The Journey to Sustainability

The Journey to Sustainability
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The Journey to Sustainability
Assuming environmental sustainability is achieved, the human relationship to nature will drastically differ from what it is now. Humans rely heavily on nonrenewable resources, leading to environmental degradation. In a sustainable future, humans will no longer need to rely solely on nonrenewable energy sources to sustain themselves and their civilizations. Instead, they will rely on renewable energy sources like solar and wind power (Zou et al., 2022). Additionally, humans will have to learn how to coexist with other species, as many of them will be essential for maintaining ecological balance. Humans will adapt to living with natural phenomena, such as hurricanes, to maintain environmental sustainability (Masnavi et al., 2018). According to Uddin et al. (2021), humans will achieve this by strengthening infrastructure and buildings to withstand extreme weather events better and developing a greater understanding of how climate change works and adapting to those changes. Humans will also have to learn to live with less, conserving resources and reducing waste to reduce the impact of natural phenomena on the environment. Humans must work together to maintain environmental sustainability in a changing world.
Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems will look vastly different in a sustainable future than they do today. Forests with various species and ecosystems will be lush and bio-diverse (Snow, 2020). Many animals that people eat today, such as deer and wild boar, will still be around. However, they will be managed to benefit everyone – people and wildlife alike. According to Snow (2020), one of the main ways humanity will have enabled biodiversity and ecosystems to function sustainably is by creating laws and regulations protecting the environment. For example, laws will prohibit chemical companies from dumping toxic substances into rivers and lakes and require companies to disclose the ingredients in their products. These laws not only protect the environment but also help to create jobs in environmentally-friendly industries.
Furthermore, agricultural production will be markedly different than it is today. It will be more efficient and less reliant on most of the resources it relies on today to meet the demands of a sustainable future. In particular, agricultural production will rely less on inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides and more on crop rotation and composting to recycle nutrients (Snow, 2020). Moreover, agricultural production will need to shift away from current monoculture practices, which is the cultivation of a single crop type in an area – one of the most inefficient agricultural production methods (Liu et al., 2021). Practicing monoculture results in wastefulness and reduced crop yields – two factors antithetical to sustainability. In addition, agricultural production will also need to shift away from current mechanized farming practices (Liu et al., 2021). Although mechanization has increased yields in the short term, it has also destroyed natural resources and increased pollution. Ultimately, agricultural production will have shifted away from current practices in a sustainable future.
Additionally, humanity will manage water resources (fresh water and ocean) efficiently, equitably, and sustainably. This will involve the implementation of various technological, economic, and social innovations. Fresh water will be managed similarly to how it is currently managed, except for the increased use of desalination technology. Desalination is a process that extracts salt from water using various technologies, such as solar or wind power (Haarstrick & Bahadir, 2022). It is estimated that desalination could provide freshwater for up to 1.7 billion people by 2050 (Haarstrick & Bahadir, 2022). The agricultural sector will also implement changes to ensure sustainability. For example, irrigation systems must be redesigned to use less water and land. Also, cities will innovate new recycling technologies to better use grey water from residential and commercial buildings (Sauvé et al., 2021). Ocean management will also be affected by sustainable practices. For example, fishing will likely become more selective and sustainable methods such as aquaculture will be used more often. These changes will result in more efficient and sustainable management of water resources.
Achieving sustainability is an ambitious goal that requires humanity to make significant changes to its interaction with the environment. Humanity must use a mix of renewable and nonrenewable resources to meet global ...