Sustainable vs Sustained
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Based on a presentation to York Mills
Eco-day, November 17, 2011
Tim Heffernan
Easter Island: Multiple
Lessons
Easter Island was annexed by Chile in 1888. It lies 3510 km west of the Chilean mainland.
Easter Day in 1722
Imagine what the first Dutch explorers
thought when they first accidentally sailed
to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and saw the
statues.
Statistics
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Rapa Nui (Easter Island)is 5 hours (3600 km)
by jet airplane from Chile (2000km from the
closest inhabited island).
The island is triangular and about 20
kilometers long. (27°S)
Some statues weigh over 100 tons (the
largest were close to 10 meters high).
Hundreds (887) of statues all around the
island.
How did it fall apart?
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There is clear evidence that Easter Island
once was a heavily populated (perhaps
20,000 people) and rich society.
There is clear evidence that this big
population collapsed and most of the
population died.
Collapse (cont’d)
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When the Europeans first arrived in
1722, there were approx 2,500 natives.
In 1877 there were only 110.
Collapse (cont’d)
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Natives came originally from Polynesia probably accidentally found Rapa Nui
(Easter Island) while they were lost.
Statues were built by natives cut from
soft volcanic stone on the island.
Society collapsed before the Europeans
arrived caused by overpopulation and
poor use of resources
Collapse
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)must have
seemed like paradise to the first natives
of perhaps 100 people.
Forests
Seafood
Plenty of space
Reasons for collapse
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Cults formed and statues were built to worship the cults.
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Many trees were cut down in order to move the statues
(log rolling – compare to Stonehenge)
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Rats ate the seeds leaving the island without trees
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Boats slowly disappeared so people could no longer fish.
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The soil washed into the sea because there were no
trees.
How do we know this?
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Pollen in soil samples can show how plant life changes
over time.
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Bones of animals show that less and less fish was eaten
as time advanced.
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Bones of humans show evidence of cannibalism.
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Attenborough youtube: 4min 25 sec
into clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO-vCPuuQQ
Why? What?
• Why didn't they stop before it was too late?
• What were they thinking when they cut down the last
tree?
• What can WE learn from the history of Easter Island?
Larger Lesson
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What larger lesson can we learn about the
planet Earth based on Easter Island’s history?
Make a list of the similarities as follows:
Both Rapa Nui and the Earth:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Eco-lesson
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Both Rapa Nui and the Earth:
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1. are isolated with nowhere to escape
to;
2. have experienced environmental
destruction;
3. have overpopulation problems;
4. are quickly using up resources
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End of Line DVD (segment 2)
Decline in fish stocks in North
Atlantic over 150 years
Decline of Biomass to feed the
fish over the last 100years
If human population is growing
exponentially, and resources are finite, how
do we get by?
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Especially if accompanied by exponential
consumption of finite resources...
Is it as “simple” as making rules for population
(One family, One child) or limiting food?
Do we need to move from a period of growth to
a period of non-growth?
Current cultural paradigm –
sustained growth
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Growth must be permanent
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Bigger, better, faster, more
Growth must occur for society to
prosper. Consumers, workers,
corporations, all want more
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New paradigm?
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Sustainability
Sustainable growth
vs
Sustained growth
Is zero or negative growth OK? Can it be sold to people?
Sustainabity defined
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derived from the Latin sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, up).
the most widely quoted definition of sustainability and sustainable
development, that of the Brundtland Commission of the United
Nations on March 20, 1987…….
“sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0&feature=related (animation on sustainability)
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Handout worksheet “Areas of
Sustainability”
Greenwashing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scqZT8SgGws
Environmentalism vs. Sustainability
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Environmentalism: 1960’s, Greenpeace
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Single issue politics
Putting the environment first, above all else
Sustainability
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Broader scope, it attracts more people
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Incorporates a wider range of issues and movements
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Balance of social, economic, AND environmental needs
China’s environmental crises
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China has averaged an economic growth of 8% over the past 20 years
Has increased the standard of living for hundreds of millions of Chinese
citizens
This economic growth has also had severe ramifications for the natural
environment
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Dramatic increase in demand for natural resources
Forest resources have been depleted
Levels of water and air pollution have skyrocketed
Caused by poorly regulated industrial and household emissions
and waste
China’s overwhelming reliance on coal for its
energy needs has made its air quality among the
worst in the world
8 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are now
located in China
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In 1995, ambient concentrations of SO2 in over half of 88
Chinese cities monitored exceeded WHO guidelines for
safety
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85 of 87 cities exceeded WHO guidelines for total
suspended particulate matter
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In many cities the concentrations were 2-5 times the
safety levels given by WHO guidelines
The % of arable land affected by acid rain increased
from 18% to 40% between 1985 and 1998
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China now releases 13% of global CO2 emissions
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2nd only to the United States (23%)
Economic development has also impinged
on China’s already scarce water resources
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Industrial and household demand has risen more than
80% since 1980
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About 60 million people find it difficult to get enough
water for their daily needs
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In several water-scarce regions in northern and western
China, factories have been forced to close down
because of lack of water
In addition, water pollution is posing a serious and
growing threat to water reserves
China’s forest resources rank among the lowest
in the world
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Demand for furniture, chopsticks, and paper has driven an
increasingly profitable, but environmentally devastating,
illegal logging trade.
By the mid-1990s, half of China’s forest bureaux reported
that trees were being felled at an unsustainable rate. 20%
had already exhausted their reserves
The result of China’s increasing demand on its
forest resources
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loss of biodiversity
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climate change
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soil erosion
Deforestation, overgrazing and over-cultivation
of cropland, has also contributed to:
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an increase in devastating sandstorms
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and desertification
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More than ¼ of China’s territory is now desert
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Desertification is advancing at a rate of roughly
900 sq. miles annually
Mineral Resources: how long will they last?
•Silver (for catalytic converters on cars)
9 yrs
•Uranium (nuclear power stations)
19 yrs
•Tantalum (mobile phones/camera lenses)
20 yrs
•Copper (cable wire)
38 yrs
And the biggie…………
PEAK MINERALS
http://www.science.org.au/nova/newscientist/ns_diagrams/027ns_005image2.jpg
Aluminum facts (from various eco websites)
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aluminum is the most abundant metal on earth.
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Over 50 percent of the aluminum cans produced are recycled.
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A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a
new can, in as little as 60 days.
Aluminum is a durable and sustainable metal: two-thirds of the
aluminum ever produced is in use today.
Every minute of everyday, an average of 113,204 aluminum cans are
recycled.
Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less
energy and 20 recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to
produce one can using virgin ore.
Aluminum facts , contd.
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Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb
burning for almost four hours or run your television for three hours.
Last year 54 billion cans were recycled saving energy equivalent to 15 million
barrels of crude oil – America’s entire gas consumption for one day.
Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of
that can’s volume of gasoline.
In 1972, 24,000 metric tons of aluminum used beverage containers (UBCs) were
recycled. In 1998, the amount increased to over 879,000 metric tons.
In 1972, it took about 22 empty, aluminum cans to weigh one pound. Due to
advanced technology to use less material and increase durability of aluminum
cans, in 2002 it takes about 34 empty aluminum cans to weigh one pound.
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The average employee consumes 2.5 beverages a day while at work.
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The empty aluminum can is worth about 1 cent
What they didn’t say
(from Trashed Cans – The Global Environmental Impacts of Aluminum Can Wasting in America,
2002)
Had the 50.7 billion cans wasted in 2001 been recycled, they could have saved
the energy equivalent of 16 million barrels of crude oil--enough energy to
generate electricity for 2.7 million U.S. homes for a year.
Had the 50.7 billion cans wasted in 2001 been recycled, they would have:
• Avoided the emission of more than three million tons of greenhouse gases
• Avoided the emission of 75,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
emissions— contributors to smog and acid rain;
•Reduced soil erosion and habitat loss from strip mining for bauxite and coal;
• Reduced toxic runoff from mining which contaminates soil and waterways;
• Reduced solid wastes and liquid effluents from smelting and other industrial
processes;
• Reduced damage to salmon habitats in the Pacific Northwest and Canada; and
• Avoided landfilling, littering or incinerating 760,000 tons of aluminum.