Being that I grew up in a house not 20 yards away from a thick forest, I have had many small encounters with wildlife in my life. We have deer, turkeys, and rabbits running through our backyard frequently, and I even find the occasional garden snake in the woodpile or under the heap of old cement blocks leftover from when we redid our landscaping. These encounters help to remind me how simple life can be, or should be. However, advancement in our society results in a growing population, and a growing population calls for more houses, more businesses, and more landfills for all their trash. Unfortunately, the habitat for these animals continues to disappear by our own hand. We continue to tear down the habitat of these simple creatures for our own use with no regard for the preservation of our earth, and someone needs to put a stop to it.
Of course we benefit from the growing development of our society, which is great, but at what cost is that benefit coming? Is it worth destroying the earth and all of its other inhabitants? People have lost sight of the value of these more simple creatures that we live with on our wondrous planet. Deer, elk, turkey and many other wild game animals can be hunted as a source of food, as well as the fish in the rivers, lakes, and seas. Predators such as bears and mountain lions help keep these animals populations in check, so they don’t overrun the forest. When all these animals die, their bodies decompose and replenish the nutrients of the soil to help plants grow. The vast and complex ecology of our planet keeps our environment balanced the way to should be. The more we desecrate the habitat that these animals call home, the further we damage the ecology that keeps the environment in shape.
Besides the scientific reasons for needing to preserve the habitat for wild animals, we also get a sense of perspective on life from these creatures that goes greatly underappreciated. As hectic as our lives tend to be these days, it can do the soul a great deal of good to just relax under a tree watching a deer waltz through the woods. They don’t have anywhere near the same worries or stress that we do. They just walk peacefully from one bush of berries to the next, getting a snack, not a care in the world. The only time they aren’t at complete ease is if they sense danger, perhaps in the form of a natural predator or a hunter. Although, even in these brief moments of peril, the deer can simply run away to where it feels safe. Such events are relatively rare anyways. Taking in that kind of serenity from another living creature can change the way you feel in a heartbeat. An instant calm comes over you in the realization that life simply does not have to be complicated. Yet we continue to destroy this gentle deer’s home.
What a shame it is that we continue to rip down forests for new housing developments and strip malls, when there are clear alternatives to this destructive pattern. We have the technology and intelligence to build skyscrapers nowadays, so why build out, over the forests, when we can build up where we aren’t hurting anyone. I’m not saying we should build skyscrapers everywhere, but even multi-floor apartment buildings that house multiple families can do a great deal to save the forest. Why build eight new homes on their own lots when you could build a four floor apartment building that will house all eight families on only two of the lots? Sure, saving six lots worth of land doesn’t seem like much, but when you multiply that to consider the thousands of new homes that are built each year, it could save acres upon acres of natural wildlife habitat. The solutions prove to be very feasible, so why not see them through?
After housing developments, the other major contributor to the destruction of wildlife habitats is the growing need for landfills. With our growing society comes a lot of garbage, and we are running out of places to put it. My freshman seminar class recently took a field trip to the Arden Landfill in Washington County, run by Waste Management. I had never seen a landfill before, and I was amazed by the size of the fill as well as the entire process. Federal regulations are a lot stricter for landfills today than a decade ago, and this particular fill was a shining example of that. The fill must first be approved by the government before anything can be done. The fill is first dug out then covered in six, 12 inch thick, plastic liners in order to prevent any waste from reaching the soil. Then, they begin loading in the trash. It can take nearly twenty years to for a fill to reach capacity, and over the course of those twenty years, a lot of methane gas is released from the degrading garbage. In the past, they had just put pipes in the fill to let the gas out into the air, but the air pollution resulting form this is awful. So in recent years, Waste Management has developed a system where they pump the methane out of the fills and into electric energy that is sold the surrounding homes and businesses. Basically, they have created a mini power plant at the landfill that helps stop air pollution while turning a profit for the company. Also, once the landfill is capped, they cover it in another set of plastic liners and topsoil, then replant grass. Many of Waste Management’s retired fills are now parks where animals live or golf courses which would have otherwise been built on natural habitats. The steps they have taken to preserve the environment and habitat are great, but not all landfills across the country do the same. If Waste management can do it, then everyone can do it, and we need to hold other landfill companies to these same standards.
The creatures that live in the world around us have just as much a right to this planet as we do, and we need to recognize that before it is too late. There are plenty of ways to change our destructive ways, and many are trying, just like Waste Management, to do so. Unfortunately those many are still not the majority. People need to realize what they are doing to their fellow inhabitants of earth and take stand to stop the disappearing act.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A Piece of History
Today it seems as if nothing remains the same for very long. We are always pushing forward, building new modernized buildings and tearing down the old, perhaps less desirable ones. Our world changes around us faster than we could ever expect, and in that rush of progress, we lose some important things along the way. By advancing our society so recklessly in an attempt to better ourselves, we lose a sense of history and hurt the environment that supports us. In life, it is very important to know where we’re are headed, what the future holds for us. Yet, even more important than our future is our history. Sometimes we forget where
we’ve come from, where we started our journey. We push forward often without taking a second to reflect on the past. The advancements we try to make in society are not always successful ones, and if we forget where we started from, how will we ever know how to get back to a better place when we screw up? The famous Spanish American philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The past holds endless power in the knowledge we can gain by remembering and learning from our mistakes. The past is wisdom. The quality of our lives can be greatly improved with a healthy knowledge of our past struggles and downfalls. We need to preserve any and all great reminders of our past, and the one such reminder is Washington and Jefferson College’s Old Main building.
we’ve come from, where we started our journey. We push forward often without taking a second to reflect on the past. The advancements we try to make in society are not always successful ones, and if we forget where we started from, how will we ever know how to get back to a better place when we screw up? The famous Spanish American philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The past holds endless power in the knowledge we can gain by remembering and learning from our mistakes. The past is wisdom. The quality of our lives can be greatly improved with a healthy knowledge of our past struggles and downfalls. We need to preserve any and all great reminders of our past, and the one such reminder is Washington and Jefferson College’s Old Main building. Old Main the embodies Washington and Jefferson College entirely. It is a grand; an architectural masterpiece not unlike the masterful education the college bestows on its pupils. With its solid stone foundation, it has stood strong throughout the years, its two magnificent towers, representing Sirs Washington and Jefferson's namesake colleges that combined to form our illustrious hub of academia, overlook the city of Washington gracefully. The building is the centerpiece of the college itself. Those two magnanimous towers gracing the college’s logo, remain to be the most recognizable symbols on campus. The best part about Old Main is that the community of the college embraces it. Every student that attends the college will take at least one class in Old Main before they graduate. The building bursts at the joints of each wall with the history of every Washington and Jefferson student that has been there before us.
The marble floor greets me as I enter, beautiful spiraled stairways on both sides of I, and I examine the bust of Thomas Jefferson on the second floor that was the actual model for the head of the Jefferson memorial in our nation’s capital.
Fortunately, it appears that the communtiy here at W&J understands the value of Old Main and truly appreciates the building. No plans of demolishing the building have been discussed or even brought up by the college. However, renovations have been mad to the building. Although the updates that were made were relatively low scale and helped to ensure the functionality of the building, the fact that we did in fact make renovations means that there are probably more to come in the not so distant future. The prospect of such renovations or even at some point in time the destruction of Old Main, which would greatly hurt our value of history, as well as our environment, scares me. Taking down Old Main would stand to be a difficult process. The building is located right in the middle of the campus and sits directly across the street from the cafeteria and alongside both the business office and fitness center. Demolishing a building of that size would certainly cover the said adjacent buildings with a film of dust as well as possibly damage them with debris. Also, the amount of dust released into the air would greatly affect air quality on campus. The fossil fuels burned off by the machines that would be used to destroy the building, as we
ll as those used to build the replacement buildings, would just add to the air pollution problem. Even renovations seem to be a bit troublesome. Working on a building as old as this is both costly and a bit dangerous because of the lower grade of structural standards that were held when it was built, and over time these renovations would change the look of the building and damage its historical value.
There appears to be no reason to change Old Main. Sure, the building is very old, but renovations can be made strictly for improving structural integrity of the building to increase safety, without damaging the historical value of the building. In addition, the college gets great use out of the building with the recent updates. Old Main houses numerous offices for professors and loads of Mathematics and English classes. Math and English require very little to no in class technology, so the building should be able to support such classes for years to come without any more updates or renovations. Even if a teacher decides they want to use computers for a specific activity for a class, there are always free rooms in the tech center, and there is even one computer lab in Old Main. Professors from those fields can easily get the job done on a regular basis with just a chalkboard and books. The buildin
g also serves as a home to the PAL program, a peer tutoring service for students. Old Main can serve today, and for a long time to come, as a fully functioning building, so why even think about undergoing major renovations or tearing it down.Progress benefits our society greatly, but just like anything else of life, even though it is good, it can become a problem if we have too much of it. We tend to move forward as a society with no regard for the past, and that mindset must change if we want to survive. We need to always keep our past experiences in the back of our mind to use them as a guide for what we do in the future. The best way to do that is to keep around great reminders of our rich history, such as the shining example of Old Main. These are the types of losses that we could not afford to take as a community.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Appreciating My Home
Throughout my life, I have lived in a relatively small community in western Pennsylvania, and as such I have always been accustomed to being in and around nature. There are acres upon acres of forest behind my house, and in this area, we see every kind of weather. We have some very hot summer days, rainy months in spring, the changing leaves and brisk wind of fall, and some harsh winters, some worse than others. What we don’t have is a whole lot going on, but I never really minded that. I love it here, though it might seem a bit boring to some people, and I never realized how much I love it here until I saw the other side of things, life in the big city.
I have lacked any variation in my living situation in lifetime. I have lived in a smallish, somewhat rural area for my entire life. Some might find it a bit boring, what with no crowded streets full of shops and markets and people buzzing about everywhere. My hometown is almost always quiet, and any kind of major event is somewhat rare. Being that nothing ever happens in my hometown, I was very excited when I decided to go on a week long filed trip to New York City with my high school journalism class. I wanted to experience the hustle and bustle in the big city, where there are different, interesting people everywhere, street vendors on every corner, and anything anyone could ever want available to purchase within walking distance. I wanted to see a Broadway show, tour the Statue of Liberty, walk down Wall Street, and experience all the fame and historical prowess of the greatest city on earth. Who wouldn’t be excited about such a wonderful opportunity? I finally got a chance to expand my perspective on what makes a good hometown.
I had very little experience with the city life before this trip. I have been to Pittsburgh countless times, but never for more than a day. Usually my trips there are to see a sporting event or spend a day at my cousins’ house just outside of the city. I had seen the city, but I never lived in the city, and the two are entirely different. Living in the big cities with pavement and buildings as far as the eye can see is entirely different from just seeing it. I was in New York for only a week, and in that time I toured the Statue of Liberty, perused the markets of Little Italy, Chinatown, and East Village, saw a hockey game at Madison Square Garden, strolled through Times Square, attended the musical Spamalot, visited the Coney Island Aquarium and Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, took three classes at Columbia University, stood atop the Rockefeller Building to see the whole city before me, and meandered through Central Park. I have never had more fun and excitement in a week of my life. Yet, there’s so much more to do in New York that we couldn’t get to. Just think of all the thrills to be had.
Living in the city is just as glamorous as it seems, but I have to admit that after one week of being right in the middle of all of it, I was utterly exhausted. I just can’t live like that. I have a definite limit to the exhilaration I can handle in a day. They say that the city never sleeps, and they aren’t kidding. It is a nonstop flow of noise and excitement, and quite frankly it seems as if no one ever takes a second to relax. I find it hard to make it through a day without a few minutes of relaxation. I need just a few brief moments to stop whatever I’m doing and take in the scenery. That’s what I was missing in New York, and it’s what comes so easy at home.
At my home, I can detect the scent of pine trees and blossoming flowers wafting from the forest behind my house. I can stand in my backyard and feel the blades of grass bending under my feet, hear the birds calling to one another, and snatch a wild onion from the soil to savor its sweetness later on. In the city, all I could smell was polluted air as I walked across the cold, hard pavement, trying to ignore the countless beeps and bangs and bellows of the people and machines around me. Granted, I was distracted from the lack of these things by all the action and anticipation of what was next on our full agenda, I still noticed quite easily the difference. Sure, the city may have countless people, shows, events, and opportunities, but I’d rather go without those things because what I want more is to be able to walk outside and see beauty in everything around me. I want to be able to slow down. Even after all those things, by far the biggest difference is that when I walk through the woods, I can’t help but get an unexplainable warm feeling inside me, knowing that everything around me is living. The grass I tread across, the trees that shade me from the sun, and the gorgeous ferns that line my path, are all very much alive. The people that pass me in the city, upon further examination, are cold, mechanical, ugly, simply trying to hurry on to wherever they’re going. The woods are beautiful, calm, content, me.
My home is nature, and I can’t get enough of it. It contains countless wonders, and sometimes one has to leave them to appreciate how much they really mean to them. Sure, I need some excitement in my life every now and then to keep me on my toes, but I only want it in small doses. I learned that well on my trip to New York, and should I ever feel that I’ve lost my sense of appreciation for the home I love, I’ll know exactly where to go to regain it.
I have lacked any variation in my living situation in lifetime. I have lived in a smallish, somewhat rural area for my entire life. Some might find it a bit boring, what with no crowded streets full of shops and markets and people buzzing about everywhere. My hometown is almost always quiet, and any kind of major event is somewhat rare. Being that nothing ever happens in my hometown, I was very excited when I decided to go on a week long filed trip to New York City with my high school journalism class. I wanted to experience the hustle and bustle in the big city, where there are different, interesting people everywhere, street vendors on every corner, and anything anyone could ever want available to purchase within walking distance. I wanted to see a Broadway show, tour the Statue of Liberty, walk down Wall Street, and experience all the fame and historical prowess of the greatest city on earth. Who wouldn’t be excited about such a wonderful opportunity? I finally got a chance to expand my perspective on what makes a good hometown.
I had very little experience with the city life before this trip. I have been to Pittsburgh countless times, but never for more than a day. Usually my trips there are to see a sporting event or spend a day at my cousins’ house just outside of the city. I had seen the city, but I never lived in the city, and the two are entirely different. Living in the big cities with pavement and buildings as far as the eye can see is entirely different from just seeing it. I was in New York for only a week, and in that time I toured the Statue of Liberty, perused the markets of Little Italy, Chinatown, and East Village, saw a hockey game at Madison Square Garden, strolled through Times Square, attended the musical Spamalot, visited the Coney Island Aquarium and Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, took three classes at Columbia University, stood atop the Rockefeller Building to see the whole city before me, and meandered through Central Park. I have never had more fun and excitement in a week of my life. Yet, there’s so much more to do in New York that we couldn’t get to. Just think of all the thrills to be had.
Living in the city is just as glamorous as it seems, but I have to admit that after one week of being right in the middle of all of it, I was utterly exhausted. I just can’t live like that. I have a definite limit to the exhilaration I can handle in a day. They say that the city never sleeps, and they aren’t kidding. It is a nonstop flow of noise and excitement, and quite frankly it seems as if no one ever takes a second to relax. I find it hard to make it through a day without a few minutes of relaxation. I need just a few brief moments to stop whatever I’m doing and take in the scenery. That’s what I was missing in New York, and it’s what comes so easy at home.
At my home, I can detect the scent of pine trees and blossoming flowers wafting from the forest behind my house. I can stand in my backyard and feel the blades of grass bending under my feet, hear the birds calling to one another, and snatch a wild onion from the soil to savor its sweetness later on. In the city, all I could smell was polluted air as I walked across the cold, hard pavement, trying to ignore the countless beeps and bangs and bellows of the people and machines around me. Granted, I was distracted from the lack of these things by all the action and anticipation of what was next on our full agenda, I still noticed quite easily the difference. Sure, the city may have countless people, shows, events, and opportunities, but I’d rather go without those things because what I want more is to be able to walk outside and see beauty in everything around me. I want to be able to slow down. Even after all those things, by far the biggest difference is that when I walk through the woods, I can’t help but get an unexplainable warm feeling inside me, knowing that everything around me is living. The grass I tread across, the trees that shade me from the sun, and the gorgeous ferns that line my path, are all very much alive. The people that pass me in the city, upon further examination, are cold, mechanical, ugly, simply trying to hurry on to wherever they’re going. The woods are beautiful, calm, content, me.
My home is nature, and I can’t get enough of it. It contains countless wonders, and sometimes one has to leave them to appreciate how much they really mean to them. Sure, I need some excitement in my life every now and then to keep me on my toes, but I only want it in small doses. I learned that well on my trip to New York, and should I ever feel that I’ve lost my sense of appreciation for the home I love, I’ll know exactly where to go to regain it.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
God and the Afterlife
When trying to think of a person and place that seem to be completely intertwined, one of the first things that came to mind was God and Heaven. These two holy entities are of major importance to the entire world of religious people. The relationship between God and Heaven is as dependent a relationship as you will find, because one simply cannot work without the other.
First off, the existence of both God and Heaven cannot really be proven in any respectable manner, so I guess if one doesn’t believe in them at all, most of this doesn't even matter. However, being that no one can be sure of God’s existence, I say why not believe in God? At least it gives one the hope that if he lives a good life he can reach paradise in the afterlife. I would not call myself an overly religious person, but I believe that there is a God and Heaven, mostly because I don't see any good reason not too. If there is no God or Heaven, then why bother living a decent life, what purpose is there for my life? The answer would be none, and I can't live like that. So, I choose to believe that there is a God and heaven, and I strive to be a better person for that reason. Now, to most people, the fact that I believe in God and Heaven would mean I am a Christian, because that religion is known for the traditional God and Heaven relationship. However, in the Islam there is the belief of one almighty god, Allah, and a paradise that Muslims go to in afterlife with him, called jannah, so my argument here could apply to Islam just as easily. I, along with all Christians and Muslims, hold the belief that there is one almighty God and that if a person believes in God and is obedient to Him, they will go to heaven with Him when they die. Therefore, the idea of God pretty much embodies the idea of heaven with it. The two ideas are clearly intertwined.
The dependence of the two upon one another is clearly evidenced by the fact that there is no major religion or faith that has one without the other. Christianity has God and heaven and Islam has Allah and jannah. Followers of Judaism believe in god, but their views on the afterlife are a bit more complicated. They believe that when the physical body dies the soul lives on and does one of three things. Either it goes straight to Gan Eden, which is like paradise, or it goes to Gehinom, which is like purgatory. Then, in Gehinom the soul is cleansed for up to twelve months before makng it to Gan Eden, or if the soul is truly wicked it is destroyed entirely. Although it isn't exactly like heaven, there is a paradise to be reached eventually. In Buddhism, there is no belief of an almighty being at all or a place that Buddhists go to after they achieve nirvana. Buddhists believe that after they die they are reborn into another life that, depending on how they lived their previous life, will be of higher or lower quality. They can be reborn as an animal, a lowly ghost, a human, or, when one reaches enlightenment, a Buddha, which is the highest level where they are either some type of deity or a spirit. However, it is not told where they live and there is no mention of a place of paradise. In Hinduism, they don’t believe in one god but rather many gods, and they, like the Buddhists, believe in reincarnation on the earth rather than a paradise in the afterlife. No one almighty god means no heaven.
All of this makes perfect sense when analyzed logically, because God simply cannot exist without heaven. If one believes in God, then they need a motivation to obey Him. The answer to that is simple. It’s heaven. People wouldn’t bother to obey God if they weren’t going to be rewarded in some way for their service, so he gives them the promise of an afterlife in paradise as opposed to an eternity in hell. In Islam, much like in Christianity, there are sins that can condemn a person to hell, but should one avoid these acts and live in the way of Allah, they will go to jannah when they die. God would not be believed in without his reward of heaven. Otherwise God would have no purpose. He would provide a reason for why things happen, but none of it matters without some consequences to those events and actions.
On the flip side, heaven could not exist without God. No one would believe in a blissful afterlife awaiting us unless there was some set of rules to govern who gets in. Everybody can’t go there for their afterlife, because that just isn’t fair. Otherwise people would do whatever they want and the world would be enveloped with chaos. It wouldn’t make sense, and that’s where God comes in. His almighty judgment is the deciding factor that controls the gates of Heaven. Heaven seems entirely implausible without God to decide who is allowed to go there after death.
The relationship between God and heaven is absolutely dependent. If you believe in one almighty being, you must also believe in an afterlife in paradise, because there wouldn’t be a reason to believe in God otherwise, and vice versa. The two are undeniably intertwined.
First off, the existence of both God and Heaven cannot really be proven in any respectable manner, so I guess if one doesn’t believe in them at all, most of this doesn't even matter. However, being that no one can be sure of God’s existence, I say why not believe in God? At least it gives one the hope that if he lives a good life he can reach paradise in the afterlife. I would not call myself an overly religious person, but I believe that there is a God and Heaven, mostly because I don't see any good reason not too. If there is no God or Heaven, then why bother living a decent life, what purpose is there for my life? The answer would be none, and I can't live like that. So, I choose to believe that there is a God and heaven, and I strive to be a better person for that reason. Now, to most people, the fact that I believe in God and Heaven would mean I am a Christian, because that religion is known for the traditional God and Heaven relationship. However, in the Islam there is the belief of one almighty god, Allah, and a paradise that Muslims go to in afterlife with him, called jannah, so my argument here could apply to Islam just as easily. I, along with all Christians and Muslims, hold the belief that there is one almighty God and that if a person believes in God and is obedient to Him, they will go to heaven with Him when they die. Therefore, the idea of God pretty much embodies the idea of heaven with it. The two ideas are clearly intertwined.
The dependence of the two upon one another is clearly evidenced by the fact that there is no major religion or faith that has one without the other. Christianity has God and heaven and Islam has Allah and jannah. Followers of Judaism believe in god, but their views on the afterlife are a bit more complicated. They believe that when the physical body dies the soul lives on and does one of three things. Either it goes straight to Gan Eden, which is like paradise, or it goes to Gehinom, which is like purgatory. Then, in Gehinom the soul is cleansed for up to twelve months before makng it to Gan Eden, or if the soul is truly wicked it is destroyed entirely. Although it isn't exactly like heaven, there is a paradise to be reached eventually. In Buddhism, there is no belief of an almighty being at all or a place that Buddhists go to after they achieve nirvana. Buddhists believe that after they die they are reborn into another life that, depending on how they lived their previous life, will be of higher or lower quality. They can be reborn as an animal, a lowly ghost, a human, or, when one reaches enlightenment, a Buddha, which is the highest level where they are either some type of deity or a spirit. However, it is not told where they live and there is no mention of a place of paradise. In Hinduism, they don’t believe in one god but rather many gods, and they, like the Buddhists, believe in reincarnation on the earth rather than a paradise in the afterlife. No one almighty god means no heaven.
All of this makes perfect sense when analyzed logically, because God simply cannot exist without heaven. If one believes in God, then they need a motivation to obey Him. The answer to that is simple. It’s heaven. People wouldn’t bother to obey God if they weren’t going to be rewarded in some way for their service, so he gives them the promise of an afterlife in paradise as opposed to an eternity in hell. In Islam, much like in Christianity, there are sins that can condemn a person to hell, but should one avoid these acts and live in the way of Allah, they will go to jannah when they die. God would not be believed in without his reward of heaven. Otherwise God would have no purpose. He would provide a reason for why things happen, but none of it matters without some consequences to those events and actions.
On the flip side, heaven could not exist without God. No one would believe in a blissful afterlife awaiting us unless there was some set of rules to govern who gets in. Everybody can’t go there for their afterlife, because that just isn’t fair. Otherwise people would do whatever they want and the world would be enveloped with chaos. It wouldn’t make sense, and that’s where God comes in. His almighty judgment is the deciding factor that controls the gates of Heaven. Heaven seems entirely implausible without God to decide who is allowed to go there after death.
The relationship between God and heaven is absolutely dependent. If you believe in one almighty being, you must also believe in an afterlife in paradise, because there wouldn’t be a reason to believe in God otherwise, and vice versa. The two are undeniably intertwined.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
To Explain Sustain
The term “sustainability” might seem a bit long and intimidating for some people, but its meaning in itself is not all that complicated. Of course it has some connotational and ideological baggage to carry around, that may be lost or mixed up when checked, but it can all be sorted out with some patience and diligence. By simply looking it up in a dictionary, one would find that to sustain simply means to support, hold up, and/or provide for. Sustainability then refers to one thing’s ability to sustain another thing, but the problem with sustainability is that in its modern definition it is an impossible goal.
The word sustain originates from the period between 1250 and 1300 A.D. from the Archaic French word “sustenir” and the Latin word “sustinēre”, both of which mean to uphold or endure. This is still, more or less, the accepted basic definition of the word. However, in the midst of our environmental crisis the word sustainable has come to hold a much larger, grimmer meaning. In the light of our issues with fossil fuels, renewable resources and greenhouse gases, the term sustainability has arrived at its modern definition, which is a way of living that will preserve the ability of our future generations to live like we do. It is the sustaining, or upholding or enduring, of Earth and our environment in its present, fruitful state. It refers to our human society’s ability to sustain a safe way of living that will preserve the earth.
Although the environmental crisis at hand is certainly important, the word sustainability should not lose its identity to the cause. The word itself still means simply to uphold, endure, support, or provide for. When used in correlation to the environmental crisis, rather than saying just sustainability, we need to be more precise and rather specifically say environmental sustainability. Sure, it’s much longer, but it needs to be done to achieve the necessary clarity. Many times it is simple laziness that corrupts the true meaning of words. On the EPA’s website, this is how they describe sustainability: “The traditional definition of sustainability calls for polices and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It should be obvious to anyone that that is in no way a “traditional” definition for sustainability. That is indeed a definition of environmental sustainability.
Unfortunately, the continued ambiguous association of the word with the environmental crisis has even given it a bad rap. Due of its close relation to the ideas of environmental damage and some other reasons I haven’t discussed yet, the concept has a rather ominous aura about it. However, one must realize that it should be exactly the opposite. Environmental sustainability is a solution, a positive stance on the environmental crisis. It is a way of living that ensures the safety of our beautiful planet, with its fully functioning, all nurturing ecosystems and natural resources. Here’s the catch. In order to completely sustain our earth in its pristine state, humans would have to live with the bare necessities our earth provides us. We would have to take only what we need and nothing more; there is no place for want and greed.
Herein lies the problem, because humans suck, and no matter what we do we will never be able to prevent people from behaving in such greedy, wasteful manners, no matter how big or small, that will eventually lead to the destruction of our environment. This simple fact is what leads to the impossible nature of perfect sustainability and in turn the negative feelings associated with it that I mentioned earlier. However, the realization that it is an ultimately unachievable goal is no reason to be so negative about it. It remains the only way to preserve our earth for as long as we can, so we need to make it a positive idea that people will support.
Fortunately, the effort to make people more aware of environmental sustainability and its benefits is being made daily by American government agencies like the EPA and other environmental groups. They actively work to educate people about the idea of environmental sustainability and work with scientists towards more efficient ways to use earth’s resources. According to the EPA, “The 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) formally established as a national goal the creation and maintenance of conditions under which humans and nature ‘can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans’.”So the EPA has been working for 30 years now to spread the message of environmental sustainability to the American people in order to help us live less wastefully and help to preserve our environment.
The term sustainability has been turned into more than one concept by its close relationship with the global environmental crisis. It has become two different concepts, sustainability and environmental sustainability, which each require their own definition. Quite simply, sustainability is, and always has been, the ability of something to sustain, or uphold, endure, or support, something else. On the other hand, environmental sustainability is a strategy, policy, or way of living that is meant to preserve our ability to meet our needs, as well as future generation’s abilities to meet their needs through planet earth. It is a solution for our environmental crisis that, while ultimately imperfect, presents our best chance to preserve our earth for as long as we possibly can. As such it should carry a positive connotation, rather than the dismal undertone it carries now. Of course people associate it with environmental destruction and the end of world, but it is a way of preventing those things, or at least delaying them for a very, very long time. Environmental sustainability is our key to life.
The word sustain originates from the period between 1250 and 1300 A.D. from the Archaic French word “sustenir” and the Latin word “sustinēre”, both of which mean to uphold or endure. This is still, more or less, the accepted basic definition of the word. However, in the midst of our environmental crisis the word sustainable has come to hold a much larger, grimmer meaning. In the light of our issues with fossil fuels, renewable resources and greenhouse gases, the term sustainability has arrived at its modern definition, which is a way of living that will preserve the ability of our future generations to live like we do. It is the sustaining, or upholding or enduring, of Earth and our environment in its present, fruitful state. It refers to our human society’s ability to sustain a safe way of living that will preserve the earth.
Although the environmental crisis at hand is certainly important, the word sustainability should not lose its identity to the cause. The word itself still means simply to uphold, endure, support, or provide for. When used in correlation to the environmental crisis, rather than saying just sustainability, we need to be more precise and rather specifically say environmental sustainability. Sure, it’s much longer, but it needs to be done to achieve the necessary clarity. Many times it is simple laziness that corrupts the true meaning of words. On the EPA’s website, this is how they describe sustainability: “The traditional definition of sustainability calls for polices and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It should be obvious to anyone that that is in no way a “traditional” definition for sustainability. That is indeed a definition of environmental sustainability.
Unfortunately, the continued ambiguous association of the word with the environmental crisis has even given it a bad rap. Due of its close relation to the ideas of environmental damage and some other reasons I haven’t discussed yet, the concept has a rather ominous aura about it. However, one must realize that it should be exactly the opposite. Environmental sustainability is a solution, a positive stance on the environmental crisis. It is a way of living that ensures the safety of our beautiful planet, with its fully functioning, all nurturing ecosystems and natural resources. Here’s the catch. In order to completely sustain our earth in its pristine state, humans would have to live with the bare necessities our earth provides us. We would have to take only what we need and nothing more; there is no place for want and greed.
Herein lies the problem, because humans suck, and no matter what we do we will never be able to prevent people from behaving in such greedy, wasteful manners, no matter how big or small, that will eventually lead to the destruction of our environment. This simple fact is what leads to the impossible nature of perfect sustainability and in turn the negative feelings associated with it that I mentioned earlier. However, the realization that it is an ultimately unachievable goal is no reason to be so negative about it. It remains the only way to preserve our earth for as long as we can, so we need to make it a positive idea that people will support.
Fortunately, the effort to make people more aware of environmental sustainability and its benefits is being made daily by American government agencies like the EPA and other environmental groups. They actively work to educate people about the idea of environmental sustainability and work with scientists towards more efficient ways to use earth’s resources. According to the EPA, “The 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) formally established as a national goal the creation and maintenance of conditions under which humans and nature ‘can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans’.”So the EPA has been working for 30 years now to spread the message of environmental sustainability to the American people in order to help us live less wastefully and help to preserve our environment.
The term sustainability has been turned into more than one concept by its close relationship with the global environmental crisis. It has become two different concepts, sustainability and environmental sustainability, which each require their own definition. Quite simply, sustainability is, and always has been, the ability of something to sustain, or uphold, endure, or support, something else. On the other hand, environmental sustainability is a strategy, policy, or way of living that is meant to preserve our ability to meet our needs, as well as future generation’s abilities to meet their needs through planet earth. It is a solution for our environmental crisis that, while ultimately imperfect, presents our best chance to preserve our earth for as long as we possibly can. As such it should carry a positive connotation, rather than the dismal undertone it carries now. Of course people associate it with environmental destruction and the end of world, but it is a way of preventing those things, or at least delaying them for a very, very long time. Environmental sustainability is our key to life.
O Beautiful for Spacious Skies…
America is beautiful, from the widespread, grassy plains of the Midwest, to the thick woodlands of the Northeast, and the vast canyons of the Southwest. There is so much natural wonder in our lands, yet most people don’t know that in our current times we are struggling to take care of it. Luckily, there are thousands of environmental groups across the nation helping to raise awareness about our environment. One of them is a locally based group, the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. This group works to help ensure the protection of healthy, natural water sources across the state, as well as nurse polluted waterways back to health.
The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds (FPW) is a grant-making foundation that invests in environmental projects conducted by small and large environmental groups across the commonwealth. They currently service all projects from the Ohio border to the Susquehanna River in Eastern Pennsylvania. Essentially, they are given proposals for environmental projects by numerous organizations and then select a number of them to provide funding for. The organization has granted upwards of five million dollars directly to projects and leveraged another eighty million dollars indirectly for over 150 environmental groups working on nature conservation and pollution control projects all over Pennsylvania.
The task of keeping Pennsylvania’s watershed safe is certainly no walk in the park, considering Pennsylvania has the most miles of rivers and streams of any of the forty eight contiguous states. These environmental groups have to fight against pollution from numerous sources, including runoffs from numerous factories, refineries, waste treatment plants that produce fluids with varying levels of risk directly into natural water sources. In the United States as well as most other developed countries, these practices are regulated by the government; however, this doesn't entirely prevent pollutants from making their way into these waters. Other indirect sources of water pollution include toxins that penetrate the water supply from soil and groundwater systems that hold the remains of agriculturally used chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, as well as improperly disposed of industrial waste. Contaminants from the atmosphere, such as carbon emissions from vehicles, factories and even bakeries, all of which are created by human practices, enter the water sources by way of rain water.
With all these dangers that are presented to the health of the water sources in our state, we need more organizations like the FPW to step up and take action to care for our environment. No matter how big or small the effort, everyone can make a difference and help to protect the earth as we know it.
The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds (FPW) is a grant-making foundation that invests in environmental projects conducted by small and large environmental groups across the commonwealth. They currently service all projects from the Ohio border to the Susquehanna River in Eastern Pennsylvania. Essentially, they are given proposals for environmental projects by numerous organizations and then select a number of them to provide funding for. The organization has granted upwards of five million dollars directly to projects and leveraged another eighty million dollars indirectly for over 150 environmental groups working on nature conservation and pollution control projects all over Pennsylvania.
The task of keeping Pennsylvania’s watershed safe is certainly no walk in the park, considering Pennsylvania has the most miles of rivers and streams of any of the forty eight contiguous states. These environmental groups have to fight against pollution from numerous sources, including runoffs from numerous factories, refineries, waste treatment plants that produce fluids with varying levels of risk directly into natural water sources. In the United States as well as most other developed countries, these practices are regulated by the government; however, this doesn't entirely prevent pollutants from making their way into these waters. Other indirect sources of water pollution include toxins that penetrate the water supply from soil and groundwater systems that hold the remains of agriculturally used chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, as well as improperly disposed of industrial waste. Contaminants from the atmosphere, such as carbon emissions from vehicles, factories and even bakeries, all of which are created by human practices, enter the water sources by way of rain water.
With all these dangers that are presented to the health of the water sources in our state, we need more organizations like the FPW to step up and take action to care for our environment. No matter how big or small the effort, everyone can make a difference and help to protect the earth as we know it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
