| | The world as we know it is not sustainable. Sure, I can throw numbers at you but it doesn't matter, just think of a limit function. As time goes to infinity, finite resources will be used up. Two, ten, hundred years... it doesn't matter. The end result is the same. The early we do something about it, the earlier we can cause the function to diverge before our current equation crashes at zero. That sound awfully like Lost...
In any case -- I saw R4 and then began thinking of the social and economical impact if we were to start "re-thinking" how we consume our finite resources. I vote for the green party because I want them to have a couple seats in parliament because change has to start somewhere. My parents made the comment after I told them who I voted for, they said "So... you voted for the Green Party... How come you still drive the car around?" Wired had this great article recently that I totally agreed with. People do not understand what a sustainable future means. I vote for the Green Party because I hope that we can eventually evolve into a society that does not consume finite resources more than we can return back into the system. I drive my car because I need to drive my car. I even wish to own a Ferrari one day (what a gas guzzler!). I don't expect anyone to stop driving their cars, no one should be forced to do that. But we should be forced a choice of transportation. If the fuel I use is from a renewable source, then it is one step closer to a sustainable future. I don't believe that it is the answer, I truly believe the solution to transportation is using electric motors but at least we're heading the right direction. We can even buy Carbon credits to offset the amount of CO2 (you can buy credits for nearly all pollutants) you create. All this is heading in the right direction but sadly, we're still not educated enough to make the jump into a truly sustainable ecology.
A sustainable future means that we put back the same amount that we take out. Carbon credits only apply to the carbon capacity. Carbon sinks reduce the amount of carbon which is the true definition of a sustainable future. Realtors in the world are picking up forests for cheap in this decade because in less than 25 years, people will pay them for their carbon sink credits. We will reach that point but it is up to us whether or not we reach that point in desperation or in good will. I dream almost everyday to drive an electric car. In a heart beat, I would trade my car in for a 100 hp electric car. (Heres something to think about, 30 years ago, Honda made cars with 60hp and much more than 40mpg. Today, we're lucky to get 25mpg.)
I just got this wicked idea to help with our problem with fossil fuels and plastics. Plastics are not renewable. We consider them as use once and then throw away. The problem is that it will not degrade and be re-absorbed until millions of year later. Don't get me wrong, we need plastic. We have industries and technologies based on the advances of plastics, which is very good. But the problem is consumer throwaways. Second to burning fossil fuels (ie: driving cars) throwing away plastics is a terrible thing to do. Everyone does it though... worst everyone has a bit of plastic in our systems. Its something that plagues our society today and the next and the next, until we stop the cycle here.
I realized that there is a market for vending machine that dispenses liquids that would normally come from plastic bottles. It would reduce the price per liter as well as reduce the amount of plastic being used to make the wasteful bottles. We already do this for bulk spring water so why can't we apply this ideology to all liquid consumables. Dish soap, hand soap, detergents, water, juices, pop drinks, cooking oils, etc etc. We should give each citizen a dozen non disposable plastic bottles for each liquid item that we need. No charge unless lost, then you have to pay for the ecological offset that losing one bottle will create, ie: Perhaps you have a plant a few trees on the weekend... well pay some kids to do it for you, no one has time these days). Everything will be reused and not recycled. This is how I envision a sustainable future. The key is reusing as much as we can and reducing the amount we take out. If we can accomplish this, then less work is required to put back into the planet what we took out. Which, if you think about it, is a lot easier than trying to offset the amount of resources we are using up today.
Lately, I'm pretty upset because my father called me uncreative. I get all these ideas and it makes me depressed because they don't encourage these ideas. I know its stupid to feel this way but I do.
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| | Posted 10/2/2007 2:22 PM - 22 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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