A Presentation About Sustainability

By Elena Farmin

What is sustainability?

• Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In my own words I’d define it as “management of available resources”. The three components of sustainability are economy, society, and environment.

The Population Problem• According to the 2010

Census, there are over 7 billion people worldwide. Overpopulation has proved to be a problem for the environment, society, and economy. In an overpopulated world it is essential to learn about sustainability.

Solution #1• Educate students about

sustainability. • It is said that a long journey

begins with a single step. If we want a sustainable world, we need to educate students about how to manage our resources instead of wasting them. Once they learn, they will develop new ideas or improve old ones of how to make the world sustainable. (cost: priceless)

Solution #2• Tame overpopulation.• The human race is reaching

it’s carrying capacity. Within a century the world population has gone from a few million to 7 billion. Overpopulation can’t be “stopped” but it can be tamed. If people limit themselves to two or three children overpopulation can be tamed. (cost: depends on what type of birth control a couple uses)

Solution #3• Green roofs.• Green roofs can provide more space

for agriculture. They also provide many other benefits such as keeping urban areas cooler thus reducing energy used for cooling and filtering carbon dioxide and other air pollutants. The only disadvantage is the cost, which can range from $108 to $269 per square meter. In the future they could become less expensive.

Solution #4• Use renewable sources of energy.• Renewable sources of energy are

expensive (millions of $), but they don’t harm the planet. Nonrenewable sources of energy not only harm the environment but they will run out one day. There are many types of renewable sources of energy and every part of the world can use any type. New Mexico for example can use solar energy seeing as how there’s 340 days of sunshine a year. They are plentiful and help make a healthy planet.

Solution #5• Diversify crops.• If we want to feed a world of 7 billion

people, we can’t risk famines. Events such as the Irish Potato Famine and that pinon fungus in the Sandia Mountains have taught us that if we plant one type of crop and they catch a fungi, we’re doomed. But, certain plant fungi don’t affect other types of crops. With diverse crops, they won’t all become affected by fungi and there’s no famine. (cost: priceless)

Solution #6

• Reduce, reuse, recycle.• Our world can be more

sustainable if we reduce waste (by which I mean garbage), reuse items such as clothes, cans, and bottles instead of throwing them away, and recycling paper, plastic, etc. (cost: priceless.