Resources are finite but human needs and desires are uncontrollable and limitless. This statement made by an economist made the mantra edition popped out in my head with the most common mantra of the generation: Sustainable development plan. It is where economic growth and environmental growth go hand in hand.
We have not inherited this planet from our ancestors, but borrowed it from our children. Perfectly quoted it is. So we need to set aside the limited resources for the future generations since these resources take up millions of years to replenish and come into use again.
Resources
Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable can be termed as a “Resource”. Thus any part of our environment such as land, air, water, wildlife, minerals, forest and even human population that human beings themselves can utilise to promote their welfare by their intellectual efforts and technologies may be regarded as resource. In other words one can say that the five basic ecological variables i.e., energy, matter, space, time and diversity together can be known as resource. These resources form the backbone of the economy and prosperity of a nation.
What is the sustainable development, resource management technique?
Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It implies economic growth together with the protection of the environmental quality, each reinforcing the other. The essence of this form of development is a stable relationship between human activities and the natural world, which does not diminish the prospects for future generations to enjoy a quality of life at least as good as our own. The guiding rules are that people share with each other and care for the earth. Humanity must take no more from nature that nature can replenish. This in turn means adopting lifestyles and development paths that respect and work within nature’s limits. It can be done without rejecting many benefits that modern technology has brought, provided that; technology also works within those limits.
Environmental sustainability applies at many levels including individual, community, regional, national, and global levels.
Environmental sustainability is based on the following ideas:
• We must consider the effects of our actions on the health and well being of the natural environment, including all the living things.
• Earth’s resources are not present in infinite supply. We must live within limits and let renewable resources such as fresh water regenerate for future needs.
• We must understand all the costs of products we consume to the environment and to society.
• We must each share in the responsibility for environmental sustainability.
Many experts in environmental problems think human society is not operating sustainably because of the following human behaviors:
• We are using non renewable resources such as fossil fuels as if they were present in unlimited supplies.
• We are using renewable resources such as fresh water and forests faster that they are replenished naturally.
• We are polluting the environment with toxins as if teh capacity of the environment to absorb them is limitless.
• Our numbers continue to grow despite Earth’s finite ability to feed and sustain us and absorb our wastes.
If left unchecked, these activities may reach the point of environmental catastrophe, threatening the life support systems of earth to such a degree that recovery is impossible.
In general, the researchers say that degradation of self governing resources has occurred in the past and is occurring today also. As one goes from local to regional to global levels, the challenges of sustainably managing resources become more complex. No individual, jurisdiction, or country owns the resources and they are susceptible to over use. Although exploitation may benefit only a few, everyone on Earth must pay for the environmental cost of exploitation.
The world needs effective legal and economic policies to prevent the short term degradation of our global resources and ensure their long term well being. There are no short cuts because solutions to global environmental problems are not as simple as are solutions to local problems. The degradation of environment is due to the following persistent problems-
• Poverty
• Over Population
• Social injustice
These are the problems beyond the ability of a single nation to resolve. Everybody on this Earth must have a shared responsibility for the sustainable care of this planet, co-operation and commitment at the international level are essential if we are to alleviate poverty, stabilize the human population and preserve our environment and its resources for future generations.
Therefore, being and acting Green is the new cool. Never go for grabbing resources like a selfish beast, and limit you needs and desires to the minimum possible resources which might just be of use to you own children.
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