How Can I Tell What Is Sustainable

Sustainability can present itself in many shapes and forms. The characteristics or sustainability are quite vast however they all can be categorized and all have one major goal present at the end. Sustainability consists of many separate parts and subparts which all must work together in order to fulfill sustainable development. It must address the needs of the environment, social, and economic aspects. These aspects must have an equilibrium present with the negative feedback loops that sustainability presents. One example of this is how the cod stocks on the east coast have been over fished which has lead to the sustainability of these stocks to no longer exist. The threshold has been surpassed and a tipping point has occurred. The overfishing of these areas without allowing the proper time for recovery to occur has caused the collapse of this fishing industry. This example would not fit into my view as being sustainable.

Sustainability is a complex system. Sustainability is being challenged every day by humans and society. The fact of sustainability seems to be quite an unreachable feat due to the many factors that can halt it in its tracks. Mainly the overdeveloped countries seem to have unsustainable attributes attached to them. The increase in pollution, the unsustainable use of resources as well as the closed minded attitude regarding climate change can lead to a further unsustainable situation.

Sustainability to me involves a much simpler system. After reading the introductory chapter in the geography of hope, I was introduced to Samso, a tiny island nestled in the most populous regions of Denmark. This smaller and less evolved community reflected on the simpler things in life such as selling fruit, growing potatoes and of course drinking beer. This island was nestled away from outside influences and evolved and created its own destiny, which was becoming a revolutionary renewable energy dependent community. However, I am kind of contradicting myself. The island did boast a largely fossil fuel dependency initially, but they had the will and determination to make the change and make the island no longer dependent on fossil fuels. This happened in the short time span of 10 years and the island cut down its CO2 emissions substantially (140% drop). Typically, I thought sustainability would greatly affect the area and make living more difficult. However, Chris Turner explained it best by saying that the island still functioned just as well as it did before. Cattle still roamed in the fields, boats still bobbed on the waters. All the functional aspects were the same as they were before. If anything, sustainability created more opportunity by putting Samso in the limelight and showing the world of what determination and willpower can accomplish. Samso is a prime example that sustainability can occur and can be successful. It truly opened up my eyes to the concept of what is sustainable and how more overdeveloped and “money hungry” countries should step back and take a look at how a much more simpler and straight forward approach can tackle a major problem in which we face today. Samso cannot take all the credit for their accomplishments. The entire Danish government should be saluted in order for seeing a problem and taking the initiative to solve it. Just reading about how they invited all the dozens of islands to take part in this process and also provide some funding for the process is unbelievable. I have a hard time seeing this occur in the western world in which we live in. I feel though that this method proved to be successful and that other countries should look at this as an opportunity to do the same.