The Journey to Sustainability

The Journey to Sustainability

The Human-Nature Relationship

Human activities are the major obstacles to achieving environmental sustainability. Such activities include overexploitation and combustion of fossil fuels and littering that contribute to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Therefore, a healthy human-nature relationship is essential in promoting environmental sustainability. Subsequently, humans will consider the amount and type of energy resources to use in the sustainable future. For example, they will consider using alternatives like solar and hydropower energies that are renewable and produce minimal levels of greenhouse gases. Additionally, people will keep the environment clean by adopting biodegradable methods of eliminating plastics and other waste to prevent garbage patches and their threats.

Furthermore, humans will implement better strategies in dealing with natural calamities. For instance, hurricanes result in the generation of tons of debris, such as soil and charred wood, and green wastes, such as trees. Human beings will manage this debris for beneficial activities in a sustainable future. Conversely, charred timber and green wastes will be collected for reuse in construction and agricultural purposes, respectively.

Earth’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Human beings are dependent on diversified ecological ecosystems. Biodiversity and diverse ecosystems are significant in ensuring that species interact with each other and their environment. Species interactions within biological communities are essential in maintaining a stable environment. For instance, pollinators are required for plant reproduction, and without them, plants could become extinct. Similarly, species without competitors or predators could over-consume their resources and permanently damage the environment. With this knowledge, humans will conserve Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystem in the future by avoiding practices such as overexploitation of resources, deforestation, and urban development, which contribute to habitat destruction, thus declining biodiversity.

Moreover, humans will engage in projects that promote sustainable development. They will ensure this by maintaining the ecosystems and processes that shape species evolution. This will involve preserving individual species (especially the endangered ones) and overall maintenance of natural selection to promote genetic variability. Such projects include fencing out endangered species, replanting vegetation, removing dams, and other properties restricting water flow. Additional strategies will include restoration ecology. One such strategy is bioremediation which involves the utilization of living organisms to eliminate toxins from polluted ecosystems (Simon et al., 2019). For instance, they will use bacteria to clean up oil spills from water systems and old mining sites.

Agricultural Production

Agricultural production is dependent on factors like land, freshwater, fossil energy and nutrient availability. The current consumption of these resources exceeds their availability or global regeneration rate. Therefore, there is a need to retain a balanced model through innovative ecology-friendly cultivating systems that attain human needs while preserving the environment’s capacity to provide the needed products and services. Consequently, aquaponics will be the farming approach humans will take to ensure nutrients and wastes are recycled, thus achieving sustainable development, especially in arid areas and regions lacking suitable agricultural soil.

Aquaponics is a planting technology that combines aquaculture (fish farming) practices and hydroponic plant cultivation technologies through water circulation (Goddek et al., 2019). It can recycle resources like nutrients (potassium and phosphorous), water, and energy between the two systems (aquaculture and plant-based production), thereby developing and promoting economic and environmental sustainability. Therefore, this technology will counter the high demand for water, land, energy, and nutrient resources. It will also be a resolution for marginal land utilization for agricultural production, especially in urban regions.

Management of Water Resources

Humans will ensure that water resources are appropriately managed. All needs will be fulfilled while maintaining the water resources’ hydrologic, ecological, and environmental integrity without altering the future supply. Projects for sustainable water management will include greywater recycling. Greywater is wastewater obtained from domestic households and comprises kitchen, bathroom, and laundry wastewater that will be reused in place of freshwater for activities like toilet flushing, landscaping, and crop irrigation. Greywater is abundant and presents minimal concentrations of organic pollutants; hence, it forms a suitable alternative source of water, especially in urban areas (Oh et al., 2018). Also, water management will involve desalination- removing salts from water to make it less saline and using it for potable and non-potable applications such as municipal drinking water and irrigation processes, respectively (California Department of Water Resources, 2016).

The following are additional methods humans will use to achieve sustainable water development. They will recover rainwater through various recovery systems such as capturing rainwater from roofs, redirecting it in storage tanks, and using it for toilet flushing, irrigation and cooling towers. Additionally, humans will utilize smart water and landscaping systems to avoid excessive water usage. For instance, they will use weather programs like the WaterSense labeled program, which applies soil moisture sensors to water plants only when they need water (“Water Management Plans and Best Practices at EPA | US EPA”, 2021). Further, they will use metering or managing systems to prevent water leakage from mechanical equipment, thus saving water.

Meeting Energy Needs in the Future

Currently, coal or fossil fuels are the dominating sources of energy. However, fossil fuel combustion is associated with global warming and other environmental issues such as gaseous emissions, trace or toxic particle emissions, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and water pollution. Subsequently, the increasing demand for coal furthers the effects of fossil fuels on the environment. Therefore, humans will opt for other energy sources to meet their needs without impairing the environment. For example, they will consider using renewable energy sources like wind energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, solar, and biomass energy. These alternatives are natural, clean, cannot be depleted, and produce insignificant concentrations of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

Figure 1: Problems associated with coal combustion and cleaning as a solution.

Note: Future energy (3rd ed.). (p. 28) by Letcher, T. (ed). (2020). Elsevier.

Additionally, people implement coal-cleaning technologies in cases where coal is used for energy production. These technologies aim to reduce harmful emissions significantly and reduce greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere. The technologies for greenhouse mitigation include pre-combustion coal upgrading to remove mineral impurities and moisture in coal before combustion, high-efficiency combustion technologies that reduce the formation of pollutants, and post-combustion cleaning, which mainly regulates pollutants in the flue gas.

Furthermore, humans will conserve energy or store energy to meet the high demand for energy in the future. For instance, they use lithium-ion batteries for stationary energy storage. Lithium-ion-based battery cells are manufactured with varying specifications, such as high power and high energy. These batteries are beneficial in terms of speed, charging efficiency, high energy density, reduced energy waste, fair maintenance, and minimal voltage sagging.

Waste Management in a Sustainable Environment

People will consider implementing favorable waste management strategies in a sustainably developed environment. For example, they will utilize biodegradable processes to eliminate plastic waste and other related wastes. For instance, they will eliminate polyesters by applying endophytic fungi like the pestalotiopsis, a living organism that degrades polyurethane in its solid and liquid form. In addition, they will properly dispose of waste, for example, by setting aside different recycle bins for various types of garbage.

Utilizing industrial by-products and wastes as raw materials for other industrial processes will be part of how people treat what is currently called “waste.” For example, solid industrial wastes like granite cutting waste (GCW) produced from granite extraction and AlF3-rich silica gel formed in the manufacture of aluminum fluoride can be utilized as valuable raw materials for cement production. According to the literature, industrial wastes make up approximately 10.6% of the total waste in Europe (Baltakys et al., 2021); therefore, utilizing wastes as raw materials helps in reducing pollution and conserving the environment.

Challenges in Achieving Sustainability

There are various challenges in achieving sustainability, ranging from social, economic, and environmental issues. Firstly, almost all technologies for enhancing ecological sustainability are expensive and may present socio-economic challenges. For instance, excessive nutrient usage in aquaponics may lead to dramatic negative impacts if they are not recaptured. As such, nutrient recycling policies will be required to avoid shortages. Politically, leadership roles will be required in implementing policies that direct and manage the transition to sustainable development. Subsequently, challenges in this sector include difficulties in defining and analyzing ethical and leadership concepts for sustainable development. It may be difficult to change society’s opinions; however, the impact of leadership on sustainability must not be ignored.

Furthermore, scientists and experts will be required to communicate and explain the importance of attaining a sustainable environment. Human activities are the major factors hindering sustainability; therefore, public understanding of nature, biomes, ecological systems and biodiversity will help human beings make more informed decisions. Conversely, communication will involve utilizing social learning platforms to spread information rapidly. Finally, the journey to sustainability will require solving technical questions like how the well-being of a growing population will be ensured. However, all sustainability issues will be solved if there is a shared language, vision, and understanding of sustainability around the globe.

References

Baltakys, K., Dambrauskas, T., Rubinaite, D., Siauciunas, R., & Grineviciene, A. (2021). Formation and hydration of eco-friendly cement using industrial wastes as raw materials. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94148-x

California Department of Water Resources. (2016). Desalination (Brackish and Sea Water). A Resource Management Strategy of The California Water Plan. Retrieved 23 February 2022, from https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water-Plan/Docs/RMS/2016/09_Desalination_July2016.pdf.

Goddek, S., Joyce, A., Kotzen, B., & Burnell, G. (eds). (2019). Aquaponics Food Production Systems. Springer Nature.

Letcher, T. (ed). (2020). Future Energy (3rd ed.). Elsevier.

Oh, K., Leong, J., Poh, P., Chong, M., & Lau, E. (2018). A Review of Greywater Recycling Related Issues: Challenges and Future Prospects in Malaysia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.267

Simon, E., Reece, J., Dickey, J., & Campbell, N. (2019). Campbell Essential Biology (7th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

Water Management Plans and Best Practices at EPA | US EPA. US EPA. (2021). Retrieved 23 February 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/water-management-plans-and-best-practices-epa.

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In this paper, you will explore what a future sustainable world might look like, and in the process of doing so, extend your previous descriptions of selected terms and explain how they may play a role in aiding us in achieving environmental sustainability on a global scale.

The Journey to Sustainability

The Journey to Sustainability

Imagine a future (probably a long time from now) in which human beings have achieved environmental sustainability on a global scale. That means that we as a species have figured out how to maintain a lifestyle that can go on indefinitely. Humans will exist in harmony with their environment, not needing more resources than can naturally be replenished. What would such a world be like? How might we get there from here?

In this final assignment, you will play the part of a science-fiction writer, imagining and describing what a sustainable Earth, inhabited by humans, might look like in the distant future. You will need to provide examples throughout to support your descriptions. You should include all the terms that you have researched during Weeks 1 through 4 of this class, underlining each term as you include it. Be sure to expand on your terms and include other concepts that you learned in the course. Provide as detailed a picture as possible of how that future world might function on a day-to-day basis. In your paper, use grammar and spell-checking programs to ensure clarity. Proofread carefully prior to submitting your work. Finally, you will submit the document to Waypoint.

Your paper will consist of seven paragraphs using the format below to address the elements with the assumption that environmental sustainability has been achieved:

Paragraph 1:
Describe how the human relationship to nature will be different from what it is at present.
Examine how humans will cope differently with the ways that natural phenomena like hurricanes affect lives.
Paragraph 2:
Describe what Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems will look like in a sustainable future.
Explain what humans have done differently to enable biodiversity and ecosystems to function sustainably.
Paragraph 3:
Examine how agricultural production will be different in a sustainable future.
Paragraph 4:
Differentiate between how humans will manage water resources (fresh water and ocean) in the sustainable future compared to how it is done now.
Paragraph 5
Examine how humans will meet their energy needs in the future in a way that will enable the maintenance of a sustainable, habitable atmosphere and climate.
Indicate the changes that humans have made that are enabling them to maintain a healthy atmosphere and climate for all.
Paragraph 6:
Describe how waste management will be different in a sustainable future.
Indicate the changes that have been made to how humans think about and treat what is currently called “waste.”
Paragraph 7:
Summarize some of the major social, economic, political, and ecological choices and tradeoffs that will need to be overcome for this sustainable future to arrive. What are some of the major issues and challenges humans will have to face in order to achieve sustainability on a global scale?