The concept of “sustainability” is a vital part of our society. Herndl compares sustainability to the concept of freedom “As you might expect, it is not easy to define a concept that has so many applications. It is equally difficult to define “freedom” in a way that makes everyone happy and captures all the fine distinctions of the concept” (Herndl xxii). The way I see it, is that sustainability is how we maintain our world and the conditions that we have under what we all exist in harmony.
Chemicals have harmed everyone tremendously over the years. During 2007-2010 there was a huge epidemic of toys that were created with very toxic chemicals. Sometimes we don’t realized or care enough about the amount of damage we to the environment until it hurts the people we value the most for example family and friends. If we had sustainability in our society before this epidemic than we wouldn’t have had these problems with the process of creating safe toys for children. Many lives have been lost or changed
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Their main concern at the time was creating a toy that would entertain children that didn’t have any choking hazards because choking still remains a leading cause of toy-related injuries. But they were blind to the real predicament. The author’s state “There are two major reasons why toys contain toxic chemicals: lack of regulation and violation of existing regulations”. (Becker, Edwards and Massey 7986) Children were exposed to harmful chemicals such as Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Phthalates which is used for surface painting, Brominated flame retardants, Azo dyes (certain dyes) and Bisphenol A (BPA) are only a few of toxic chemicals that were found in toys. The authors described “Young children’s frequent hand to mouth activity creates a pathway for toxic chemicals in toys and other products to enter the body.” (Becker, Edwards and Massey
Sandra Steingraber’s father was a war veteran who fought in world war 2. She mentions that he was saved from war by his excellent typing skills because he was much better in the office, so he did not have to go into the frontlines. World war 2 is mentioned frequently with statistics and references about synthetic production from then as compared to today. The production of synthetic organic chemicals has skyrocketed since the 1960’s, as well as the use of them. These chemicals are extremely unhealthy which cause unwanted health problems and cancers. Many of the synthetic chemicals created were used in wars such as WW2 and the Vietnam War. A huge problem that has been occurring is the enormous contamination we release into the water, land, and
Many people with the term sustainability and have the misconception that environmentalism and sustainability portray the same idea. Although the tree metaphor is an example of nature, the government works in a similar way in terms of economy and society, as it does with the environment. All three pillars of sustainability are the foundations to a successful nation. Likewise, the three roots of the tree must balance to continue to preserve and grow. Overall, sustainability is a crucial concept as it governs all the things we need for our survival and nourishing values. It is how we use our already scarce resources to balance the economy, environment, and society effectively and thrive in the growing
... in the toy industry is to make toy safety the number one priority and to fulfill the customers’ needs.
When creating a working definition of a sustainable global environment there is a short definition and a long definition. The short of definition of a sustainable global environment is an environment in which all living things can co-exist together while having their essential needs to sustain life met. This definition, while ideal, is probably not realistic due to the fact that humans in many cases are not simply satisfied with living with only the essential needs that sustain life. That leads to the more realistic but complex definition of a sustainable global environment. This definition focuses on sustainability, stewardship, science, political policy and globalization. Sustainability focuses on not depleting needed resources. Stewardship is the moral framework in which our public and private actions are made. The science aspect of a sustainable global environment is the information that decisions, including mandated policy, are made on. The final aspect is globalization, which refers to the interconnectedness humans and the environment share with each other on a global level. Regardless of the definition that is used, the goal is the same, sustaining a high quality of life for all creatures while not exhausting the needed resources to do so.
Sustainability is when something can be used and not be depleted, destroyed, or damaged past recovery. As we work to live sustainably, we are in effect making use of our resources in a fashion that doesn't eliminate them, and doesn't harm their source. Our resources come from the environment around us and we need to make sure that it is not harmed as we use it. According to the EPA, sustainability stems from a single principle that "Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment” (Sustainability Information). Considering this, it's obvious why we need to make sure we live sustainably and do not damage the source of our resources, our environment.
Plastic pollution negatively affects America’s future. The origin of this environmental pollution is caused by the excessive lack of ethics that human beings have. Many times, people throw garbage on the streets, seas, etc. Not knowing that this will be severely altered the environment, and planet earth conditions. Environmental pollution is found in many places such as plastic products, cleaning products, food, animals, personal care products, and the most dangerous in the environment where the oxygen we breathe and share with other living beings (Eriksen 2013).
Sustainability is a concept with a diverse array of meanings and definitions – a widely used glamorous, ambiguous, ambivalent and vague concept that is used by different stakeholder groups in various ways. Presumably to avoid noodling over a terminology or to avoid the confrontation with a definition, most widely the concept is broken down a planning process (c.f. e.g. Döring & Muraca, 2010). That is why most common sustainability is understood as sustainable development.1
“Sustainable Development: At its heart, sustainable development is the simple idea of ensuring a good quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It is about living within the carrying capacity of the environment so that how we live, work and enjoy leisure activities, which do not harm or put undue pressures on the environment. It is about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to have a decent education, a quality environment that they take pride in, good health and a decent job (n.p, 2014)”
Before I go ahead in explaining my opinion, I would want to define about sustainability. What is sustainability? Sustainability is conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. Based on the definition I have just given, I honestly feel I am living an unsustainable life. The reason why I feel I am living unsustainably is because I take the presence of natural resources for granted. Before joining the Environmental Science class, I have never pondered upon the importance of natural resources and also the risk of not having any of those resources in future.
The protection of the environment however has just recently become the major issue that it is in today’s society. People worldwide have slowly begun to realize and become aware of the blatant destruction and deterioration of the environment and ozone. As well as the consequences and side affects, that we, as a society have created. The majority of people are just becoming aware of the frightening reality of the situation. As society becomes more informed on the issue of the environment, they too become more impatient, and feel that in the snap of fingers, the damage can be reversed and future damage can be stopped instantaneously.
Wattigney, Wendy A., Wendy E. Kaye, and Maureen F. Orr. "Acute Hazardous Substance Releases Resulting in Adverse Health Consequences in Children: Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance System, 1996-2003." Journal of Environmental Health 70.4 (2007): 17-24. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 May 2011.
Sustainable development refers to not only meet the needs of contemporary people, but also not compromising the ability of future generations to meet development needs.Sustainable development and environmental protection have established contact, not the same. Environmental protection is an important aspect of sustainable development. The core of sustainable development is development, but requires strict control of the population, improve population quality and protect the environment for the conduct of economic and social development under the premise of sustainable use of resources.
Our generation wants to be known as sustainable or the ones who care about the environment and are taking measures to protect it, however many of us do not even know what sustainability means. According to Donald Scherer, sustainability is the act of making sure that what is working for us now in order to meet our needs, should hold true for the future generations as well. We should make sure that resources are renewable and come up with substitutions if they are not. On the other hand, we have Dale Jamieson who focuses on climate change. Jamieson feels that with the help of science we can work towards decreasing the rate at which climate change is occurring in order to protect our environment (Jamieson, 372). He would say that sustainability
Efforts to improve the standard of living for humans--through the control of nature and the development of new products--have also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.
Most of the toys are completely safe since they have been carefully designed by experts. As we have mentioned earlier also, they are not easy to break hence your child will not be exposed to any sharp edges or small pieces.