0.24 Issues and options

People who want to make their voices heard on environmental issues can do so in a number of ways. Locally, they can send letters to the editors of community newspapers to reach a wide audience. Public hearings and community meetings also provide opportunities to make a strong vocal statement. On a larger political scale, a typed or handwritten letter to a government official is particularly effective. Faxing the letter to the official is another option. Telephone calls to legislators show that the callers care enough to spend a little money, and also offers an unparalleled opportunity for immediate feedback. However, it is not always easy to actually get connected to the recipient. E-mails are less personal than regular letters, but they are very convenient and the have the potential to mobilize hundreds or thousands of messages, making it an indispensable tool for the environmental activist.

Sustainability

Sustainability refers to practices that allow current populations to meet their needs without impacting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The idea was developed to describe the long-term use of natural resources but has been expanded to include a diversity of situations, including community structures, economic policies, and social justice. Sustainability is a relatively new concept that is becoming a common ideal but is not yet widely practiced.

Non-renewable resources

The use of non-renewable resources is by definition, unsustainable. The use of fossil fuels is a prime example. Industrial societies rely on oil and natural gas to power manufacturing, propel vehicles, heat homes, and cook meals. In addition, many goods, like plastics, are partially made of petroleum products. Ongoing geologic processes are continuing to produce fossil fuels, as they have for millennia, but the rate at which we are using them far outstrips the rate at which natural cycles regenerate them. Some scientists project that oil and gas reserves will be largely drained in 50 – 200 years. Future generations will have to find other sources of energy.

Environmental degradation

Some practices are not sustainable because they cause severe environmental damage. For example, some modern agricultural methods actually destroy the soil they rely on, so that farms flourish for a time but then must be abandoned. Desert lands can grow crops if they are intensively irrigated. But when irrigation water evaporates in hot climates, the soil becomes more and more salty, until plant growth is stunted. In the tropics, when rainforests are chopped down to make way for crops, soils lose the steady nutrient supply the forest provided and soon become infertile.

Renewable resources

Renewable resources can be used far into the future. Wind power is a type of renewable energy. Windmills, which turn in the wind to spin turbines that generate electricity, don’t use up or diminish the air. And the supply of wind is renewed every day, when uneven solar heating of the Earth causes hot air to rise and cold air to sink.