St. Cloud
This article was written to remind everyone that the environment is nothing but the essential air, water, and soil, also known as the three abioticspheres of atmosphere (hydrosphere), lithosphere, and lithosphere. We often forget that the environment is essential for our economy’s survival.
There are many factors that can lead to environmental degradation. These include greed, ignorance and technology. Mahatma Gandhi summed it up well when he said that spaceship Earth has enough resources to meet all people’s needs. However, not everyone is greedy. Modern technology allows for easy access to Earth’s resources from any location.
My favorite eco-economist Herman Daly brought our attention to the fact environmental degradation is an iatrogenic illness induced by the economic doctors, the pro-growth advocates, who try to treat the disease with unlimited wants through unlimited production. He reminded us that treatment-induced diseases cannot be cured by increasing the dosage. Even in ignorance, it is foolish to do so.
This ecological economist reiterates another truth: production and depletion are a flow from an ecosystem to the economy to build capital stocks. The flow of capital stocks is also affected by pollution and depreciation. Although the ecosystem and the economic provide unique goods and services, the economy is dependent on the ecosystem for its services and goods, which are essential to its survival.
The environment is our hand feeding us, and we can’t afford not to eat. Ignorance can lead to the illusion that a society is detached from its environment, especially in industrialized countries. Wright and Nebel, environmental science experts, said that societies all over the globe, regardless of how closely they are tied to their environment, are crucial to their continued success.
The environment’s ability to assimilate and regenerate slowly erodes, which in turn would threaten its sustainability. The environment is like a business in liquidation, which can lead to its vulnerability. I believe there are more definitions of sustainability than people are interested in the concept. To put it another way, sustainability can be defined as the process and actions that humankind takes to avoid the loss of natural resources. This is to ensure that modern societies have a high quality of life.
The goal of sustainability is to not exceed Earth’s ecosystems carrying capacities. This means that resource consumption and waste must be kept at a minimum level that does not compromise ecological productivity or integrity.
Sound science is a way to gain knowledge about how things work and how ecological systems work. This allows us to make informed decisions regarding how to pursue and maintain sustainability. To achieve this goal, environmental stewardship encompasses all that we can do, and the right or wrong things to do, in order to improve environmental sustainability. We are not responsible for the upkeep of the environment.
We must stop living in a throw-away world. I can recall years ago, when I used to smoke cigarettes, that I had a lighter that lasted as many years as I puffed. I only had to buy lighter fluid and refill the cotton wick in order to keep it flammable. Today, disposable lighters come in packs of 5, 10, or more, and we litter the environment. Clothes are worn until they become too old and worn. They are then shredded to make pillows or insulation. Natural enemies can be used to control pests, which can be imitated by using them instead of chemical pesticides. We can reduce waste and consumption. Companies can stop overpackaging. We can use both renewable and non-depletable energy sources. All stakeholders can reuse, reduce, recycle their responsibility. Yes, we can.
This is the opinion St. Cloud residentAnthonyAkubue. Submit a Your Turn of your own by emailing it to [email protected].
