More concrete vision of a sustainable future
The world population is stabilized at a level that is within the short- and long-term carrying capacity of the earth’s finite resources. This level is of great debate and is probably between 8 and 9 billion people.
Resources are used efficiently. Leading organizations such as the Wuppertal Institute and the Factor 10 Club and a growing number of individuals such as Ernst von Weizsacker, Paul Hawken and Amory Lovins have been calling for a huge increase in resource productivity by a factor of 4 to 10 in order to increase wealth for four-fifths of the world’s population and to decrease environmental impact. This is critical because the industrialized economy is incredibly wasteful in use of resources while the planet has a finite amount of resources and a finite ability to absorb and process wastes. According to a recent report of the World Resources Institute, industrialized countries extract forty-five to eight-five tons of materials per person per year. A recent report of the US National Academy of Engineering indicates that 93 percent of all the material which enters into commerce becomes waste before the product reaches the consumer. (more…)
A design has been produced for a pioneering £120,000 children’s eco-park, which would be the first of its kind in Norfolk.
We see posters everywhere announcing the restoration of a quarry, cleaning soil poisoned by lead, the underpinnings of some dunes… but do we really serve these actions? A scientific team anglohispano had this question, and after consideration of 89 initiatives focused on very different ecosystems, has concluded that it is effective: its positive impact has resulted in an increase in biodiversity of 44% and an increase of 25 % of the “services” that these environments provide to humans.