Innovation and Sustainability - Essay Example

INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY Human consumption emerges from the needs and values of individualsand society as a whole. These needs and values determine what we, humans, produce and consume. Material resources are defined as anything that humans use. They include, but are not limited to the food systems, building sector, households, consumer items and infrastructure. The way that we continue to use the material resources is not sustainable and it is undermining lives and livelihoods and most importantly our planet’s ability to sustain life.

Deforestation is one of the consumption habits humans have. This activity involves cutting, burning and bulldozing trees down to clear land or gain access to more land. It harms the earth when the carbon monoxide seeps into the soil and floats off into the atmosphere. The consumption point of this process is having land cleared to build an industry or commercial business. It allows humans to produce products and consume currency.Industrialization is also a major human production habit. It involves processing of raw material, could be natural resources from the earth, into finished products.

Agriculture supports industrialization in the food sector and food systems sustenance (Likens, Driscoll & Buso 1996, p.120). This particular production habit has been greatly influenced by the technological changes and the scarce resources. These two factors have resulted to a lot of innovation and high utilization of the available resource.Consumption is the direct utilization of material resources. Transportation is one way that humans consume. The number of vehicles has increased gradually and the fuel we use to run them is very harmful to the atmosphere.

In this way we consume the efficiency of mobility by producing vehicles to ferry us to our destinations. In the larger picture production is also a part of consumption especially in transportation since in the process of production materials have to be moved from one site to another.The concept of sustainable consumption and production is comprehensive and takes a holistic approach to the systems of production and consumption. Humans have to seek ways to ultimately reverse or reduce the negative social and ecological impacts.

This calls for a means of aligning economic systems to meet the needs of current and future generations within the ecological carrying capacity of the Earth.Policy instruments and tools that affect change and shift in production and consumption patterns are efforts that need to be considered in sustenance of the global population. Controlling the population growth is a major step towards reducing the demand for material resources. A controlled population growth will not strain the available resources to extents of depletion.

Governments and stakeholders around the globe will be able to estimate the consumption rate in relation to the available resources.Another effort that should be considered to ensure sustainability of future generations is use alternative products and means. For instance, in the energy sector solar power and bio fuels are great innovations that in the very least provide alternatives to energy needs. Recycling and reuse of material resources is also an effort that should be considered in production and consumption to ensure global sustenance of the population (Leach 1995, p.80).Many factors mentioned have impacted consumption and production.

Technology advancement, modernization and urbanization are some of the factors that have dramatically changed the human habits. In recent, years less material-intensive products and services have been favored in an effort to use the available resource sparingly. Reducing pollution of the environment is a measure that would ensure a sustainable future for the population mass and this would go a long way in supporting the balance in the ecosystem (Likens, Driscoll & Buso 1996, p.120).ReferencesLeach, G.(1995).Global Land and Food Supply.Stockholm.Stockholm Environment Institute.

Likens, G.E.,Driscoll,C.T.,& Buso, D.C.( 1996).Long-Term effects of acid rain: Response and recovery of a forest ecosystem.Environment and Science.272(7),244-245.