A Sustainable World
Vision is the most critical step in a policy-making process. It is the only missing element not only in policy discussions but also in individual cultures as well. It is common to find individuals addressing their fears, frustrations and doubts than talking about their visions (Meadows 1).
In my view, a sustainable world is one, which is free from problems and one full of blessings. It is a world where use of non-renewable resources is used at a lower rate than they are generated; a world free from pollution, war, famine or poverty. In this sustainable world, every child born is wanted such that there will be no cases of homelessness. In such a world, every person is filled with love and there exists unity in diversity.
In such a world, everyone will become what he or she yearns to become in his or her lifetime. A sustainable world should be a beautiful and peaceful planet, which is culture tolerant and with untainted cynicism. In my vision, a world where there are no acts of terrorism and animosity to others is a sustainable one.
This sustainable world should embrace diversity, and consequently, everyone should be accepted for who they are. A sustainable world is one where food is accessible to everyone, and water is at every person’s reach. Living without fear and worries of terrorism attack, spreading of diseases or death due to diseases such as HIV and Aids are elements of a sustainable world.
I am strongly of the opinion that in a sustainable, all people should be disciplined. As a matter of fact, being disciplined will compel a person to do the right thing in the right manner. Mankind has destroyed the world due to being undisciplined: take, for instance, industrialists, they are aware of the obnoxious effects of the industrial emission, but they have to be forced to reduce such emissions.
Without any form of regulation, industrialists would fill the atmosphere with the industrial smoke. This self-centeredness is at the heart of destroying the world, and it is characteristic of all members across the board.
Innovative practices Expanded into a Global Sustainable model
Various strategies are required to attain a sustainable world. Diverse kinds of knowledge, talents, skills and work should be sorted. Other requirements would incorporate passing laws, making of budgets, hiring of qualified people, establishing and strategic management of organizations.
More so, inventions on technologies would be necessary. The main concept of the sustainable world implies the un-purchased quality. This would include passing laws, making of budgets and looking for resources. It entails protection of the human life and the quality of the biosphere, including living things, which share the planet and the ecological systems.
However, implementations of such values are often evaluated using models to explain the procedure of getting where we have got to and what is required to be done to get better. These models could be in form of computers, paper models or those installed in our heads.
They often seem complicated but are usually very simple. Meadows characterized such models as “narrow and too linear and also lacking in understanding of feedback, time lags, exponentially, variability, diversity and other aspects of real system complexity” (Meadows 1).
Other main ingredients for attaining sustainable world in the future include acquiring the relevant information about the practice. Information facilitates validation and approval of models such that they can be developed and turned into action.
Information that is biased, delayed, incomplete, disorganized will lead to wrong models thus misinterpreted, consequently, leading to untimely implementation. Improved information will result to improved monitoring, organizing data, education and other communication to emphasize the vital ecological economics.
Faulty models will result to rejection of skillful and greatly funded implementation in the world to attain any sustainable world. More so, it has been claimed that environmental costs are high and they are likely to rise higher in the future if nothing is done.
The approaches should include consideration of prosperity per person and how technology can be harnessed appropriately. Previously, even the minor technologies such as eradication of malaria remained a complex issue.
To ensure that the innovative practices of today from a foundation upon which the world’s future will stand, there needs to be excellent infrastructure that can help these innovative ideas to be replicated on a wide scale. This can be accomplished through publicity, sponsorship of such innovative ideas and development of the ideas to make them more efficient and applicable on a wider scale.
Cradle to cradle and Ecological Intelligence Relevance
William McDonough is an architect who upholds sustained design. He was the first person to design a solar heated house in Ireland and some green buildings in the 1980s. His co-author of the Cradle to Cradle book was Michael Braungart a German chemist and a founder of EPEA (an organization devoted to the production of environmentally sound products).
The book offers designs where industrial technological advancement being centered on the concept of eco-effectiveness is upheld. The book designs advocate for less pollution, fewer waste of the natural resources and sustainable environmental management.
One of the important Cradle to Cradle concepts is that of waste equals food. The concept requests for production processes where energy by-products can be used as energy input for other products.
The concept emphasizes on the production of products, which can be recycled into other products of equal value to consumers when the product usefulness has been outlived instead of the current products which are irreconcilable. More so, the concept calls for the production of chemicals, which are harmless to human health and environment (Newman 7).
Another important Cradle to Cradle aspect is the respect to diversity. It is the engineer’s responsibilities to put into consideration the effects of designs in the environment. They should not become discouraged by diversity but rather should use them to their advantage to maximize energy utilization of the locally available resources. In the book, McDonough delineated the use of solar energy to heat and light buildings.
He gave an example of the Middle East wind towers which disperse water to houses. Another important aspect of respect to diversity design was that shown by Michael Braugart concerning treatment of the sewerage system to provide clean water and fertilizers to farmers through transportation of sewerage waste products in the clay pipes to a storage tank, then through a series of ponds to do the filtering out (Newman 7).
Lastly, another adoptable Cradle to Cradle concept I found interesting was that of incorporation of engineering with materials which do exist or mimicking the closed-loop system of the natural world; and in using materials which are not hazardous to human health and those that strive for upstream pollution prevention.
This can be especially so by ensuring each material used in design, and construction is that of value added application (Newman 8).
My Responsibility towards Building a Sustainable World
Undoubtedly, having a vision is not enough. It is just the first step towards the achievement of a sustainable world. Even the greatest vision will be of no use without information and models that will lead to implementation. These are various difficulties in establishing a sustainable world. This does not imply that one should just become a visionary, no. What is being advocated is using the same vision for a safer world.
I am ready to take a social risk to display my deepest desires of establishing a peaceful and sustainable, a safer, more secure and sufficient world. More so, I will let disappointments to be my learning experiences rather than reasons for pessimism.
I will also strengthen myself to endure pain caused by the daily world we are not anticipating to have and the world, I profoundly long for. It is only by agreeing, permitting and carrying the pain that can help us transform the world gradually closer to a sustainable world of my deepest values and dearest visions and away from suffering and non-sustainability.
Making the world a better place should be a collective responsibility. Every individual has a responsibility towards ensuring that his or her time on earth makes a positive contribution towards. However, due to ignorance, many people fail to recognize the fact that individual actions make a huge contribution towards making the world a better place.
I purpose to educate my friends and all those with whom I interact with that being a good neighbor has a huge impact on the changing the world. By being a good neighbor, I will explain to my friends that it includes being responsible for the welfare of one’s neighbors and taking care of them.
I know this might not be that easy in this world, which is increasingly becoming individualistic but even so I have a firm belief that I make many disciples towards this movement of being good neighbors to others.
Works Cited
Meadows, Donella. “Envisioning a sustainable world: Third Biennial meeting of the international society for ecological economics.” Sustainer, 1994. Web.
Newman, Adam. “An evaluation of cradle for cradle design as a solution to the Chinese environmental crisis SPEA honors paper series.” School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2007. Web.