Sustainability is the most important to all humans across the globe but you wouldn’t realize that from how little we all talk about it. While most major news publications dedicate ongoing coverage to humanity’s current sustainability concerns and the topic frequently comes up in presidential debates, online discussion forums, and in conversations between friends – we are rarely solutions to our sustainability issues, just coverage of our ongoing problem.
Perhaps part of the reason that we have been slow to activate on solutions is because we have been slow to adopt a common understanding of the core underpinnings of sustainability. So then, what is sustainability?
Sustainability is a concept that describes something’s ability to survive in a system. When the concept is discussed by politicians, in forums, or in conversation, it usually has to do with humanity’s ability to thrive within the Earth’s ecosystem.
So, for example, asking how long humanity can thrive on Earth if the oceans’ temperatures rise by one or two degrees is a question of sustainability.
Similarly, the question of how unpredictability in the Earth’s climate affects our ability to provide food for our growing population, to determine where on the Earth we can settle populations, or whether our current methods of production are “worth it” considering the cost to the environment are all questions of sustainability.
Sustainability and Natural Resources
When thinking about sustainability, it’s important to note the difference between finite and renewable resources. Finite resources are used once or just a handful of times before they lose their practical use. Renewable resources remain practically useful for the foreseeable future.
Sustainable practices encourage the use of renewable resources and discourage the use of finite resources. The unchecked use of finite resources is discouraged because it’s very difficult to predict the consequences of removing a resource from our ecosystem. For example, we know that fossil fuels are a finite resource because they are created from decayed plants and animals over hundreds of millions of years. Practically speaking, no more fossil fuels are being produced. That said, we’ve built much of our infrastructure in a way that relies on fossil fuels. From the way that we produce power to the plastics that seal much of our food, we rely a lot on plastic. Once we eventually do run out of fossil fuels we will have to dramatically reorganize the way that we live our lives.
The consumption of finite resources can also result in a byproduct that itself may create a sustainability concern. When people refer to the climate crisis or climate change, it is understood that the change in our environment is being spurred on by emissions from our burning of fossil fuels and other human activities.
The use of renewable resources are encouraged because they can be for an indefinite period of time without removing resources from the Earth. That means that we do not have to worry about the consequences of building our society around renewable resources because – for all practical purposes – they will always be there.
So, broadly speaking, when we are talking about sustainability we are talking about how resources are being used and the long term consequences of using those resources.