Sustainability

On Tuesday 2nd July 2009 Jo and Clement from Waikato University, in association with S.I.F.E (Students In Free Enterprise), Came in to our class and did a presentation about Sustainibility, being eco friendly and worm farming. They mebtioned some common sense things such as the three R's. Reuse, Recycle, reduce. They told us that we only have 1/32 of the earths surface area to grow all the food the world consumes. at the end they talked about worm farming, And how it reduces your rubbish, (half of it in my case). you can also sell the worm juice and keep some for yourself because it works as a brilliant fertiliser. one important thing they talked to us about is the amount of rubbish we produce, and how it is bad that we throw recycable materials away like paper in tin cans, into a hole in the ground which then gets covered over. In New Zealand, there are only 60 open landfills, and 1000 closed landfills.

Supply► and Demand ♦

In Economics, Services supply the demands of the Consumer. When the consumers demand for a good meets the price of the suppliers product( as seen in the graph on your left), it creates an intersection, better known as a equilibrium point. The equilibrium point isn't created by the manufacturer or the consumer, but by the forces of the market. If the demand for a product is higher than the supply, the price of the product is likely to increase. If the supply is higher than the demand of a certain product, the price decreases and if the demand is really low, the product may become obsolete. When it becomes obsolete, the quantity will be really low. The price and quantity of a product is determined by their relationship with each other.

Eco House

When designing a house there are 5 important things - Floor, Roof, Wall, Door, and Windows.
The Wall is simple. I will use Adobe bricks. If you look at my previous post titled "My Job"
You will see that my profession revolves around clay, which can be used to make adobe bricks. to make adobe bricks, see this link here. For the floor, I will use wood. I know this will eat away at our trees, but i will use bamboo floors. The roof will be made of Adobe as well, but not brick. it will just be smooth and flat. The doors will be entirely made out of wood. For the handle and hinges we will import iron from Mr. Devoy's island, and hire especially trained peoples to fit them. And finally, for the windows I will use double glazed Glass that slides up into the adobe brick wall, with two adjustable things halfway up the window that can stop the window from sliding back down.

for blankets and rugs etc. you could use the wool from sheep. ( i decided to bring breeding sheep with me to the island as one of my six things

My Job

Everyone on our island has to have a proffession in which they can get deeply stuck in to, and is ideal to have a job/profession that helps the island be an eco friendly and sustainable environment to live in.
I have chosen to be a... i don't what its called. Somebody who mines clay, moulds clay, sellls moulded clay, and one large area which is really great for eco housing: adobe bricks. they are an excellent natural building resource which is made from easy to get materials. they are soil, sand, clay (ideally the soil is mixed with the clay [i think]). And to fire the clay so it stays in its solid state permanently, I can make a kiln using adobe bricks and straw. This way we don't have to cut down half the trees in our forest for building materials. Of course, we just might run out of clay after a lot of time. It can be found in the ground, usually about 60cm> under the ground.

6 Goods

This is a list of six things we are allowed to take to the Matai islands ( which aren't real). These things were decided based on needs of survival, and how to set up and sustain an environment suitable to live in, keeping in mind that there are 30 other people bringing their own 6 items.

1. Breeding pair of cows, prefferably those that naturally produce A2 milk.
2. A large working wooden cart/wagon capable of being pulled along baring full load by a 11-12 year old.
3. Plenty of seeds to grow different types of vegetables
4. A large Toolkit with everything from hammers and nails to shovels and saws
5. medication
6. Breeding pair of Sheep

What is sustainability?

Well. according to wikipedia...

Although the definition of sustainable development (above), given by the Brundtland Commission, is frequently quoted,^[8] it is not universally accepted and has undergone various interpretations.^[9][10] Definitions of sustainability may be expressed as statements of fact, intent, or value with sustainability treated as either a "journey" or "destination."^[11] Where we are now, where we need to be going, and how we are to get there are all open to interpretation^[12] and will depend on the particular context under consideration.^[13]

This difficult mix has been described as a dialogue of values that defies consensual definition.^[14] Sustainability has been regarded as both an important but unfocused concept like "liberty" or "justice"^[15][16] and as a feel-good buzzword with little meaning or substance.^[17][18][19] The idea of sustainable development is sometimes viewed as an oxymoron because development inevitably depletes and degrades the environment.^[20] Consequently some definitions either avoid the word developmentand use the term sustainability exclusively, or emphasise the environmental component, as in "environmentally sustainable development."^[21]

Another representation showing economy and society bounded by the environment.^[22]

The dimensions of sustainability are often taken to be: environmental, social and economic, known as the "three pillars"^[23] These can be depicted as three overlapping circles (or ellipses), to show that they are not mutually exclusive and can be mutually reinforcing.^[24]

While this model initially improved the standing of environmental concerns,^[25] it has since been criticised for not adequately showing that societies and economies are fundamentally reliant on the natural world. According to English environmentalist and author Jonathon Porritt, "The economy is, in the first instance, a subsystem of human society ... which is itself, in the second instance, a subsystem of the totality of life on Earth (the biosphere). And no subsystem can expand beyond the capacity of the total system of which it is a part."^[26]

For this reason a second diagram shows economy as a component of society, both bounded by, and dependent upon, the environment. As the American ecological economist Herman Daly famously asked, "what use is a sawmill without a forest?"^[27]

The concept of living within environmental constraints underpins the IUCN, UNEP and WWF definition of sustainability: "improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems."^[28]

The Earth Charter goes beyond defining what sustainability is, and seeks to establish the values and direction needed to achieve it: "We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations."^[29]

The next section traces the evolution of thinking about sustainability in human history.