Sustainable Development (Essay Sample)

Damage to the Environment is an Inevitable Consequence of Worldwide Improvements in the Standard of Living: Discuss
Name
Institution
Achieving Sustainable Development in the Age of Intensive Resource Use
For centuries, human beings have exploited the natural environment for survival. In their earliest existence, leading a primitive life in the jungles and forests as hunter-gatherers, they took from the environment meager quantities of food only enough for their day-to-day survival (Waters, 2013, p. 3). Today, unlike during the Stone Age, not only has man’s needs increased a thousand fold, but he has also developed sophisticated technologies for mass extraction of resources from the environment. In addition, in the pursuit of happiness in the model of the American Dream, human beings have embraced “energy-intensive lifestyles” such as living in gated suburban neighborhoods, driving to work, high food consumption, and using technology to make life easier (Waters, 2013, p. 3). It’s against this backdrop that it has been suggested that environmental damage is an inevitable consequence of global improvements in people’s living standards.
Yet, the realities of environmental pollution such as resource scarcity, global warming, melting of ice caps and rising sea levels are avoidable if human beings can adopt sustainable resource use strategies (Vlek & Steg, 2007, p. 4). Through the use of modern technology, for example, it is possible to reduce the world’s overdependence on fossil fuels by developing alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energy. Additionally, investing in technologies that utilize renewable energy such as hybrid cars and electric trains will greatly reduce the amount of carbon gas emissions (Najam, Runnalls & Halle, 2007, p. 14). In the real estate industry, it is possible to minimize land and energy use through re-urbanization. This will involve reversing the rate of suburban sprawl by encouraging people to live in high-rise apartments where they can share facilities like playgrounds, sewerage systems, water, and electricity sources. With respect to addressing traffic and human congestion in the cities, employers should encourage teleworking whereby people will work remotely from their homes (Najam, Runnalls & Halle, 2007, p. 14). This will reduce the level of fuel consumption and eliminate the need to build more roads and construct skyscrapers for office space, and in doing so conserve land and forest resources. Therefore, human beings can enjoy high quality life without causing irreversible environmental damage. T...