Why sustainability is more important than ever
We as humans have grown from 6 billion in 2000 to 8 billion in 2022, estimation is to reach 9 billion by 2038.
Increase in population, leads direct demand increase of natural resources like water, soil and
consumables like clothes, electricity, fuel, stationary, houses, car, furniture.....quite a big list!
We continue to consume, pollute and waste like there’s no tomorrow. If we don’t act now and make sustainability a way of life, it's not long humans will strive for basic necessities and become endangered species.
Consider, its impact say on food demand, how much more farmlands will be needed to meet the demand. If you are thinking, why farming people will go for fish or other meat options ! However, even they need basic farming to feed livestock. To produce 1kg of beef, 25kg of feed and 15,000 litres of water is required; which is like 4-5 days of food for an individual, off-course they will need other fruits, bread, rice with it.
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Water, Electronics, internet, electricity, travel ..demand is increased with increase in population; and all these are direct/processed outcome of using natural resources. So balance have became more important. All the three pillars of sustainability - environment, economic and Social are equally important to preserve the long term viability of People and Planet.
Most of the Industries, today are talking about Sustainable development and have strategy around it. But is that sufficient !
There are at least 50 items / services an individual uses in a single day, a conscious choice in selecting, using and disposing them will leave a lasting impact. In addition, consumer only drives the behaviour of producers. Industries will be bound to produce what consumer, that is all of us as individuals will demand for. So it is equally rather more important in every choices we make as an individual - as a consumer.
The global challenges : climate change, environmental degradations including habitat loss and threats to biodiversity is no more a story, its already here. Action is needed now, and can't just be left with government or big manufacturers.
Every action counts, everyday choices counts.
Our perspective of sustainability
"The property of being environmentally sustainable; the degree to which a process or enterprise is able to be maintained or continued while avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources“, is sustainability meaning from Oxford dictionary. In simple words it's about 3 P's Planet, People and Profit, the practice of making environment friendly products while maintaining a prospering economy for future generations.
There are quite many Eco-friendly certifications available now, and many industries have started adopting the Life Cycle assessment (LCA), where they access environmental impacts associated with all stages of a products life, starting from raw materials used, material processing, manufacturing / assembly of product, use and after-life or dispose.
At each stage of product development, what's the impact on planet considering use of natural resources - use of rare metals, minerals, water etc. , energy consumption, the by-products gases and emissions and any waste generated. In addition to all these, impact to environment considering transport between each stage is another significant factor Planet to be considered while considering People and Profit.
Ideally, as shown in picture, all details at every stage need to considered and quantified and then evaluate the total impact on carbon footprint. However, this evaluation is not easy, as there are several factors involved, make it a cumbersome project to complete one evaluation for a product. And evaluation will change with respect to where is manufactured and where it is used. For example, estimation of transport impact of a product made in Shanghai (China) and deliver to say Sydney is also depending on factor like what is mode of transportation used, then what vehicle being used in transportation etc.
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It’s not only about the product is made of eco-material, but also how about from where this product is made available !
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It's not only about products availability, but also about awareness and accessibility
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It's not only about what raw materials are used, but also about how materials are processed and product is developed
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It's not only about life-span of product, but also about after-life of product
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It's not only about cost of product, but also about total cost to environment and consumer during the product use
It’s not easy for a consumer to know everything about product development and its carbon foot-print; but it’s not so difficult also to be aware of basics and apply them on every decision. Anyways, at present one is making choices between the available varieties of a product/service - be it is brand, price, quality, appearance etc. All I am proposing is to add one more check point in product/service selection.
Getting imported organic vegetables vs local produced vegetables ! So, think twice before making a choice !