No Exit

We don’t live sustainable lives and have never done so before. This is because we have always created waste, as it is an unavoidable consequence of life. Now there is over 6 billion of us inhabiting the planet our collective waste is causing changes, and with it some problems. Notions of going back to a “primitive” way of life seem very misplaced in adapting to changes and solving the problems we face.

The idea we have reached the limit of sustainability interest me because of the notion that going beyond this point will change everything. The idea that the environment stays the same is a very constricted view and seems to deify its rich history. In truth, the environment seems to like change a lot more than we do. Nature has never stood still, it is always changing, developing and bringing life out of the challenges it faces.

If we look at the atmosphere billions of years ago oxygen only existed in traces amounts, therefore all organisms respired anaerobically. Through the emergence of photosynthetic organisms the level of oxygen was greatly increased as a waste product of photosynthesis. Oxygen polluted the earth to the point where it changed the diversity of life completely. "Ingenuity triumphed and the danger was overcome, not in the human way by restoring the old order but in the flexible Gaian way by adapting to change and converting a murderous intruder into a powerful friend."(J.E. Lovelock 1979) Through being too concerned with trying to escape the changes that are occurring we are missing out, we should be following nature’s example of adapting to new situations and tacking advantage of the opportunities.

On the issue of “economic wants against ethical beliefs” which has been raised, I don’t see them as apposing choices. In the future large global companies will be forced to take an ethical and responsible stance towards manufacturing. This is not only because of legislation such as the 2003 recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) “requiring producers in member countries to take responsibility for recycling and waste management,”(New Scientist no.2585 p32) but largely because it is more economically profitable to make ethical choices. If we look at Japan they now recycle more than 80% of old TVs and computer manufacturers are obliged to take back old computers. Ethically driven advances like these are providing new jobs and opportunities for commerce. They have begun designing for disassembly and are now profiting from Europe’s lag in taking up sustainable and ethical positions. There is money involved in more ethical design solutions so businesses will change to take advantage, but also just to survive.

J.E. Lovelock, Gaia, 1979, Oxford University Press.
New Scientist no. 2585, 6th January 2007.