Sustainability Reflection
How can we keep our world sustainable? Firstly, what is sustainable or sustainability? Both of the words come from the word sustain. So what does sustain mean? Sustain is to maintain meaning to preserve a something in good condition. And we must sustain Earth the way it is so future generations can still live in this planet that we are ruining. But we can still maintain this world the way it is.
Electricity today is a very important thing that we, humans need every day, for our lights and stoves. We have become so dependent on electricity that some of us can’t even imagine what is like to not have electricity and some of us have become inconsiderate of our environment. I have not been very careful of my electricity usage. I have forgotten countless times to turn off the lights when I go out of the room, I have always kept my phone charger in the outlet and my power bar stays on the entire night. I should write sticky notes around the house to remind me to turn off the lights when I am out of the room. That way, when I am walking in the hallway and see the note, I will remember that I did not turn off the lights.
In the article I read, it talked about how Canadians usage of water and electricity is one of the largest in the world! This is because our water and electricity is the cheapest in the world. Because our water and electricity is so cheap, Canadians don’t care how much electricity or water they use and this can cause our “green action” to be less effective. The water and electricity needs to be more expensive so people will be more aware of their electricity use. Canadians should think more clearly before they do things that might not be good for the environment.
Paper. We write on it and make shapes out on the thin white rectangle. But do we think about where it comes from? We all know that paper comes from trees but we are still wasteful of paper. I usually don’t use 2 sides of my paper and I throw it out. I should recycle more and use the other side of my paper as scrap paper.
In the book The Lorax by Dr. Suess the Once-ler was cutting down as many Truffla Trees as he wanted to for his Thneeds. Well, we don’t make Thneeds but we make paper out of trees and many trees get cut down because of our paper need. In our minds, when we cut don a tree, we will think “If I just cut down 1 tree, it won’t make a difference” like what the young Once-ler thought when he cut all the Truffla Trees. Now imagine every person thought that and cut down a tree. We won’t have any trees anymore. We do not realize that many of the trees are homes to many organisms and by cutting down the trees, we are taking away homes of these animals or organisms. When there isn’t enough food for the animals or organisms to eat, they move away or become extinct which can disrupt the food chain and food web. We should stop cutting down so much trees or we can plant more trees to help the environment.
In the documentary, The Inconvenient Truth, it talked about how the carbon emissions rose by a lot in the last few years. This can have drastic effect on the world. Global warming is one of the effects of higher carbon emissions and it can be disastrous. Global warming is beginning to melt the ice caps which will result in flooding and many animals will lose their homes. 40% of the people get their drinking water from the melted rivers and lakes on the glacier. When the glaciers melt, many people will face a big problem. Many people think that because the earth is so big, humans cannot have a lasting effect on the earth, which is wrong. We need to help stop global warming by carpooling so fewer cars are used and less carbon is in the atmosphere. Or we can plant more plants because plants absorb carbon and thus less carbon will be in the atmosphere.
