What do I think are the main threats to securing sustainability for the future?

I have really struggled with this blog to find out what main threats there are. It is really hard because sustainable issues could be discussed continuously, and after discussing it, do you always come ‘full circle’ and find yourself back to the original issue that you started discussing with no answer? My only conclusions that I really kept coming back to, were peoples’ attitudes, money and time.

As Bacon, one of the founders of modern science put it,
The world is made for man, not man for the world’.(cited in Hopwood et al, 2005)Pg38.

This seems to be a view that many people have and that needs to be changed to be able for us to secure some hope of sustainability for the future. Our lifestyles and the way we live need to change drastically.

Granted, that things are changing slowly in the UK. In Defra Handbook for sustainability development 2008, 53 indicators show improvements since 1999. Some of these include renewable electricity, waste recycling, fear of crime, and housing conditions, but most of us know that there is a long way to go to reaching our targets for these.

I think the UK has become a ‘nanny state’ in which the government tells us everything we have to do. There was the ban of smoking to try and reduce the illnesses related to this, then came the age limit that was increased on cigarettes, but has this created a new wave of illness? Now there is a huge rise in obesity, and the government are now considering putting a tax on chocolate!
"Irresponsible" marketing techniques are being used to sell chocolate and fuel Britain's obesity problem, Tory leader David Cameron has said. BBC (2006)

Is this the government just trying to pin the blame on one thing though, and not its own doing. I remember years ago when I was a child at school, and I don’t think there was more than the odd one child that was classed as ‘fat’, but we still ate chocolate and sweets. Will the next thing to be taxed be computer consoles?

Also taxes on alcohol per unit, so that there will be no more ‘cheap’ alcohol, but will this really stop anyone from buying these products?
Professor Sir Liam Donaldson will tomorrow recommend a ban on drinks being sold for less than 50p per alcoholic unit when he delivers his annual report on the state of the nation’s health. Oakeshott (2009)

What may this lead to? Will people just buy other things instead. Illegal drugs will soon be cheaper than the legal drugs, which will lead to a bigger problem and health issue risings.

Peoples’ attitudes have started to change slightly towards recycling our rubbish and turning off our lights, and other electric items to save electric in these ways, and companies are doing more to promote this too. I bought Tesco’s out of easter eggs the other day, and on all the packs it tells us that the whole packaging is recyclable.

Other small issues are becoming more apparent and common, such as shops charging for carrier bags, and the bigger supermarkets are trying to encourage everyone to re-use their bags, by keeping the bags under the counter and having to ask for them. Have you ever noticed when you are in shops that it is mostly the older generation that always have their own bags? This is not because they are retired and they have plenty of time to ‘think’ about taking their bags to the shops with them, it is because years ago the shops used to charge for bags. This is not a ‘new’ idea!

It is the same principle for other issues. We are now being encouraged to shower, rather than have a bath, but the older generation are used to this, in their lifetime. Only having baths ‘once or twice’ a week, and a washing day with a twin tub. Their food wastage is minimum where they have never wasted food. Any leftovers have been kept for the next day or given to the dog. Recycling is not a ‘new’ concept. Bottle used to have a deposit on them to encourage people to take them back to the shop.

There is a huge attitude shift in the younger generation that were born and grew up in the late 80’s when the ‘boom years’ were here. This was the time that excess money was ‘rife’, and the ‘throw away’ society really kicked in. Nobody had to worry about how much water, electric they were using because it wasn’t an issue to them. They could afford it. This generation have never had to worry about conserving anything, be it electricity, water, or food. These are also the years that technology advanced quickly. Computers, games consoles and mobile phones were being updated rapidly and people would want the newest version whether their old one was broken or not. This in turn made things cheaper to buy because of competition, so items like washing machines were nearly as cheap to buy new, than to get the old one repaired.

Years ago everything was conserved and recycled, because not as many people had surplus money. They would work nearby to where they lived. Many couldn’t afford cars, so would walk or bike to work/school, and because everybody worked and lived in the same community it was friendly towards each other, and safe. It was unheard of to lock your house in the day, there was no fear of crime.

What I am trying to ‘work out’ with all these examples I have mentioned is the money aspect of this. After all the government are telling us that billions of pinds are needed to restructure public transport, housing, poverty, education etc, but do we?

We all spend within our means. If we didn’t have as much money, maybe we all wouldn’t be so ‘throw away’. We would have to conserve more of our individual energy resources such as water, electric & food, which in turn would create less waste. People would have to start living nearby to their work to save them money, and in turn this would create a better community spirit.

Is it the fact that the government are telling us what to do by making up new laws, and in turn changing peoples’ ways of lives that is a main threat to securing sustainability for our future?, Or is it money, ‘the root of all evil’? Do we need more money, or less? Have we becaome spoilt in the past years in what we have had and now we don’t want to change? Is it impossible to go back to a former way of life?

In conclusion, is it really possible to change people’s attitudes enough to secure a sustainable future? Is it really all down to money? Do we really have enough time left to change any of this? Personally I have no idea!

'The concept of sustainable development represents a shift in understanding of humanity’s place on the planet, but it is open to interpretation of being anything from almost meaningless to of extreme importance to humanity. Whatever view is taken, it is clearly an area of contention.’ Hopwood et al. (2005) Pg 40.



References:


BBC (2006) Cameron attacks chocolate sellers .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4580778.stm. [accessed 30/03/2009)

Hopwood. B, Mellor. M, O’Brien.G, (2005) Sustainable Development: Mapping Different Approaches, Sustainable Development. 13, Pgs 38-52.(www.interscience.wiley.com)

Oakeshott, I (2009) Price of alcohol could double. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/drinks/article5909773.ece (Accessed 30/03/2009)