Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sustainability - The Test Tube Analogy

Sustainability seems to be a word we all hear but few of us really take the concept and its influences seriously in our day-to-day lives.  Merriam-Webster defines sustainability as "a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged" and "relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods."  This gives us a starting point but it risks telling us everything and nothing at all. 

How do we live sustainably?  What are the implications for ecological systems?  What are the implications for population, social and economic issues, lifestyles, and health?  We can think of sustainability affecting two large areas: us as humans and the Earth or 'environment.'  We don't often think of ourselves as part of the ecological system - somehow we separate ourselves, as if the environment includes plants, animals, water, and trees.  Despite our best efforts to defer accountability, we are part of that system, and we are responsible for our influence on ecological systems and population.

David Suzuki provides us with an analogy that effectively draws these thoughts together.  The idea that population growth is exponential and our resources are limited is critical to understanding our human influences within the ecological system.

Check out the Test Tube Analogy



Our efforts on Earth are largely driven by economic - not ecological - motives.  Educated, concerted efforts are imperative to rethinking the ways in which we live - those that go well beyond reducing, reusing, and recycling (things that were and are indoctrinated into us as the only way to live sustainably).  First we must rethink how we live daily and the ways in which we interact with the environment.  We need to refuse to buy wasteful products and reconceptualize our relationship with the ecosphere. To do this we must understand that the earth and the atmosphere do not have unlimited potential to absorb our current abuses.

Ecological literacy examines the relationships found within the ecosphere, among the components of solar energy, the air, water, soil, rocks, flora and fauna, people, and all other organisms and components.  Ecological sustainability should be seen as the interconnectedness of sciences, social sciences, and philosophy.

Becoming ecologically literate is perhaps our way towards the ubiquity of sustainability – all relationships within the ecosphere, particularly the relationship between humans and all other living things, become pervasive in our lives, and we don’t simply look for the next test tube to feed our insatiable hunger for economic growth and energy.

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