A bio-dome is a closed ecosystem example of what a sustainable environment is. The rest of the world mostly lives in an open ecosystem that is subject to all forms of abuse, manipulation and neglect. Our level of use is currently much larger than the earth’s ability to repair that kind of damage. This means that sustainability is failing.
Green is the thing these days. It’s not just a gimmick, though. It’s a polite but desperate attempt to stem waste and over consumption of resources. We can only withdraw what we deposit into our environmental checking account. There’s only so much credit beyond our current balance. We are rapidly approaching an overdraft.
A sustainable environment isn’t a complicated concept. It’s the doing that’s often difficult.
This fancy-pantsy phrase called ‘sustainable environment’ is the same thing as all this ‘green’ stuff that major manufacturers are pushing their products with. People are starting to get wise to their abuse of the environment and with the use of caustic ingredients in their products and packaging.
Basically, a sustainable environment is about how we use the land and everything in it (i.e. the environment). Do we greedily use it up or do we maintain it in such a way that it gets left to our children just the way our ancestor’s found it?
According to a writer at USNews, America’s greatest export is Trash. In a sustainable environment, we…. Yes… you and me…. produce as little trash as possible by re-using and recycling as much as possible. It’s nice, of course, to have our recycle-ables picked up at the curbside every week. But, if we were really being ‘green’, we would probably buy fewer products that require collection at all.
Being a good steward of the land and all that occupy it is what a sustainable environment is. A good care taker mends, repairs, maintains, and effectively manages all output and input so that the least amount of damage and the most amount of value remains on his or her piece of ground.
Some things we can do to contribute to a sustainable earth (environment) are: using paper instead of plastic at the grocery store or using recycled tote bags, grow plants for cleaner air and/or soil enrichment, use natural cleaning products, shred plastic and other packaging before throwing it out, re-use any packaging whenever possible, wearing clothing longer and repairing them instead of tossing them, buy and donate to charity types of thrift stores, make a compost for raw veggies and fruits instead of putting them into the trash (farm animals make good garbage disposals for most forms of fresh food waste), recycle ink cartridges and old cell phones, combine (planning is required) driving errands and don’t leave the vehicle running to reduce use of fossil fuels, a controlled burn of weeds where allowed (like the farmers do) instead of caustic chemicals, make it unprofitable for Monsanto to choke it’s competition and us with genetically modified seeds that have to be manufactured brand new each season, buy and use LED light bulbs (less energy use, less physical waste, better lighting and no dirty electricity).
This doesn’t mean we have to go all caveman-ish or become hippies. It means taking more responsibility for one’s impact on land, animals and future generations. It means not letting big food corporations poison us or the land with how they package and prepare their pre-made products. We have a say on how they do things by our buying practices and our letters to those companies about what we want.
More and more companies are responding to what the public wants as a result of lower population (demand or glut for products), the economic mess we’re in and our buying practices. High fructose corn syrup and trans-fats are recent examples.
Being ‘Green’ has interesting side effects. Health seems to improve with less pollution. Things are cheaper in the long run. And, taking responsibility puts us back into the driver’s seat of our lives.
