Sustainability – Where Do We Go from Here: Opinion Essay

Need help with assignments?

Our qualified writers can create original, plagiarism-free papers in any format you choose (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.)

Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.

Click Here To Order Now

A topic, idea, or concept that always captivates me is sustainability. I lose track of time speaking about it because it’s an endless conversation that has no correct answer. There are so many possibilities when it comes to saving the Earth, but the easiest and cleanest way is through sustainable living. Humans are constantly finding new ways to be more sustainable, but it’s challenging to make others live more sustainable lives.

Our Earth is currently in a difficult place. Global temperatures are at the highest they have ever been. Ecosystems are being destroyed. Ice in the Arctic is melting, causing sea levels to rise all over the world, displacing many families. There is a shortage of water everywhere in the world, especially in California, due to the long drought we had. California is the state that produces the most food consumed by humans, and we need water to irrigate our farmlands to feed our cattle. We are trying to find new ways of cleaner energy that do not release volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and other air pollutants that get released into the air we breathe. Our one goal at the very end of all these problems should be to live and function in a more sustainable environment.

Everything we do on a day-to-day basis affects how sustainable we are living. We wake up and brush our teeth, and some people leave the water on while they complete that simple task. If we reduce the amount of people who brush their teeth with water turned on, we can exponentially decrease the amount of water used. Now imagine if all humans made small but simple changes to our daily routines. Everybody would lead a more sustainable life and save money along the way. The possibilities are endless, and I’m always brainstorming ways we could save water and energy, no matter where I am.

Transportation is a part of everyone’s life, and humans release the most pollutants through this daily activity. To lead a more sustainable life, you would have to carpool, take the bus, or drive a car that doesn’t release harmful emissions, like a Mirai (which my parents drive). If everybody who drove a car that runs on gas switched to a car that runs on electricity or hydrogen, emissions into our atmosphere would drastically decrease to a point where we can easily measure it. After 9/11, airplanes didn’t fly for the next couple of days. The air was the cleanest it was in ten years. This is just a small testament to why I love sustainability, it can be easily fixed if we want. I could never stop talking about the endless solutions I have to solve these complex programs.

Most of my knowledge of sustainability came from what I learned in my AP Environmental Science class. It introduced me to the plights our planet is undergoing and what we can do to help our Earth. I realized being a vegetarian and driving a Mirai is contributing to my sustainable lifestyle. Small things like not using plastic water bottles help the Earth and keep it safe from more harm. Whenever I have free time, I like to scour the Internet to find out the latest sustainable living techniques or tips. The Internet is a key place to share new ideas and theories on sustainable living.

The conversation about sustainability will never stop because our Earth has a finite source of supplies. If we continue to harm the Earth by abusing its natural resources and treating natural places like garbage lots, it will fight back against us. And it’s already fighting against us, and many people still don’t realize what’s happening. There will always be people who will lead non-sustainable lives, and it’s the world’s job to convince them that they must.

Sustainability intersects with every aspect of our lives, it casts a long shadow on transportation, construction, health care, technological advances, economics, and education. The declining health of our environment cannot continue if we want to have a livable earth, so the need for creating a more sustainable planet has never been greater. Devising new transportation necessitates that we take into consideration the continuing impact on sustainability as we envision it. In developing countries, sand is mined from rivers, causing irreversible damage to the environment. Can such techniques sustain our planet? Regarding healthcare, drugs humans consume are passed into water ecosystems such as rivers and oceans, hurting marine animals. What can we do to sustain the growth of medical progress and yet manage the long-term negative impact on our marine life? Materials used for technological advances are stripping the earth of its resources. For example, certain rare earth metals are mined in the most gruesome fashion to keep pace with the increasing demand for batteries. Are we investing money and seeking profits from companies that have a healthy respect for the environment? Can the companies utilize healthy practices to stay profitable?

What do we want to sustain? What form of sustainability must be encouraged? Answers to these questions are elusive, and they must be arrived at in a holistic manner. All these questions can be answered by analyzing underlying the advances made in Data Science. The pedagogy to make this happen requires an intersection of three disciplines – Sustainability Studies, Data Science, and Environmental Science.

Sustainability Studies requires articulating the future needs in the present context, this is a major challenge. Data provides the best means to achieve it, irrefutable proof is possible only with Data Science. Establishing the principles, identifying the relevance and a path to sustainability is the need of the hour. It helps us discern our needs from our wants so that future generations can meet their needs, thus the present generation does not trample on the rights to exist of the future generations.

There are so many questions that have to be answered, it requires expertise in multiple facets of human understanding, and the opportunity to investigate these principles is the need of the hour.

Need help with assignments?

Our qualified writers can create original, plagiarism-free papers in any format you choose (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.)

Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.

Click Here To Order Now