Sustainability is like old wine in a new bottle; always has that slurp-knock swirly taste, but we all like it not in a cellar but in a fancy grandiose bottle with some hard-to-pronounce name. Well, the same thought should be put into sustainability.
Sustainability Series: Part 1
As early as 500 BC, humanity was rising and people began sharing land and planting different crops for survival. So as neighbors would, they traded in goods and food. If you want to travel, just knock at your neighbor’s door give them a bucket of beans from your backyard and they will hand you their donkey for your travel, till you return. This can easily be defined as socio-economic development.
As the population was rising, innovation took center stage, and the world began to develop new means of trading. This economic transformation led to innovation in food systems. For example, where they would have people harvest rice, they would now have machinery get into the trucks of land to acquire faster harvest. Subsequently, the transport system evolved and the rice (or any other tradable good) was taken to different countries by train, then in the latter years by plane.
In the 17th Century, leaders had already begun talking about population growth that would surpass food supply. Come 1804, the world had blown to over one billion in population and there was a great need for innovation, a high demand for food, and an unequivocal need for trade. So, there’s the development of currency trade dependent on the various regions.
In the 19th Century, socio-economic development gravely affected the environment, due to industrialization that would release toxic fumes and fossil fuels into the air. There was then a change in climate as hot weather became extreme and cold weather well, had intense snowing cases. The Industrial Revolution brought about wealth, better living standards, technological upgrades, and societal development but this path had negative effects. The pollution in air, water, and soil is all of which humanity depends on to live.
By the 20th Century, it was clear that industrialization was irreversible, and to be honest most resources from the earth were being rapidly depleted. This is why you hear innovations such as regenerative agriculture, and new ways for shelter such as recycling plastic waste into bricks, so we can use the same energy to re-create what is most essential for humans to exist today.
New Millenium
In the same breath in the early 2000s, each president independently fumigated their home of all insects and rodents forgetting that the neighbor too has harbored the same little bugs and is seeking a solid solution. So, your house is clean but in two weeks due to sharing drainages, and the same environments, he is forced to fumigate again. So, they came together in conferences of parties (COPs), and intergovernmental negotiating committees (INCs) to come up with treaties and harmonious agreements to care for the environment because after all what affects my neighboring country, the continent, will soon be at my doorstep.
We may not be doing it to the very potential that would change things overnight but having the ongoing discussions is awakening to the masses. Beyond that, we need to localize our solutions to befit the living standards we desire. Of course, this is driven by other factors such as steady leadership, the number of resources that we can access, I mean, political, geographical, and social factors.
To date, we must face the consequences of decisions made by previous generations, as economic factors often take precedence. The pursuit of industrialization prioritized short-term gains over long-term environmental sustainability. Does this mean we reduce the innovation? Absolutely not! We must continue retaining stability by ensuring all arms work together for a common good. This is what is referred to as the circular economy. More processes work as opposed to the silos systems that do not adhere to other socio-economic factors.
Were these adverse negative effects thought through while the industrialization was being implemented? Absolutely, but the economic factor was the horse, the cart can always follow, but the horse can only take so much of the weight before it chocks up hanging its legs in the air. That is why we talk about sustainability. So, we can balance out our current socio-economic appetite while still ensuring the future has more to work with than uttermost environmental destruction.
We can then say we are headed towards the journey of Sustainability. Not just as a crucial conversation in the boardrooms, but as implementable actions by governments, the private sector, and the grassroots level. We must address the environmental challenges caused by decades of neglect. It is time to put our house (earth) in order and prioritize sustainability to mitigate the impact of past actions on our planet’s health and well-being. So, let’s embrace Sustainability, shall we?
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