Too Many People/ anna cait

To me, sustainability means endurance. It means that as a human race, we are living in a fashion that can continue to support us indefinitely. In order to do this, we must embody an environmental stewardship worldview by using only what we need and allowing other species to use this earth as their home as well.

Today, there are several things that pose a threat to our living sustainable, one of which is population growth. 1.6 million babies per week a

re born. In just about 40 years, the

world population is expected to grow from 6.7 to 9.3 billion people. Mos

t of this growth is sourced from China and India, developing countries growing on a large scale. The problem stems from both the sheer volume of people from developing countries that demands huge amounts of resources, but also from affluency in developed countries. Citizens of the United States fro example, like things, and lots of them. When each family has a large house, a few cars, and tons of stuff to fill them with, a lot of resources are used and a lot of waste is produced.

With many technological and medical advancements, we as humans are able to combat natural checks on population growth. Limits that used be in place, such as certain diseases, or even a certain climate that used to be too hot to live in, are now combated

with vaccines and air conditioning. Many are worried about a solution to this problem, as most people feel it is an invasion of their privacy for their reproduction to be regulated. Acknowledging that at this moment one out of five people do not have their basic needs met, and we have another 2.6 billion on the way, it is obvious that we have a big problem.

Picture #1 This picture is from The Story of Stuff. It displays the crisis we

are in in America. The president recommended that citizens shop to help the economy. By saying that we need more and more stuff in order to have a strong nation, people receive a distorted message about priorities from their leader.

Picture #2 This diagram depicts a modern landfill in developed countries. It represents progress and how new technolo

gies are helping to keep our earth clean. The leachate collection system is designed very carefully to ensure nothing leaks into the groundwater supply or soil and contaminates it.

Picture #3 The recycle sign looks simple. However, it represents that many people believe that by simply recycling they are "being green". In reality, recycling should be a no brainer and perhaps required by the government. It is important to remember that recycling is the last resort. The principles of reduce and reuse should be applied first.

That's all for now folks :)