Innovation and Sustainability - Essay Example

Innovation and Sustainability Introduction The dimensions of the growing human population have intrigued constantinnovation of technology. The constant development of technology is meant to satisfy human wants and needs. Initially, the stability of population growth was disturbed by issues such as improper health facilities and sanitation which, has currently been improved. Therefore, sanitation and most of the common diseases have been controlled, hence the reduced death rates leading to a growing population.

This calls for constant innovation of ways of production and consumption of material resources to satisfy the current needs. Therefore, this paper will explore two consumption and two production habits of humans that are related to the material resources. In addition, it will give recommendations on sustainable ways of producing and consuming these resources for the purpose of the present and future generation.Consumption habits Population growth continuously affects consumption of materials and environmental resources.

With exponential growth, population density increases in a region. The number of population per 1000 population highly determines the amount of consumption of goods that come from the environment. Agricultural production of goods has to be increased with any increase in birth rates in a population. Going by the current trend, every household and in some cases every individual who can attain a driving license has a car especially in the US, which means more fuel consumption, hence, more exploitation of crude oil (Segger, 2011).

Technology has contributed a lot to consumption of most goods. It is with technology that humans are able to consume coal out of a coal mine. Fuels that produce green house gases come as a result of the power of machines in exploitation and cutting down of trees which are a great source of carbon sink. All this is done just to satisfy human needs of consumption. For example, trees are cut down for building purposes and for fuel, while exploitation of fuels like petrol and diesel from crude oil is mainly for the current increase of vehicles on the road (Segger, 2011).

Production habits Advancement of industrial revolution has immensely encouraged high production rate of consumer goods. With advanced technology, more agricultural goods can be produced due to the presence of technologies that can be used like those used to manufacture chemical fertilizers for the unfertile soils. Thus, more agricultural goods are being produced currently, despite the health impacts that some of the production methods like GMO have on human health (Segger, 2011). The production of hydroelectric power from water resources is also a current issue in most developed nation.

Water is tapped in a dam for generation of HEP. Most of the water used normally coming from a river hence, interfering with the living organisms like fish. However, the modernized world appreciates this type of power other than the use of fuel wood that existed in the past. Hence, this has encouraged more production of hydroelectric power in the states that the technology can be employed (Segger, 2011).Efforts to be considered that encourage sustainable consumption and production The technologies that are being employed for production and consumption purposes should comply with the standards that environmental control acts have put in place.

Machines that produce green house gases should have gas filters, so that the gases are not emitted into the atmosphere. This is because; greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming and CFCs contributing to depletion of the ozone layer, which shields the human skin from the cancerous ultra-violet rays. To sustain the global community, unsound practices should be prohibited. In relation to this, clean energy should be encouraged and more use of public vehicles globally to reduce the rate of exploitation of crude oil so that the future generation have something to use (Segger, 2011).

More organic fertilizers should be used instead of chemical fertilizers. This is because, organic fertilizers encourage renewed fertility, other than the chemical fertilizers which destroy the soil completely, which in turn means that the future generation will not enjoy agricultural products. The rule of planting of more trees after cutting one should be incorporated into all the systems. Reforestation practices in areas that are prawn to deforestation should be encouraged. If these recommendations are put into consideration, the present and future generation will also learn to use the environmental resources in a sustainable manner (Segger, 2011).

ReferenceSegger, M.-C. C. (2011). Sustainable development in world investment law. Alphen aan den Rijn: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.