A space devoted primarily to Pace University students who are registered for the course Sustainable Development. All comments are expected not to contain obscene language and/or personal attacks.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Watch the above 8 minutes video clip and then post your comments.
In the short video clip above, sustainable development is displayed as a new concept. As described by the Ecologist magazine, traditional economic benefit was from the expense of the people and the environment. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) believes in sustainable development. Sustainable development means that there needs to be a shift in perspective to view the world as a whole. I believe in order to do this we must, as the video describes generate innovative solutions that can help this new perspective become real. In today’s society we are all aware that our resources are finite limit resources. We need to be aware of this and address it as a whole human population. We need to take DEFRA’s bigger picture approach. We need to adjust society, create a healthier environment, and develop a productive economy. These must all be taken into consideration at the same time to be successful. This ensures that we don’t focus on one aspect more than the other. As a society we need to somehow bring these issues to the forefront and not only make the population aware of it but really display the consequences of our actions in the future if a resolution is not found. I was uninformed before this video clip about Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS). I did not know that this problem was present in the United Kingdom and I am glad to see that the organization SCOPS has monitored this problem and has worked with farmers to find solutions, which allows the farmers to use less chemicals and make their lives much easier. As a population and a class I feel that we need to spread DEFRA’s meaning and goals to create a more sustainable world not just city or state. We need to fight this battle as a whole country, which will make it that much easier for us to preserve our resources for the future.
Since the early 1970’s when it became clear that there was a finite limit to the world’s natural resources, the concept of sustainable development became integrated to the policies and operations of economic growth. It is clearly wrong to simply deliver economic development with the expense of people and the environment. Some of the practices of sustainable development include having balance, looking after the world, and looking forward to a better tomorrow.
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is a government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom. Some of their works include the refurbishment of the Nobel House in London, which will be environmentally efficient and generate long-term financial savings. Projects such as this one in London display the efforts of sustainable development well because it incorporates the environment into business growth/practices. It has a huge impact on the industry now because driving these standards up will cause a domino effect in these sustainable development efforts.
SCOPS (Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep) was formed to develop sustainable strategies for parasite control in sheep. Reducing the amount of chemicals they use will be better for humans and the environment.
DEFRA offers great solutions and advocacy for sustainable development, but there are challenges involved like the timing, long term benefits, making sure others understand the concept of sustainable development, and getting other people involved. The government needs to incorporate long term policies and cost efficient solutions for there to be genuine sustainable development. Even though there’s still much that needs to be done for sustainable development in our society, it is a start that we acknowledge that we don’t have to sacrifice economic prosperity for there to be sustainable growth. We can’t have one without the other.
Sustainability is an issue that has existed since the beginning of time. Civilizations have battled scarcity since the beginning of man. A lot more is sophisticated, but the issue remains: can an ever growing population be fed and nourished? Does the planet will really have a limit? What are some ways that can preserve our ecosystems and economy jointly?
Thomas Malthus, an English economist, was the leading economist who finally gave thought that scarcity and human desire to pro-create are two issues that may never be solved. However, he did try using mathematics. Sustainability will not be solved by one person; it'll generally be organizations coming together for a larger purpose, and with the video above that introduced DEFRA, what we see is that an international governmental agency is taking upon itself to begin a dialogue among countries to enhance technology, to preserve our animals, and to share ideas. Departments, like DEFRA, are taking into account that the economy and ecosystem work against each other and that that does not always have to be the case. The textbook tells that as Americans grew richer, they began spending money on ways to reduce pollution. This is an example of how both the economy and ecosystem benefitted. DEFRA and other national government agencies are continuing to research for more effective ways that limit the harm on the economy and ecosystem.
Lastly, sustainability requires more development, but development that takes into account at just what speed do we need to make things and probably calculating the amount of what we need to relieve over-production.
I think you are right with sustainability will not be solved by one person but, if one person starts something it can become much bigger. Government organizations also help in the process of sustainability. We just need to hope we do not start to try fix something when it becomes too late.
Sustainability means different things to different people, but as made clear in the video above it requires EVERYONE. Sustainable development means having the ability to meet our needs without compromising / crippling the needs or abilities of future generations. Sustainable development, as stated before, is a fairly new concept though it has always been necessary. I find this interesting because had past generations paid attention and heeded the needs of our current generation then we would not be faced with the problems we are today. The idea that society as a whole needs to come together and address it's problems is at the core of this topic but when will we all wake up and talk about it?
Watching this video reminded me of a VICE documentary I watched entitled "The World is Sinking: Preventative Measures" (Here's the link to the preview if you're interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXKW7Ozhx8I .
This documentary discusses The Maldives, Venice and NYC when Hurricane Sandy devastated it and the surrounding areas almost a year ago. Preventative measures are discussed and how the world needs to wake up, come together and find a better solution for the problems we face today without compromising our future. One of the problems mentioned in the DEFRA video is that it's difficult to get people involved. For the most part, personal experience has shown me that it is very hard to get people to talk about long term sustainability, especially in America. Most people refute the idea that our planet needs humans to change the way we operate, in all aspects. DEFRA discusses making the message about sustainable development clear and consistent, which also presents a problem because there are people (mostly politicians) whom believe that sustainability especially surrounding matters of the environment are over exaggerated. I don't share this opinion, I think our society needs a really big wake up call to understand the importance of this subject.
I am sorry to include so many links but this is another documentary that really helped put things about the future of our planet into perspective for me. I highly reccommend you check it out if you have the time, it discusses what America will look like by the year 2100 if we continue the way we are now.
Sustainability means using resources in the most efficient way while making sure that the population in the long run will continue to have these resources. Sustainability is also concerned with human health and the environment. As shown in the video, DEFRA was created to protect these natural resources, to spread awareness and to promote green business practices. I agree that getting people involved is a challenge because sometimes it requires for all the people to be on the same page. I witness this not too long ago – people in my town are encouraged to recycle and our street is pretty good at doing just that. But I noticed that something workers are just putting everything into one truck instead of separating it (maybe they are running out of time and their solution is quicker while not environment friendly). Unless we all get involved and spread awareness, not too many things will change. Our government is also encouraging people to act more green – giving tax credits for buying more fuel efficient cars, installing solar panels, upgrading A/C system etc. But when money is tight, these programs are prone to budget cuts. Even though many of us will probably like to go more green, environmentally efficient products are usually more expensive (Tesla cars price tag starting at $70,000 is not for everybody). This video was also very good at pointing out that everything we do will have impact in the future. Therefore we need to be more careful at how we choose to use the limited recourses we have and to find the right balance although this is easier said than done. It will be interesting to find out how economists are dealing with this paradox.
According to the video, we have begun to realize that the natural resources in the world had a finite limit, which was discovered as early as 1970s. Sustainable development has been incorporated with economic growth. In order to have a successful economic development within the world, sustainable development allows us to take care of the world and putting its resources first. At the end of the day, we cannot have a successful economic growth if our resources disappear from us.
A government department that is used for food production, agriculture, environmental protection and etc. is known as DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.) DEFRA is used in the United Kingdom at the moment, in which they use it to carry out various projects just as restoring the Nobel House in London. This will help the environment and allow for future savings financially. The environment being integrated with business and economic practices shows the positive efforts of sustainable development, which will cause a chain reaction amongst other groups, which will follow the same path to achieve sustainable development. Although DEFRA offers many solutions that can help get the message of sustainable development across, there are still some things that it has to overcome in order to truly be successful which include getting people involved, the benefits on a long term aspect, and making sure the people participating understand and know how sustainable development truly works. There ways we can get around this by having the government step in and come up with solutions and policies that can generate a push for sustainable development. Regardless, we can be happy to see that there is some kind of a start towards accomplishing a better economy without having to see the future before us slip away.
Sustainable development is not a new concept but the meaning has changed since first introduce. As the timeline shows, improvements and laws are being pass help improve and make people more aware of issues concerning the environment. It also has different meanings to different people and the realization may not be a prioritization to some people based on their economical status.
Simon Kuznets followers states that as income rises, people take better care of the environment. if a person is struggling to pay for food, shelter, and basic necessities then the last thing they have time for is to be concern over the state of the environment. What i take form this is that then the problem is not just leaving the world better than we found it, but also to improve the economy for everyone to get more people to care. Sustainable involves the improvement of the quality of life and the way we think about the choices we make to make the environment.
I also found the comparison of the paper cup and styrofoam cups interesting. Paper cups used more of everything, were not reusable, and were biodegradable. Styrofoam cups use less materials, were reusable, but were not biodegradable. If styrofoam cups were disposed of properly they would be a better product and safer for the enivoronment. The issue then became the consumer who used each of these material and how they were disposed of. If the consumer less less money then of course they would buy the cheaper cup, but that doesn't mean they would end up in trash were they could be burned and not harm the environment in a significant way.
I like that the focus is not on just improving the environment, but also the economy. I have read of places that survive completely of sustainability using the income form windmills to pay for the economy in a small town and all extra power were sold to neighboring towns as extra income. Sustainable development is here and not some far fetch ideal.
Sustainable development is about finding a balance between the needs of the present population and the needs of the future population. It is an attitude of thinking critically about a choice and considering the many consequences it may have; both in the present and in the future. It requires forgoing some present benefit in exchange for minimizing a future detriment. Whereas normally, a firm would be only concerned with maximizing value, by adopting an attitude of sustainable development, the firm may also be concerned with issues which do not directly involve the profitability of the firm. This is mostly achieved through government interventionism, by either establishing a tax or by implementing incentives.
Sustainable development means growing responsibly, it does not mean not growing at all. Last summer, I attended a lecture about sustainable development in the Amazon at Cambridge University. The lecturer argued against those who would halt development in the Amazon entirely, stating that economic development often improves living conditions and provides opportunity for those living there. I agree with that statement, as I believe it to be unfair to condemn a country like Brazil for developing its economy while praising my own for doing so.
To me, sustainable development should not be about nostalgia or about the restoration of the environment. It should be about growth, but informed growth. Understanding the consequences of our actions, even if they may not affect us directly.
I believe you are correct about what sustainable development means to you, but it is necessary for us to know about everyones actions so we can all pitch in to help with the environment because not everyone thinks about the future of others.
The lecture you attended sounds pretty interesting. From another class with Prof. Karam I learned that the Amazon plays a very large role in the southern hemisphere. Taking away the Amazon could have a large impact on our environment. I forgot exactly what it was but I could look into it and let you know. It was a long video that had a tremendous amount of eye opening information.
In the readings that we were assigned along with the video we all watched, sustainable development was described perfectly. We want to to leave the earth exactly how it was when we got here. This is very important if we want to continue to keep humans and other forms of life in existence.
I was also intrigued by the readings of Paper cups and styrofoam cups along with the information about electric, gas and diesel vehicles. First I would like to know if we did not use paper nor styrofoam cups would it be better for the environment to just use either glass or reusable plastic cups. I know you would waste water but would it be more environmentally friendly? We would get rid of the waste of all those cups along with not having to worry about things being wasted.
electric, gas and diesel vehicles. While electric sounds like it is the new way to keep our environment less polluted, diesel is a little cheaper then electric. From what I have learned in the past, a lot of what is built in a new hybrid vehicle it is not all recyclable. Then there is a battery and a few other components wasting away.
Sustainable development is going to require a large investment monetarily and with hard work to create sustainable ways to do things, and being willing to invest the time into economic regeneration. The video makes a great point about how it is necessary to develop three areas, not simply state, "we need sustainability." By getting more and more people involved and by showing others how the benefits can be seen tangibly more support can be garnered leading to larger amounts of economic resources and funds becoming available. This can include the case studies of successful projects with are now leading to sustainability in areas such as solar, wind and geothermal power. Or how the sheep community in England is being developed and moving away from certain chemicals to promote a healthier sheep community.
Economically the creation of so many new jobs and job specialities is another way to help the world economics continue to grow and evolve. Providing new areas of study and growth is an example of sustainability, perhaps not in the traditional sense, but by opening areas the evolution provided is a clear example of sustaining development.
Vehicles provide a suburb example of sustainability as well. And while Electric may be the cleanest of all solutions, it still seems to lack practicability. Audi and VW are working on and I believe launching "Clean Diesel" automobiles. The shift is definitely on, and I would imagine providing those new areas of work and research as well.
The earth is something that we only have one of. Why destroy it today and leave nothing for the future.Though the effects we leave on it today me not take effect for years to come we still have to think about our future descendants.
By taking action now, like the building in London, we will learn more about sustainable development. It is a new idea that we must latch on to. The video offered sustainable solutions to reverse the damage we have already created. It provides examples of how both the economy and environment benefit and how by taking action we ce can prevent future damage.
Since the 1970’s sustainable development has been the central thought in balancing our world with humanity’s existence. It is an investment that requires the participation of both humans and the world. However, because the world isn’t at fault for the damages society’s attempting to put back into shape, the world silently awaits for us to begin a steady change towards equilibrium of social, economical, political and environmental development. The most difficult part however on shaping this change is having everyone, to collaborate and cooperate at the same time. There is a very unrealistic feel to the notion of everyone seeing the same goal agenda in our world. It may be perhaps our only downfall. Economically the world can be financially stable simply our priorities as Earth would change and money whether asked of one country more than the other will not be an issue. In fact the creation of a new sustainable earth would increase jobs, specialist needs, and educational development for those generations to come. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has a fundamental idea on how the work environment for those incoming and already there would change into a green awareness. The beauty of this development is that we would be asked as a whole to enter a clean slate, (assuming the world issue slowly but surely solved.) Our awareness would balance all the areas needed to form an equalized and gradual solution. There would no longer be a struggle for the basic necessities such as food and shelter. In addition, I believe that even a realistic notion of the government would finally play out because the institution would no longer be a necessary evil just simply another institution that would amplify the needs of going “green” as well as maintain the new slate those in SCOPS and DEPRA have slowly begun to aim for.
Since the 1970’s sustainable development has been the central thought in balancing our world with humanity’s existence. It is an investment that requires the participation of both humans and the world. However, because the world isn’t at fault for the damages society’s attempting to put back into shape, the world silently awaits for us to begin a steady change towards equilibrium of social, economical, political and environmental development. The most difficult part however on shaping this change is having everyone, to collaborate and cooperate at the same time. There is a very unrealistic feel to the notion of everyone seeing the same goal agenda in our world. It may be perhaps our only downfall. Economically the world can be financially stable simply our priorities as Earth would change and money whether asked of one country more than the other will not be an issue. In fact the creation of a new sustainable earth would increase jobs, specialist needs, and educational development for those generations to come. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has a fundamental idea on how the work environment for those incoming and already there would change into a green awareness. The beauty of this development is that we would be asked as a whole to enter a clean slate, (assuming the world issue slowly but surely solved.) Our awareness would balance all the areas needed to form an equalized and gradual solution. There would no longer be a struggle for the basic necessities such as food and shelter. In addition, I believe that even a realistic notion of the government would finally play out because the institution would no longer be a necessary evil just simply another institution that would amplify the needs of going “green” as well as maintain the new slate those in SCOPS and DEPRA have slowly begun to aim for.
Sustainable development has been a buzzword described in the video since the early 1970's when people started to realize that the earth's natural resources are indeed limited. As to when certain resources like fossil fuels will be depleted is still somewhat veiled, ballpark estimations have been made. Thus there is a need to find ways to not only sustain what we have left, we must also find other sources of energy as well. In the process of doing so, it is important to understand the environmental drawbacks of using resources too. Sustainable development can mean more than just finding new ways to produce and conserve energy resources. This is where Defra comes in. From the video we saw that Defra has been trying to contain the amount of chemicals used in order for the sheep harvesting business to continue to thrive and that is not the only sustainable development project they are working on. Also mentioned were three important key factors for genuine sustainable development; just society, healthy environment, and productive economy. While these three goals are certainly contradictory to one another, a balance between them can lead to progress in the sustainable development field and this is the start for any corporation or business, small or large, to help plan a better future for everyone.
In the short video clip above, sustainable development is displayed as a new concept. As described by the Ecologist magazine, traditional economic benefit was from the expense of the people and the environment. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) believes in sustainable development. Sustainable development means that there needs to be a shift in perspective to view the world as a whole. I believe in order to do this we must, as the video describes generate innovative solutions that can help this new perspective become real. In today’s society we are all aware that our resources are finite limit resources. We need to be aware of this and address it as a whole human population. We need to take DEFRA’s bigger picture approach. We need to adjust society, create a healthier environment, and develop a productive economy. These must all be taken into consideration at the same time to be successful. This ensures that we don’t focus on one aspect more than the other. As a society we need to somehow bring these issues to the forefront and not only make the population aware of it but really display the consequences of our actions in the future if a resolution is not found. I was uninformed before this video clip about Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS). I did not know that this problem was present in the United Kingdom and I am glad to see that the organization SCOPS has monitored this problem and has worked with farmers to find solutions, which allows the farmers to use less chemicals and make their lives much easier. As a population and a class I feel that we need to spread DEFRA’s meaning and goals to create a more sustainable world not just city or state. We need to fight this battle as a whole country, which will make it that much easier for us to preserve our resources for the future.
ReplyDeleteNicholas Brodeur
Pace Pleasantville
Since the early 1970’s when it became clear that there was a finite limit to the world’s natural resources, the concept of sustainable development became integrated to the policies and operations of economic growth. It is clearly wrong to simply deliver economic development with the expense of people and the environment. Some of the practices of sustainable development include having balance, looking after the world, and looking forward to a better tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteDEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is a government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom. Some of their works include the refurbishment of the Nobel House in London, which will be environmentally efficient and generate long-term financial savings. Projects such as this one in London display the efforts of sustainable development well because it incorporates the environment into business growth/practices. It has a huge impact on the industry now because driving these standards up will cause a domino effect in these sustainable development efforts.
SCOPS (Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep) was formed to develop sustainable strategies for parasite control in sheep. Reducing the amount of chemicals they use will be better for humans and the environment.
DEFRA offers great solutions and advocacy for sustainable development, but there are challenges involved like the timing, long term benefits, making sure others understand the concept of sustainable development, and getting other people involved. The government needs to incorporate long term policies and cost efficient solutions for there to be genuine sustainable development. Even though there’s still much that needs to be done for sustainable development in our society, it is a start that we acknowledge that we don’t have to sacrifice economic prosperity for there to be sustainable growth. We can’t have one without the other.
Jane Han
Pace NYC
Sustainability is an issue that has existed since the beginning of time. Civilizations have battled scarcity since the beginning of man. A lot more is sophisticated, but the issue remains: can an ever growing population be fed and nourished? Does the planet will really have a limit? What are some ways that can preserve our ecosystems and economy jointly?
ReplyDeleteThomas Malthus, an English economist, was the leading economist who finally gave thought that scarcity and human desire to pro-create are two issues that may never be solved. However, he did try using mathematics. Sustainability will not be solved by one person; it'll generally be organizations coming together for a larger purpose, and with the video above that introduced DEFRA, what we see is that an international governmental agency is taking upon itself to begin a dialogue among countries to enhance technology, to preserve our animals, and to share ideas. Departments, like DEFRA, are taking into account that the economy and ecosystem work against each other and that that does not always have to be the case. The textbook tells that as Americans grew richer, they began spending money on ways to reduce pollution. This is an example of how both the economy and ecosystem benefitted. DEFRA and other national government agencies are continuing to research for more effective ways that limit the harm on the economy and ecosystem.
Lastly, sustainability requires more development, but development that takes into account at just what speed do we need to make things and probably calculating the amount of what we need to relieve over-production.
I think you are right with sustainability will not be solved by one person but, if one person starts something it can become much bigger. Government organizations also help in the process of sustainability. We just need to hope we do not start to try fix something when it becomes too late.
DeleteSustainability means different things to different people, but as made clear in the video above it requires EVERYONE. Sustainable development means having the ability to meet our needs without compromising / crippling the needs or abilities of future generations. Sustainable development, as stated before, is a fairly new concept though it has always been necessary. I find this interesting because had past generations paid attention and heeded the needs of our current generation then we would not be faced with the problems we are today. The idea that society as a whole needs to come together and address it's problems is at the core of this topic but when will we all wake up and talk about it?
ReplyDeleteWatching this video reminded me of a VICE documentary I watched entitled "The World is Sinking: Preventative Measures" (Here's the link to the preview if you're interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXKW7Ozhx8I .
This documentary discusses The Maldives, Venice and NYC when Hurricane Sandy devastated it and the surrounding areas almost a year ago. Preventative measures are discussed and how the world needs to wake up, come together and find a better solution for the problems we face today without compromising our future. One of the problems mentioned in the DEFRA video is that it's difficult to get people involved. For the most part, personal experience has shown me that it is very hard to get people to talk about long term sustainability, especially in America. Most people refute the idea that our planet needs humans to change the way we operate, in all aspects. DEFRA discusses making the message about sustainable development clear and consistent, which also presents a problem because there are people (mostly politicians) whom believe that sustainability especially surrounding matters of the environment are over exaggerated. I don't share this opinion, I think our society needs a really big wake up call to understand the importance of this subject.
I am sorry to include so many links but this is another documentary that really helped put things about the future of our planet into perspective for me. I highly reccommend you check it out if you have the time, it discusses what America will look like by the year 2100 if we continue the way we are now.
"Earth 2100" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uve2q39z7ag
Renee S. Taylor
Business Economics, Marketing
Pace University, NYC
Sustainability means using resources in the most efficient way while making sure that the population in the long run will continue to have these resources. Sustainability is also concerned with human health and the environment.
ReplyDeleteAs shown in the video, DEFRA was created to protect these natural resources, to spread awareness and to promote green business practices. I agree that getting people involved is a challenge because sometimes it requires for all the people to be on the same page. I witness this not too long ago – people in my town are encouraged to recycle and our street is pretty good at doing just that. But I noticed that something workers are just putting everything into one truck instead of separating it (maybe they are running out of time and their solution is quicker while not environment friendly). Unless we all get involved and spread awareness, not too many things will change.
Our government is also encouraging people to act more green – giving tax credits for buying more fuel efficient cars, installing solar panels, upgrading A/C system etc. But when money is tight, these programs are prone to budget cuts. Even though many of us will probably like to go more green, environmentally efficient products are usually more expensive (Tesla cars price tag starting at $70,000 is not for everybody).
This video was also very good at pointing out that everything we do will have impact in the future. Therefore we need to be more careful at how we choose to use the limited recourses we have and to find the right balance although this is easier said than done. It will be interesting to find out how economists are dealing with this paradox.
Liba Harvan
Pace University
According to the video, we have begun to realize that the natural resources in the world had a finite limit, which was discovered as early as 1970s. Sustainable development has been incorporated with economic growth. In order to have a successful economic development within the world, sustainable development allows us to take care of the world and putting its resources first. At the end of the day, we cannot have a successful economic growth if our resources disappear from us.
ReplyDeleteA government department that is used for food production, agriculture, environmental protection and etc. is known as DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.) DEFRA is used in the United Kingdom at the moment, in which they use it to carry out various projects just as restoring the Nobel House in London. This will help the environment and allow for future savings financially. The environment being integrated with business and economic practices shows the positive efforts of sustainable development, which will cause a chain reaction amongst other groups, which will follow the same path to achieve sustainable development. Although DEFRA offers many solutions that can help get the message of sustainable development across, there are still some things that it has to overcome in order to truly be successful which include getting people involved, the benefits on a long term aspect, and making sure the people participating understand and know how sustainable development truly works. There ways we can get around this by having the government step in and come up with solutions and policies that can generate a push for sustainable development. Regardless, we can be happy to see that there is some kind of a start towards accomplishing a better economy without having to see the future before us slip away.
Akeem Caine
Sustainable development is not a new concept but the meaning has changed since first introduce. As the timeline shows, improvements and laws are being pass help improve and make people more aware of issues concerning the environment. It also has different meanings to different people and the realization may not be a prioritization to some people based on their economical status.
ReplyDeleteSimon Kuznets followers states that as income rises, people take better care of the environment. if a person is struggling to pay for food, shelter, and basic necessities then the last thing they have time for is to be concern over the state of the environment. What i take form this is that then the problem is not just leaving the world better than we found it, but also to improve the economy for everyone to get more people to care. Sustainable involves the improvement of the quality of life and the way we think about the choices we make to make the environment.
I also found the comparison of the paper cup and styrofoam cups interesting. Paper cups used more of everything, were not reusable, and were biodegradable. Styrofoam cups use less materials, were reusable, but were not biodegradable. If styrofoam cups were disposed of properly they would be a better product and safer for the enivoronment. The issue then became the consumer who used each of these material and how they were disposed of. If the consumer less less money then of course they would buy the cheaper cup, but that doesn't mean they would end up in trash were they could be burned and not harm the environment in a significant way.
I like that the focus is not on just improving the environment, but also the economy. I have read of places that survive completely of sustainability using the income form windmills to pay for the economy in a small town and all extra power were sold to neighboring towns as extra income. Sustainable development is here and not some far fetch ideal.
Sustainable development is about finding a balance between the needs of the present population and the needs of the future population. It is an attitude of thinking critically about a choice and considering the many consequences it may have; both in the present and in the future. It requires forgoing some present benefit in exchange for minimizing a future detriment. Whereas normally, a firm would be only concerned with maximizing value, by adopting an attitude of sustainable development, the firm may also be concerned with issues which do not directly involve the profitability of the firm. This is mostly achieved through government interventionism, by either establishing a tax or by implementing incentives.
ReplyDeleteSustainable development means growing responsibly, it does not mean not growing at all. Last summer, I attended a lecture about sustainable development in the Amazon at Cambridge University. The lecturer argued against those who would halt development in the Amazon entirely, stating that economic development often improves living conditions and provides opportunity for those living there. I agree with that statement, as I believe it to be unfair to condemn a country like Brazil for developing its economy while praising my own for doing so.
To me, sustainable development should not be about nostalgia or about the restoration of the environment. It should be about growth, but informed growth. Understanding the consequences of our actions, even if they may not affect us directly.
I believe you are correct about what sustainable development means to you, but it is necessary for us to know about everyones actions so we can all pitch in to help with the environment because not everyone thinks about the future of others.
DeleteThe lecture you attended sounds pretty interesting. From another class with Prof. Karam I learned that the Amazon plays a very large role in the southern hemisphere. Taking away the Amazon could have a large impact on our environment. I forgot exactly what it was but I could look into it and let you know. It was a long video that had a tremendous amount of eye opening information.
In the readings that we were assigned along with the video we all watched, sustainable development was described perfectly. We want to to leave the earth exactly how it was when we got here. This is very important if we want to continue to keep humans and other forms of life in existence.
ReplyDeleteI was also intrigued by the readings of Paper cups and styrofoam cups along with the information about electric, gas and diesel vehicles. First I would like to know if we did not use paper nor styrofoam cups would it be better for the environment to just use either glass or reusable plastic cups. I know you would waste water but would it be more environmentally friendly? We would get rid of the waste of all those cups along with not having to worry about things being wasted.
electric, gas and diesel vehicles. While electric sounds like it is the new way to keep our environment less polluted, diesel is a little cheaper then electric. From what I have learned in the past, a lot of what is built in a new hybrid vehicle it is not all recyclable. Then there is a battery and a few other components wasting away.
Sustainable development is going to require a large investment monetarily and with hard work to create sustainable ways to do things, and being willing to invest the time into economic regeneration. The video makes a great point about how it is necessary to develop three areas, not simply state, "we need sustainability." By getting more and more people involved and by showing others how the benefits can be seen tangibly more support can be garnered leading to larger amounts of economic resources and funds becoming available. This can include the case studies of successful projects with are now leading to sustainability in areas such as solar, wind and geothermal power. Or how the sheep community in England is being developed and moving away from certain chemicals to promote a healthier sheep community.
ReplyDeleteEconomically the creation of so many new jobs and job specialities is another way to help the world economics continue to grow and evolve. Providing new areas of study and growth is an example of sustainability, perhaps not in the traditional sense, but by opening areas the evolution provided is a clear example of sustaining development.
Vehicles provide a suburb example of sustainability as well. And while Electric may be the cleanest of all solutions, it still seems to lack practicability. Audi and VW are working on and I believe launching "Clean Diesel" automobiles. The shift is definitely on, and I would imagine providing those new areas of work and research as well.
The earth is something that we only have one of. Why destroy it today and leave nothing for the future.Though the effects we leave on it today me not take effect for years to come we still have to think about our future descendants.
ReplyDeleteBy taking action now, like the building in London, we will learn more about sustainable development. It is a new idea that we must latch on to. The video offered sustainable solutions to reverse the damage we have already created. It provides examples of how both the economy and environment benefit and how by taking action we ce can prevent future damage.
Since the 1970’s sustainable development has been the central thought in balancing our world with humanity’s existence. It is an investment that requires the participation of both humans and the world. However, because the world isn’t at fault for the damages society’s attempting to put back into shape, the world silently awaits for us to begin a steady change towards equilibrium of social, economical, political and environmental development. The most difficult part however on shaping this change is having everyone, to collaborate and cooperate at the same time. There is a very unrealistic feel to the notion of everyone seeing the same goal agenda in our world. It may be perhaps our only downfall. Economically the world can be financially stable simply our priorities as Earth would change and money whether asked of one country more than the other will not be an issue. In fact the creation of a new sustainable earth would increase jobs, specialist needs, and educational development for those generations to come. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has a fundamental idea on how the work environment for those incoming and already there would change into a green awareness. The beauty of this development is that we would be asked as a whole to enter a clean slate, (assuming the world issue slowly but surely solved.) Our awareness would balance all the areas needed to form an equalized and gradual solution. There would no longer be a struggle for the basic necessities such as food and shelter. In addition, I believe that even a realistic notion of the government would finally play out because the institution would no longer be a necessary evil just simply another institution that would amplify the needs of going “green” as well as maintain the new slate those in SCOPS and DEPRA have slowly begun to aim for.
ReplyDeleteSince the 1970’s sustainable development has been the central thought in balancing our world with humanity’s existence. It is an investment that requires the participation of both humans and the world. However, because the world isn’t at fault for the damages society’s attempting to put back into shape, the world silently awaits for us to begin a steady change towards equilibrium of social, economical, political and environmental development. The most difficult part however on shaping this change is having everyone, to collaborate and cooperate at the same time. There is a very unrealistic feel to the notion of everyone seeing the same goal agenda in our world. It may be perhaps our only downfall. Economically the world can be financially stable simply our priorities as Earth would change and money whether asked of one country more than the other will not be an issue. In fact the creation of a new sustainable earth would increase jobs, specialist needs, and educational development for those generations to come. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has a fundamental idea on how the work environment for those incoming and already there would change into a green awareness. The beauty of this development is that we would be asked as a whole to enter a clean slate, (assuming the world issue slowly but surely solved.) Our awareness would balance all the areas needed to form an equalized and gradual solution. There would no longer be a struggle for the basic necessities such as food and shelter. In addition, I believe that even a realistic notion of the government would finally play out because the institution would no longer be a necessary evil just simply another institution that would amplify the needs of going “green” as well as maintain the new slate those in SCOPS and DEPRA have slowly begun to aim for.
ReplyDeleteSustainable development has been a buzzword described in the video since the early 1970's when people started to realize that the earth's natural resources are indeed limited. As to when certain resources like fossil fuels will be depleted is still somewhat veiled, ballpark estimations have been made. Thus there is a need to find ways to not only sustain what we have left, we must also find other sources of energy as well. In the process of doing so, it is important to understand the environmental drawbacks of using resources too. Sustainable development can mean more than just finding new ways to produce and conserve energy resources. This is where Defra comes in. From the video we saw that Defra has been trying to contain the amount of chemicals used in order for the sheep harvesting business to continue to thrive and that is not the only sustainable development project they are working on. Also mentioned were three important key factors for genuine sustainable development; just society, healthy environment, and productive economy. While these three goals are certainly contradictory to one another, a balance between them can lead to progress in the sustainable development field and this is the start for any corporation or business, small or large, to help plan a better future for everyone.
ReplyDeleteNicholas Maier.