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What is your vision for a sustainable world?
My sustainable world would be a world that engages in activities that do not entirely consume the Earth’s natural resources. My sustainable world is a world that does not decimate in any way and serves its purpose of fresh life and green energy.
In this world, everyone is conversant with climate change and activities that compromise the purpose of the earth would be abolished or decreased in terms of frequency depending on its level of importance. An example of an activity that would be abolished is the use of very old cars. Old cars are said to be vintage and worth millions however what is the point of living in wealth and sicknesses that may use up your 'wealth'? In my world, these vehicles would be compressed then recycled.
The use of batteries is also a hazard to the environment as it releases lead in to the environment after over a period. However, if I must say, the use of batteries has benefited us as human beings in many ways and I believe completely banning the use of batteries would take a heavy tow on the world. So for an answer to that, I would encourage countries to adopt the use of facilities such as the Household Hazardous Waste Facilities ( HHW) and also encourage companies such as Call2Recycle to help homes dispose of alkaline batteries and other materials in the greenest way possible. Other policies like Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act should be put in place to compel their cooperation.
Another thing that I think would encourage my sustainable world would be to ban the use of the cylindrical structure in tissue papers. First of all, those structures are made from cardboard which is more or less paper from our oxygen supplier (trees). The roll does not really serve a purpose as a few companies have succeeded in manufacturing tissue rolls without them. The effect of manufacturing these inept use of the Earth's natural resources is 1) an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide and 2) the production of carbon monoxide especially in a country like Ghana as they burn waste in order to rid them.
With those structures put in place, the world would be my definition of a sustainable world.
What are planning to do to make the vision a reality?
My first step to accomplishing this task is to talk to the people around me i.e. my family, friends and even my teachers. I could go on to giving efficient speeches at my school as well as other schools with permission and assistance. Talking to these people would enable them to acknowledge their surroundings and notice the impact of their activities. Through this people become aware of the inevitable climate change.
Another way I could create awareness is to design posters, both digital-for social media-and tangible-for walls around the school or vicinity-to give the people around an incite of what is actually going with respect to climate change. Even if people decide not to read it, the picture dominating the posters would be embedded into the brain of a passerby and set them to thinking about it hence sending the message.
In order to accomplish the bigger ideas stated in the first question, I could appeal to the government to implement those policies by sending out letters in the name of my school or a trusted organization and in collaboration with some business giants such as Ghana Water Company and Star Assurance. In that letter, I would state the benefits the Americans enjoy as a result of the fore mentioned policy.
Finally, to the factories, I could create survey (online and printout) and send it out to the world to see their views on the use of the cylinder in tissue rolls. From there would I send a petition to the firms.
What impact has colonization had on our journey to a sustainable planet?
Colonization can be seen as a benefit and or a drawback in countries such as Ghana. For example, colonization introduced us to technology, which has enabled efficiency in farming and other occupations. But for the drawback, colonization led to an increase in population all around the world or in some cases overpopulation.
Due to the population increase, certain structures were put in place in order to accommodate and ensure our survival. Some of such include
- Infrastructure; for shelter
- The growing of crops, grazing animals and fishing ; for food
- Extraction of natural resources, in other words mining ; for national income and revenue
Coincidentally, all these are factors make up an ecological footprint. This simply means that an increase in all of the above would lead to an increase in the ecological footprint of the nation and that is certainly not a sustainable planet, is it?
