WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
- Vita
- Sep 22, 2021
- 4 min read
There has been a lot of talking about sustainability in the last few years, and it is a broad term that covers a lot. We always hear that sustainability is the key to a better life on Earth, but do we really know what it means, and do we know why we should live sustainably?
Let's start at the beginning. Sustainability means meeting our own needs without negatively impacting future generations and compromising their ability to meet their own needs. (1) We are directly and indirectly connected with nature, our well-being depends on nature, so creating conditions to live, work and coexist with nature, is what sustainability is mostly about. (2)
It is composed of three key pillars, environmental, economic, and social (also equity). The goal is that all three remain in balance because only so we can live sustainably. Achieving environmental sustainability means, that all Earth's ecosystems remain in balance, even though humans consume natural sources from nature, but only at a rate, that the ecosystems can replenish themselves. In other words, we, as humans don't take from nature too much, but only so that won't damage the balance. Economic sustainability stands for economic activities that are available to everyone and meet people's needs. Social sustainability stands for universal human, labour, and cultural rights, all of those are respected and protect everyone from discrimination. Social sustainability also stands for the availability of resources to keep families safe and healthy. (1)
If we look at the world right now we can see many indicators that we are not living sustainably. Natural disasters, diseases, poverty, famine, and racial discrimination are just a few of them. The reason behind it is, that we are using resources at a much faster rate than nature can handle. Because of that, the three pillars are not balanced, so the environment is suffering.
Moving towards sustainability can involve many challenges, but also many forms, such as:
reorganizing living conditions (ecovillages, sustainable cities ... )
reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture) or work practices (sustainable architecture)
using science to develop new technologies (renewable energy, green technologies ... )
designing systems in a flexible and reversible manner
adjusting individual lifestyles to conserve natural resources (plant-based diet, reducing waste, recycling ... ) (3)
Having healthy oceans, air, soil, all ecosystems really, is the key to having a healthy population. If we see rainforests dying, so are we. If we see oceans dying, so are we.
In a book titled: Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed, (2005) by Jared Diamond, there are stated 12 main problems that pose a threat to sustainability:
deforestation and habitat destruction
soil problems (erosion, salinization, and soil fertility losses)
water management problems
overhunting
overfishing
effects of introduced species on native species
overpopulation
increased per-capita impact on people
anthropogenic climate change
a buildup of toxins in the environment
energy shortages
full human use of the Earth's photosynthetic capacity (3)
Reading this, you have probably realised, that we are already seeing all these problems now. Some are discussed more, some are still hidden and some are becoming the main talk, like overfishing thanks to Netflix's documentary Seaspiracy.
Ways to achieve sustainability (3)
Healthy ecosystems are the key to our healthy lives. This can only be achieved by reducing undesirable human impact.
Solutions by sectors:
Agriculture
sustainable agriculture
I am a great advocate for a plant-based diet, because data, analyses, and many studies show that:
The biggest polluter worldwide is animal agriculture, responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions (4).
Livestock and their byproducts account for 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions (5).
Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day (6, 7), which has a global warming potential 86 times that of CO2 on a 20-year time frame (8). Reducing methane emissions would create tangible benefits almost immediately (9).
2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef (10, 11, 12).
477 gallons of water are required to produce 1lb. of eggs and almost 900 gallons for 1lb. of cheese (13).
1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk (14).
Animal agriculture is responsible for 20-33% of freshwater consumption in the world today (15).
Livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the Earth's ice-free land (16).
Livestock covers 45% of the Earth's total land (17).
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction (18, 19, 20, 21)
Around 2.7 trillion animals are pulled from the ocean each year (22, 23)
And many more, these are just a few.
Energy
energy efficiency
energy conservation
Ecosystems
biological integrity
ecosystem management
ecosystem health
reforestation
sustainable gardening
phase-out of lightweight plastic bags
Transportation
sustainable transport, like bicycle, public transport, walking
Economy
steady-state economy
sustainable development
nature-based solutions
sustainable living
Architecture
sustainable urban planning
urban open space
sustainable cities (the most sustainable cities in the world are Copenhagen, Singapore, Reykjavik, Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo ...)
To sum up, sustainability is a broad term that includes a lot of different areas of our lives. Currently, we are in a period where we are destroying our planet, we are demanding too much from it, so turning into sustainable living is the key to living a healthy life now, and also preserving it for our future generations. Because we should all know, that if the Earth is not ok, neither are we.
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