It is inevitable that the world is headed in the direction
of an ecological crisis with the way consumers use and abuse the Earth. Our
actions now are affecting the world drastically and we need to take serious
measures immediately in order to slow down the crisis. Consumers need to be
educated from early on so that they know of the damage they are causing to the
environment every time they run the washing machine or purchase unnecessary
purchases.
When reading Biomimicry:
Innovation inspired by nature by Janine Benyus there were many principles I
thought could be very efficient if implemented correctly. The principle that
she spoke about “Don’t Draw Down Resources” was the one that hit home the most
with me. Benyus wrote, “The best predator, for instance, is the one that
doesn’t completely eliminate its prey” and I could not agree more (Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature).
We are using up resources so quickly that there is no time to replenish them. The law of sustainability states that as
well when speaking about nonrenewable resources, at the same rate of which were
are using nonrenewable resources, we should be developing substitutes. Benyus
believes that one of the major faults was to introduce the use of nonrenewable
resources and I have to agree with her because at the rate we are using these
resources leaves no excuse why we are not finding substitutes so that we can
slow this process down. And the same goes for renewable resources, we need to
either be finding substitutes or we have got to lessen the amount we are using
because we leave no amount of time to let this resources replenish.
Another principle that I thought could be very practical was
“Use Waste as a Resource”. This proposition states “as a system puts on more
biomass, it needs more recycling loops to keep it from collapsing” (Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature). She
spoke about a town, Kalundborg, Denmark and their model of an ecopark. “Four
companies are collocated, and all of them are linked, dependent on one another
for resources or energy (Biomimicry:
Innovation inspired by nature). For instance one power company piped some
of its waste steam to two other companies which helped power their engines.
There was also another pipeline leading to the town with the rest of the waste steam,
which powered the town’s heat, terminating the need for oil furnaces. Although
I think this would take years and years to implement into our society I think
that this could be one of the biggest measures in making our world sustainable.
There are so many options we have in order to help our
environment but it all starts with encouraging people to WANT to make a change.
Hannah-
ReplyDeleteI love the ideas you presented in your blog this week! I especially like the paragraph that addresses the issues related to renewable and nonrenewable resources. I completely agree we that we need to be proactive either with finding new alternatives and/or using resources more wisely. In what ways should we go about finding new alternatives or encouraging consumers and industries to reduce their patterns of overconsumption? I also liked your idea regarding the installation of pipelines to transport resources. You mentioned your hesitations that this idea could take a considerable amount of time to implement, but what ways do you think consumers could help in speeding up this process? Great job this week Hannah!
Bree-
DeleteRegarding encouraging consumers I think that they should be educated from early on, maybe in school of the harm they are causing by washing clothes/drying, over consumption. I think that finding new alternatives lies in the hands of the government along with scientists.
Hannah-
DeleteI agree, consumers from an early age need to be educated regarding the consequences that result from our unsustainable actions. Before this class I've always heard about the concept of sustainability, but I wasn't quite sure what it entailed. However, this class has opened my eyes to the unsustainable areas in my life that negatively impact the environment. I think educating consumers would truly put things into perspective and educate consumers about what's considered to be sustainable vs. unsustainable.
How would you suggest making the "four company linkage" a reality? Obviously there are envrionmental benefits, but what would the financial benefits be for the companies? What would draw companies to do this? What would happen if one company didn't do well for a week and didn't produce enough waste steam, would the 3 other companies and the nearby town be without energy until business went up again?
ReplyDeleteAndrea-
DeleteI honestly have no idea how we would make the four company linkage a reality as I am not educated well enough in this area. I would hope that the fact that it is good for the environment (and there companies are ruining the environment) would be good enough.
Hannah, I completely agree that we go through resources and products so quickly. We tend to dispose of our resources and not think of it as “wasting” – which in the end has a harsh impact on our environment. You made great points throughout your post, which support this idea. Generating substitutes that can slow down this process is an idea that has great potential to be implemented for the future. What would be an example of one way we can go about substituting for the average person? Great job!
ReplyDeleteHannah,
ReplyDeleteI agree that we are using up too many of our natural resources and this is having a drastic effect on our planet. I love your idea of developing substitutes to products that we are using that cannot be replaced. I think that this is very important and we should hopefully begin making changes to these products in the near future, rather than later. I am curious if you might have any ideas or examples of products that we might develop in the future to substitute for these natural resources, such as when Janine Benyus discusses using solar power for energy in place of oil and coal? I enjoyed reading your blog and think it was well-written. Awesome job!
Chayla-
DeleteI definitely agree with Benyus's point of using solar power for energy in place of oil and coal as one substitute.