Second, this is the arbitrarily declared "I'm going to attempt to talk sustainability even though I just leased a new automobile" edition of a State of Sustainability, even though this is the first in what I hope to be an annual occurrence.
Take this as a stream of consciousness post. It will be at times random, as sustainability as a whole is a large, messy network.
BUT, as this is a first, some grounding:
- Sustainability, in brief, describes the ability for a way of life to be prolonged for more than just 1 lifetime (approximately 70 years; I'm probably being generous).
- "Trending towards sustainable" means steps are being taken to ensure a way of life can last a lifetime or more.
- Matters of birth and death I will not discuss in detail here, as I reserve this post for conscious living practice of sustainability. Generally though: births worldwide/overall have to decline, while death does what it does best too keep the world from becoming overcrowded and over-consumed.
- The focus points are resources vital to the way the world ticks today: fertile land for food of all varieties for the carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores amongst us all; clean, unsalted water for humans, animals, and plants; structural material like wood, clay, asphalts, concretes, metals, etc.; petroleum (and derivatives such as gasoline), coal, and other hydrocarbons essential to the transformation of those structural materials into useful tools (mills, factories, cars, etc...) and fuel for them all.
So, to throw some thoughts up there: generally I believe the industrial world, developed and developing, is "falling in style" as Buzz Lightyear would put it in the Disney classic Toy Story. There are ups and lots of hard downs to come. The human race is depleting what is left of the limited resources on the planet at their own peril, whether the form of peril is war, climate change too fast to adapt to, or ripping the economy apart as fuel prices rise to unsupportable levels. There are other forms of peril too, such as stretching too thin renewable, reusable, or recyclable resources.
While I say that, we're also getting smart about managing resources: oil prices have been under pressure as the developed world, especially the United States, moves to lighter, more fuel efficient automobiles. I just leased a Dodge Dart, fresh. It is starting off at a slick 27 miles per gallon on average, where my broken in Cavalier would have gotten, ON A GOOD DAY, 25 mpg on average. That's just me, however: others are moving to small cars from popular SUVs and trucks, where there are many of these others, and they represent a HUGE shift in efficiency. Next steps already under way are to shorten daily trips and arrange living where regular business can be done with little to no car travel at all. Manual cycling is becoming a popular option in the warmer seasons and smaller commute communities even during the winter. But not everyone is physically capable of doing that, sadly. Leaving the next best option, buses, picking up service and ridership nicely.
The only thing, aside from growing demand, that should support higher oil prices is the depletion of remaining resources, and despite the bump from shale and sand production, I expect that to continue. This is even with the anticipated polar production. Can only expect so much water to come out of a popped water balloon.
No car travel in the next decade or two is practically impossible to achieve. A fair number of people will be shifting that way, but for example: not everyone can cram themselves into cities, as that just gets psychologically messy, physically uncomfortable, and runs the risk of restarting the cycle that began in early industrial revolution times where people lived in crowded neighborhoods, leading to the sprawling suburbia we witness today.
ON THE OTHER HAND: suburbs make existing infrastructures that, while a horrible development in retrospect, are opportunities for new forms of sustainable community building so long as you have a source of food, water, and energy to feed them with. Primary inputs from underground infrastructure include water, natural gas, and depending on where you are, electric, but that tends to be above ground. Outputs include underground sewage and exhaust from machinery powered by hydrocarbons. Underground infrastructure is compromised by the fact that repairs that will be inevitably needed require high power digging equipment, for which the fuel for it may not be affordable and available in the relatively near future. So, the shelter is great, but try and feed the water, gas (propane) and electric all above ground and you'll be good. Deal with the sewage in a clean way and we're good. Wood for heat should be avoided to evade deforestation. Last step is house maintenance, and I have faith repairs can be made... somehow, through more sustainable welding and construction methods.
Last stop on the suburbia trip is curbing the rate of use of the limited resources. I've installed a crap ton of efficient aerators for faucets in my apartment, and have manage to flatline my use of water in terms of price. Electric is holding steady, but I am not quite sure how (even accounting for cost/KWattHour), as I have somewhat increased my use of electronics with holding off the use of air conditioning, using CFL bulbs, having an LCD instead of CRT TV, etc. The other option is to not use the stuff at all and live a practically monastic life, but that's kinda difficult for my line of work. Mind needs stimulation to stay on top of the game. That being a digression, lots of opportunity to lower the rate of consumption to possibly sustainable levels.
That nicely leads to another topic: making previously limited fuels renewable. The stuff I have read regarding growing fuel from, say, algae, is promising, and one would think you hit that enough we'll get to a renewable, stable supply of hydrocarbons, which their production involves the sucking of CO2 from the atmosphere. All good. Windmills are facing explosive growth. Solar is shining relatively speaking. Leading to battery technology which is improving, and one thing I will hat tip General Motors on.
Despite all these creature comforts and ability to drink water, we still need to eat, and thus raise the plants that support us and support other animals that support us. Rumor has it we'll deplete top soil in the century, but it seems there's an economic opportunity to produce topsoil by mixing the proper ingredients.
So I have covered food, and clothing as a result of needing plants and animals for clothing material. Shelter, I assume is pretty stable, just make sure construction practices can be sustained. Transportation has been covered. Energy too.
My mind can't really go much further. We have to be careful about what we consume and how we consume it, and especially at what rate. If we can produce as much as we consume, if not produce a bit more for a surplus, then we're in good shape. Until then, we've got some cutting to do. It may not be as painful as feared, but we're in for some dicey times ahead.
Stay strong, keep your head up, and let's move forward. Thanks!
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