Our planet is a massively complex system, with millions of different ecological typologies spread from one end to the other. Remarkably, they have all managed to work together and sustain life for over 4.5 billion years . Our existence as humans has only been for a fraction of that time, a mere 160,000 years , which is only .00035% of the planet's life span to date. During that time we have had an immeasurable impact on the earth. Until recently, there has been no thought as to how our own existence is a part of the earth's ecological system, but this is becoming more and more difficult to ignore the cause and effect of our existence.
The entire planet is made up of each of those distinct ecologies working together, as a complex machine of life and death, evolution and mutation, weather patterns, currents, night and day, creation and destruction. As the first species to have the knowledge and capability to change our environment on an industrial scale, we have added another system without perhaps even realizing it, and certainly without planning out an end result. At the start of the industrial revolution, there was no idea of sustainability, which simply put is making sure that the impacts you create are not felt generations down the road. If you use a resource, you do not deplete it, but replenish it, leaving it there for use tomorrow, and the tomorrow after that.
We are now at a crossroads in our existence. We can continue down the path we have paved for ourselves, ignoring the cries of nature, ignoring the need to maintain the delicate balance that is the planet-wide ecology. We need to work towards being a part of the system, rather than work against it. We need to restructure the way we live our lives, and feed off the environment. We need to become a part of the ecological machine, a fully functioning gear in the works, rather than the misshapen gear that needs constant attention, and drains the resources and efficiency of the rest of the machine. Until now, humanity has been a parasite on the planet. It is time to work together, in symbiosis. It is time to create the sustainable urban machine.
What is “sustainable”? Why do we care?
Sustainability is a funny term these days. That word, along with “green”, is being tossed around on a lot of products and advertisements, in architecture, design and urban planning classrooms and conferences, in government offices and official speeches, on bills and laws, legal decisions, etc. The word is getting used so much, and with little definition or backing behind it until the concept itself is beginning to get lost. Advertisers talk about green and sustainable products, but what are they referring to? Our nation’s president discusses a growth of the green industry, but what does he define as “green”? Webster’s defines sustainability as:
1. the ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.
2. Environmental Science: the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance
The second item refers directly to the environment, but only so far as things not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources. There are certainly things that modern society is doing that don’t directly affect the sustainability of the environment, while still being harmful. The popular understanding of sustainability needs to encompass not just an environmental preservationist ideal, but needs to understand the full cycle of the impact of our actions. We can’t continue to produce items for waste, without considering the impact of that item from cradle to grave.
Sustainability is not a new idea, though most might find it to be so. In fact Thomas Jefferson defined sustainability in a letter to James Madison in September, 1789:
I say, the earth belongs to each of these generations during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and encumbrances of the first, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.
In order to achieve this, we must move beyond hybrid cars, recycled plastic bottles and low flow toilets. If we don’t move in this direction there will be a limited time left for the health of this planet, and the people that rely on it. Maintaining a balance and an understanding with the environment of this planet is important for the perpetuation of our species. We are reaching a tipping point for the environment, and this blog will detail arguments for the sustainable urban machine, and how best we can go about achieving it.
Sources:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3814-dawn-of-human-race-uncovered.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sustainability
http://kitchengardeners.org/thomas-jefferson-sustainability
