During
my master program I took as many courses related to sustainability as possible,
either because this was one of the main focuses of my concentration or because it
is a topic that really interests me. In one of these courses, which I picked
with great enthusiasm, I heard from my professor in the very first day of class
that sustainable development is a myth. That statement caused me a strong
discomfort, especially because that was a course related to sustainability and
it was like taking the shine away from the theme. So at the end of the class I
told him that I signed up for that course because I wanted to believe
sustainable development was possible and I set up a time to visit him at his
office hours so we could better discuss the topic.
Later
on, during my visit to his office, we had a wonderful conversation where he
explained me his motives for saying that. He argued that mankind uses too much
resources and that real sustainability (the way it is supposed to be) cannot be
achieved if we keep acting and behaving the way we do. I understood his point
of view and that triggered me a different way of seeing things, though I still
want to believe it is a possible road.
Sustainability
is a trendy word that everyone is talking about and they all seem to know what
it really means. Some people and companies believe that because they separate
their trash (paper, glass, organic and so on) they are contributing
significantly to the sustainable development. Others believe that by switching
their light bulbs for more efficient ones, they are doing their part. It is
absolutely true that these steps contribute to the cause, but they are far from
enough.
An
important ingredient in sustainable development, in addition to a responsible
way of producing things, is a sustainable and responsible way of consuming them.
Let’s
see things this way: millions of people around the world dream about the day in
which they will be able to buy a SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle), a heavy, big car that
requires much more natural resources to be produced and significantly more fuel
to operate. The majority of people never takes these characteristics into
consideration in their buying process and if they do is certainly by the fact
that they are worried about the increase of their monthly gas budget and rarely
for a sustainable consumption standpoint. In many cases it is just a single
person or a two-people family who buys these automobiles. They buy them mostly
for status fulfillment and not because they have a huge family that requires a
big car to move it around.
Electronics:
wonderful gears that everyone “needs”. It doesn’t matter how smart the one you already
have is and how long ago you bought it, you will always “need” the latest
version. It is all about creating necessities that we actually don’t need.
Scandals of bad business practices revolving giant companies in this sector is always
on the news, but no one seems to care about it when they decide to buy new
products from them. They are companies that should be ashamed of the type of
bad business they are doing, but unfortunately consumers “indirectly” support
it by retro feeding this vicious cycle. How many people think about the amount
of natural resources is comprised in the production of a computer, a cell phone
or a tablet, just to name a few? How many people think about the way those
resources are extracted from the soil and how dangerous and unsafe it can be to
mining workers to deal with it every single day, especially if their employers
do not practice responsible business as well? How many people think about
abusing business practices and unfair labor conditions behind all the wonderful
hi-tech gadgets they feel tempted to buy? How many people think about the
amount of natural resources and human capital energy involved in the production
of the gears they had and are now discarding (with no worries about their
future destiny) just to get the “newest version” to fulfill their greedy
consumption behavior? How can the planet sustain this type of consumption?
Jewelry/fashion:
how many people think about where that sparkling, beautiful diamond rock comes
from and whether people were killed back in their home countries to make that
beautiful rock available to their rings, before deciding to buy (another) one?
How many coats, purses and shoes a person can handle into their closets and how
many of them wonder how were those outfits produced? Recently, some worldwide
famous stores in the fashion world were accused of utilizing slavery workforce in
emerging countries. However, none of their consumers seemed to be affected by
it and continued marching to the same stores to buy stuff they think they need
as if nothing were happening on the “backstage”.
How
many people are capable of thinking about how much fossil fuel are burned and
how much water are utilized in a daily basis in order to produce the food they
have in their tables? Can they even think these natural resources are used in great
abundance just to make their food available? How many people understand where
the energy that powers their life comes from? Are their countries a
self-sufficient energy producer or heavily over reliant on the resource import?
How much sufficient or how much dependent? What are the implications of that
for their own comfort and security? How many people understand that every
single thing they eat, wear, drink and use requires a large amount of natural
resources to be produced and that they are dangerously scarce?
Sustainable
development is way beyond just a fancy trend or beautiful rhetoric. It HAS to
be an important value that everyone must carry inside themselves. Now I clearly
understand my professor’s perspective. He is right when he says that, with the
mentality mankind has been acting, sustainable development is reduced to a
myth. Collective actions are extremely necessary in achieving sustainability,
but – most importantly – individual actions are the pathway to get there since the
latter feeds the former. Innovation and technology are also crucial components,
but without a sustainable / responsible consumption mindset, they are just a
fancy tool in the attempts of optimizing the (already) abusive use of scarce
resources. As a final remark, I would like to state something for those who believe that “green” initiatives
are the “silver bullet” to all the problems related to sustainability. I am afraid I have to remind them that not
all “green” and renewable initiatives are necessarily sustainable, but this can be a topic for another discussion.
Best
Gildete
Lima
