More stewardship is needed - Essay Example

More Stewardship Is Needed The very word "sustainability" throws images and concepts into any individual's head, and most people will have a different definition of what it is. In mainstream thinking, sustainability means having a means to replace what it taken. Scientific communities have different views on sustainability depending upon the discipline the expertise. Let's look at the word "stewardship," defined by the Miriam-Webster dictionary as meaning, "the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.

" Stewardship covers a broad spectrum of the core necessities of sustainability. In terms of the planet's resources, stewardship would simply entail taking care of what one has, whether an individual, family, company, or government. Now we come to the crux of the problem, being the aforementioned. Everyone is different and there is no common agreement in regard to "the needs of the people." In thinking stewardship, fashion takes a back seat. In developed nations, fashion is part of success. Since each nation and government is divided into sections of differing cultures, we can view the United States as a good example of where stewardship takes on different meanings; The region of the Pacific Northwest carries the trophy for being ecologically aware, having begun some of the nation's first recycling programs for glass, aluminum and plastic back in the '70's.

One part of stewardship is responsibly disposing of waste, and as the population grows, so does waste. The term, "reduce, reuse, recycle" abounds in stewardship thinking. Stewardship is a big inconvenience. It means we must think about what we do, what we use and how we get rid of it. Since our sanitized environments consist of services that include picking up our garbage/recyclables, treating human waste and regulating power supplies, most people don't have to think about how much waste they generate, dispose of and replace on an everyday basis.

This is especially true in developing and Third World nations, where poverty abounds due to mismanagement of resources, diverted funds and an imbalance of power. To tout the ideas of sustainability is one thing, but to implement stewardship only as far as it is convenient is to defeat the purpose. Not so long ago, stewardship was of the utmost importance here in our country. Farmers had to tend their crops, ranchers their animals. Little was wasted due to nearly complete utilization. With the advent of machinery, combustion engines and industry, people began to focus on increasing production; not far on that idea's heels was efficiency.

Stewardship is not yet cost effective or terribly efficient given the dependence on fossil fuels that is a result of lack of forward thinking in terms of governments. It really comes down to economy. To responsibly steward the environment would cost an enormous amount of money and create political upheaval at this point. In stewarding the economy, many government leaders are caught up in the impossibility of keeping both the people and the planet happy. Stewardship in its altruistic form is awareness of the balance of resources to needs ratio.

If stewardship can succeed, there will be something left for the future. But first people have to agree on what stewardship is, what it really means, and if it can be implemented properly and in a timely fashion. Given those criteria, it's not likely that stewardship can succeed on a global scale, given the nature of the beast.ReferencesThe Energy and Resources Institute, "CDM: achieving global sustainability," Climate Change Section, |Online| available at:http://www.teriin.org/climate/cdm-gs.

htmCOMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 2001, "A Sustainable Europe for a Better World: A European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development," COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION |Online| available at:http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0264en01.pdf