1 / 46

Sustainability and the Environment

Sustainability and the Environment. A global and personal perspective. The Sustainability Triangle . Social Equity . The quest for sustainability. Economic Environmental

Leo
Download Presentation

Sustainability and the Environment

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Sustainability and the Environment A global and personal perspective

  2. The Sustainability Triangle Social Equity The quest for sustainability Economic Environmental Vitality Integrity

  3. Living More Environmentally Sustainably means thinking about; • Society (population and personal impact) • Economics (what is the bottom line?) • Ecology (the good and the bad stuff)

  4. Key Issues • Resources (not enough good stuff) • Pollution (too much bad stuff) Our “stuff” is moving from a source to a sink too fast!

  5. We are using up the resources upon which we depend. The “source” of resources is limited.

  6. Many of Earth’s Forests Have Been Cleared or Degraded

  7. Paper Use is Growing Worldwide

  8. Global Water Shortage Today, 1.4 billion people do not have safe water.

  9. Who is using all the water? Agriculture, through crop irrigation consumes 80 to 85% of the fresh water resources of the United States.

  10. Percent of Wetlands Lost, 2000

  11. Soil is running away! Half of the cropland in the US is eroding at rates faster than they are being replaced. About 75% of US topsoil has already been lost.

  12. And the big one! Humankind expends in one year an amount of fossil fuel that it took nature roughly a million years to produce.

  13. World Fossil Fuel Consumption, 1950-2000 Million Tons

  14. The point of decline is here!

  15. After we use it, we throw it “away”. The “sink” is also limited.

  16. What do we do with all the stuff?

  17. The majority of solid waste is sent to landfills • We dispose of wastes by dumping them on land or in the oceans, placing them in landfills, or burning them via incinerators. • Americans produce about 1500 pounds of “garbage” each per year.

  18. Waste Streams • Major components of municipal solid waste by weight: • 25% - paper and paperboard • 19% - food wastes • 13% - yard wastes • 12% - plastics • At least half of the municipal solid waste could be recycled or composted.

  19. Chemicals are everywhere Since WWII we have produced about 70,000 new chemicals. There is no place that is clean on earth About 80% of adults and 90% of children have pesticide residues in their bodies.

  20. Urban Air Pollution Denver study – homes near busy streets – 6X cancer rate in kids

  21. Vehicle numbers are rising dramatically

  22. World Carbon Emissions, 1950-2000 From Fossil Fuel Burning Million Tons Carbon dioxide release by Americans is 2X in Japan or the UK

  23. Carbon Dioxide emissions must be reduced to slow global warming!

  24. Environmental and Resource Use Problems • Rapid population growth • Unsustainable resource use • Poverty • Not including the environmental costs of economic goods and services in their market prices • Trying to manage and simplify nature with too little knowledge about how it works • What are the Root Causes?

  25. World Population 16 15 ? 14 13 12 11 ? 10 9 Billions of people 8 ? 7 6 5 4 3 2 Black Death–the Plague 1 0 2-5 million years 8000 6000 4000 2000 2000 2100 B.C. A.D. Time Hunting and gathering Agricultural revolution Industrial revolution

  26. Population is out of control! • Yesterday at 1:15pm there were 6,402,138,088 people on the planet and we were adding about 3 every second! (Remember 6.4 billion). • It took 4 million years to reach a population of 1 billion (1804). • It took 123 years to add the second billion. • We will add the next billion in 12 years.

  27. Two problems…. • Too many people (global) • Impact per person (developed countries)

  28. Ecological Footprint: A measure of the “load” imposed by a given population on nature, or the land necessary to sustain resource consumption and waste discharge. Our Ecological Footprint, by M. Wackernagel and W. Rees

  29. Footprint data for 8 countries Footprint data for 8 countries

  30. … selfishness… greed… disconnection with nature?? Is that the whole story? How about….

  31. One of the problems is simply the way we think about the world!

  32. Mental Models at work today The world was made for humans to use One person can’t really make a difference Resources will run out anyway, so I might as well get my share now

  33. We need to look deeper! Actions Patterns Structures Mental Models

  34. Question Assumptions about: Economy –limited & expanded sense of self Equity – hierarchy & holarchy Environment – flow through & cycles

  35. We see the world as a system of one-way “throughput” One way ticket! Dig it up Use it up Dump it out

  36. This “seems” normal Pollution, Waste and Environmental Disturbances Natural Resources Goods and Services

  37. But there are limits … Both the source and the sink! Source is limited Sink is limited

  38. The answer is to think in cycles! A return ticket! Send it back Dig it up Use it Use it again

  39. Tomorrow’s Material Cycle Goods and Services Natural Resources Reduce Use of Natural Resources Recover Technical Nutrients

  40. “Next Industrial Revolution” William McDonough proposes moving from “cradle to grave” manufacturing systems to “cradle to cradle”

  41. Thinking in spirals of change

  42. Feedback loops are powerful Vicious cycles Hate breeds hurt - hurt breeds hate… Addictions Virtuous cycles Eastern European democracy “explodes” Open the door for the next person

  43. Downward spirals • Erosive assumptions • believed • Hope withers • Individuals give up hope • Possibilities diminish • Erosive assumptions • believed

  44. Spirals of Hope

  45. Thinking in cycles & spirals The circle of life

  46. Spirals of Hope Seeing Nature by Paul Krafel

More Related