies (which he termed “intermediate” technologies), like small Hydroelectricity devicesRural communities use it.

Schumacher’s mantle has been taken up by a growing movement calling itself “low-tech”. Belgian writer Kris de Dekker’s online Low-Tech MagazineLow-tech solutions have been catalogued by windmillsSince 2007, friction is used to heat buildings. The magazine also explores outdated technologies that could still contribute towards a sustainable society. fruit wallsIn the 1600s, it was used to create microclimates that were warm and local for the cultivation of Mediterranean fruits.

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In the US, architect and academic Julia Watson’s book Lo-TEKTEK stands to Traditional Ecological Knowledge. It explores traditional technologies such as the use reeds in building materials or the creation of wetlands to treat wastewater.

And in France, engineer Philippe Bihouix’s realisation of technology’s drain on resources led to his prize-winning book The Age of Low Tech. It was first published in 2014. It describes the realities of living in a low-tech world, including how it might look. Reduce consumption.

Bihouix presents seven “commandments” of the low-tech movement. Among others, these cover the need to balance a technology’s performance with its environmental impact, being cautious of automation (especially where employment is replaced by increased energy use), and reducing our demands on nature.

The first principle of low tech is to avoid excessive or frivolous consumption and be satisfied with less beautiful models that have lower performance. Bihouix puts it this way:

A reduction in consumption could make it quickly possible to rediscover the many simple, poetic, philosophical joys of a revitalised natural world … while the reduction in stress and working time would make it possible to develop many cultural or leisure activities such as shows, theatre, music, gardening or yoga.

Solutions from the past

It is important to realize that we can use low-tech principles in our daily lives right now. We can, for instance, reduce our energy use. HeatingUse warm blankets and clothes. Food, if it’s packaged at all, can be bought and stored in reusable, recyclable packaging like glass.

ArchitectureThere are many low-tech options available, especially if we draw from the past. Use ancient WindcatcherCool air can flow through rooms through towers that allow for external cool air to flow. This allows buildings to be cooled with much less energy than air conditioning. The storage of heat in stones is also a common use. RomansFor underfloor heating, is being looked at today as a way to deal with the intermittent nature of renewable energy.

Design and manufacture for sustainability emphasizes reducing the amount of waste. Simple materials, such as plain carbon steels, can be joined with removable fasteners. It is easy to recycleLocally repair. These steels can be used to make buses, trains, and farm machinery, among others. Refurbished or recycledModern cars are full of them. microelectronicsMade from advanced alloys

In some cases, the principles and practices of low tech are already being used to influence urban design and industrial policies. Examples include “15-minute cities” where shops and other amenities are Accessible easilyResidents are encouraged to use cargo bikes for delivery and repair, and to opt for cars or vans instead. right-to-repair legislationBoth in the EU und in the USA

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Meanwhile, in Japan, there’s emerging interest in the reuse and recycling practices of the Edo period. From 1603 to 1767, the country was effectively closed off to the outside, with very limited access and resources. Therefore, extensive reuse and repair – even of things such as broken pottery or utensils with holes that we’d now regard as waste – became a way of life. Specialist repairers would repair or recycle everything, from books and paper lanterns to shoes and umbrellas, shoes, pans, umbrellas, candles and umbrellas.

These examples show how we can make technology choices that are both intelligent and sustainable.