Sustainability: Finding a balance.
Sustainability: How much for a balance?
We have to find some kind of environmental balance in our communities. The US is famous (or infamous) for over consumption and being wasteful. Zens (2008) can see an upside to this, “In a country where conspicuous consumption is the norm . . . there should be a lot of opportunities and scope to live more sustainably without sacrificing quality of life. In fact, quality of life will most likely increase with a more sustainable society.”
Simply put “sustainability” means
a. living within our means,
b. budgeting our resources, and
c. reducing pollution production.
Simple to define but it is difficult to change old habits and maintain a new way of doing things. It is important to see progress and have some rewards along the way.
Gongol (2005) has pointed out that making a zero-waste world a priority is not the same as making a sustainable community. He suggests that paying attention to economics will be more useful and that, “Though it may seem counterintuitive, it's probably best for the environment if we devote less direct attention to "sustainability" and more to our pocketbooks.” (Gongol, 2005)
For societies, communities and businesses there is point where the balance of sustainability can move
1) too far to the negative (no change in progress towards sustainability or worse yet degradation of an ecosystem) or
2) too far too the positive (good results but too much energy and investment for the return).
Initiatives
Large-scale initiatives The United Nations Millennium Development Goal 7 addresses the issue of environmental sustainability. The first targeted goal is two-fold. Policies and programs of countries need to “integrate the principles of sustainable development” into their design. The second is to “reverse the loss of environmental resources” (UNDP, 2010).
The next step is to target indicators such as forested land cover, CO2 emissions, fish stocks, water resources, and species extinction. The next targeted goal is to make available safe drinking water and sanitation for those who don’t have it yet. The fourth targeted goal is to improve the lives of each urban slum dweller by the year 2020. (UNDP, 2010).
Each UN member has goals based on the targets set by the UNDP.
Encouraging sustainable behavior: strategic options Madagascar has had success with improving forest cover. Making the effort useful for the community is necessary for successful intervention. That includes getting the community involved and offering new jobs. In Madagascar the first step was to train people as eco-tourism guides so they could work in their own communities and share the knowledge of the forest species.
There is a discussion about whether farmers and herders will benefit from the Madagascar project because large areas of land are being turned into park areas. That makes the land off limits for growing crops and herding animals. On the other hand Conservation International President Mittermeier feels strongly that once the communities understand the economic benefits they will whole heartedly support the changes (Lovegren, 2007). The parks are a “goldmine of biodiversity” which attracts tourism as well as academic researchers (Lovegren, 2007).
Two more basic strategic options used in all programs in addition to economic benefits are 1) to not restrict projects to only protected areas and 2) that one area’s advantage does not become another area’s disadvantage. Also investments must involve strong policy and institutions. Also for success there must be equity within the community. The poor and women cannot be left out of the economic benefits.
Effectiveness of initiatives: most effective at what level. The UNDP has established that the first strategy step taken for implementing the environmental sustainability MDG is to work at the ecosystem level. The ecosystem level is the level that will benefit the biodiversity of the plants and animals the most. Biodiversity is the characteristic that will keep them stable and healthy as well as improve economic benefits.
In Australia effective action has been taken by different communities at the local level. In fact it is recommended that community and local government work together to plan and implement local environmentally sustainable projects (AU Govt., 2006).
Sustainability: Balance and Resilience The resilience of an ecosystem is a measure of how easily it can bounce back from environmental stress. Wilder, Tegner and Dayton note that from their study of marine ecosystems that resilience is lessened from activities such as trawling and dredging. There is a point in which the resilience is destroyed and cannot return to its healthy state.
A balance is needed between the continued stress on an ecosystem and the resiliency of the ecosystem. The resiliency of ecosystems needs to be respected or they will be destroyed.
In the Philippines the importance of progress towards environmental sustainability is understood but the challenges are many.
“Studies show that both sides (poor and industrialized) can be harmful to the environment depending on the impact of the degree or extent of stresses and the resiliency of the ecosystem. Environmental management/governance ideally aims for
a balance in sustainable use and conservation of resources and the environment.”(Manila Bulletin, 2010).
The rate of population growth in the Philippines is a difficult problem to solve. The extremes of degradation on the environment from both poor and industrialized areas make the clean-up challenges extreme, too.
During September Queensland celebrated “Threatened Species Week 2011: Resilience and Renewal.” One of the goals was to teach people about resiliency. When species and ecosystems are resilient they are able to adapt and recover from disturbances. Their web link points out that when we “increase habitat connections and protect species from threats” we help keep the species stay alive and not become extinct. (Queensland, 2011).
Each area whether it is an ecosystem or a town park has unique needs and unique strategies to be implemented for success.
Conclusion In human communities the main challenge is that people have adapted to the polluted conditions in their environment. Although people are detrimentally affected with health problems and cancers, they continue the activities that cause the pollution.
Successes have been made in many communities by building passive and active solar panels into public buildings like schools and courthouses. Millions of projects can be designed. It all depends on the imagination of people and their willingness to adapt to new habits. The economic benefits and a cleaner environment are two great rewards for starting to make lifestyle changes. The challenges are sometimes overwhelming but environmental sustainability is worth the effort.
References
Buckingham, Susan. 2003. Local Environmental Sustainability. K. Theobald [Ed]. Boca Raton, FL.
2003. pp. 97, 166. Print.
Environment and Resource Government Management. Threatened Species Week 2011: Resilience and Renewal. Queensland Government.5 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from <http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/wildlifeecosystems/wildlife/threatened_species_week/index.html>.
Environmental Sustainability. Newspaper Title: Manila Bulletin. Publication Date: May 29, 2010. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5043070882.
Gongol, Brian. 2005. Too much “Sustainability” Can Hurt the Environment. Gongol.com. 15 May 2005. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from <http://www.gongol.com/research/economics/sustainablecommunities/>.
Heskett, J. 2008. How Sustainable is Sustainability? Working Knowledge. Harvard Business School. 1 Febr. 2008. Web 5. Nov. 2011. Retrieved from <http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5834.html>.
Lovgren, Stefan. 2007. Madagascar Creates Millions of New Protected Areas. National Geographic News. 4 May 2007. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070504-madagascar-parks.html
Millennium Development Goals. 2010. United Nations Development Program. Nn.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.undp.org/mdg/goal7.shtml.
Melnick, D, McNeely, J., Navarro, Y.K., Schmidt-Traub, G., Sear, R.R. 2005.Environment
and human well-being: a practical strategy. Summary version. The Millennium Project UNDP Task Force for Environmental Sustainability. NY, NY. n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from<http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/EnvironSust_summary.pdf>.
Wilder, R.J., Tegner, M.J. and Dayton, P.K. 1999. Saving Marine Biodiversity. Issues in Science and Technology. 15: 3. PublicaSpring 1999. p.57+ Retrieved from
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001253783
Zens, George. 2008. Sustainability 101: What is sustainability and why should we care? Sustainable Times. 16 Jan. 2008 Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from <http://www.sustainabletimes.net/node/28>.
