Responsible Resource Use

I believe humanity has grown to unsustainable dimensions, in terms of absolute numbers, modern notions of well-being and expected societal progress. Too many people with too many wants and too many expectations are placing excessive demands on the planet's weakening regenerative capacities, demands which are increasing apace. Man must take action to avoid irreversibly distorting the Earth's environmental balances - balances Man relies on for his continued existence, well-being and progress. In order to sustain the world's enormous population in increasing comfort today, Man is destroying the things needed to sustain the world's enormous population in increasing comfort tomorrow.

The best solution would be to drastically reduce the world's population; however, to attempt to do this in a very short period of time would require abominable, abject measures contrary to current international standards of human rights. In the absence of this possibility, the population must be brought down slowly. As things stand now, the population will peak somewhere at mid-century and then begin to fall. Man must make every conscienceable attempt to reduce these numbers as swiftly and profoundly as possible. Nevertheless, to rely solely on reduced population numbers to adequately ameliorate the stresses on the planet would take exorbitant time - time the planet lacks as solutions are required today.

This means that the demands of the present population must be modified. The resource demands must change in quantity, quality and form, without diminishing the decent standards of living in the developed world and without rising blocking standards in the developing. First Worlders must learn to live with finite wants from finite means. Third Worlders must learn that development does not imply First World profligacy. One example of this necessary change is with construction wood use. Quantity of construction wood can be reduced by building smaller homes and owning only a single residence. Better home designs, building techniques and technologies can further reduce needed wood. Improvements in the quality of the wood can also help reduce quantity by lasting longer and by being more reliable and strong. A change in form would be locally harvested, FSC-certified wood that ensures that it is harvested responsibly and sustainably. Reducing quantity, improving quality and developing appropriate forms of construction wood can have a significant positive impact on the world's forests.

I believe appropriate personal resource use requires one to minimize resources needed and resources wasted; maximize use of local, renewable and sustainable resources and minimize use of non-local, finite and unsustainable resources; and maximize reuse and recycling of resource waste and used resources. This basic approach applies to all resources, from energy for electricity, heating and cooling, to water, food, materials, etc. Taking electricity as an example, things that can be done to minimize electrical consumption are to use mechanical (mechanical kitchen scale vs. electric) and manual devices (hand juicer vs. electric), use energy-efficient appliances (CFLs vs. incandescents), use smaller appliances (a medium sized fridge vs. a monster), use traditional methods (air drying of dishes and clothes vs. electric), etc. Things that can be done to minimize electrical waste are to judiciously turn off lights, TVs, computers, etc., to eliminate phantom loads, to use appropriate wiring materials, sizes and ensure good connections, etc. To maximize use of local, renewable and sustainable resources, PV panels, wind generators and hydrogenerators are a few technologies that can be used to create needed electricity, while minimizing use of non-local, finite and unsustainable resources such as global-warming fossil fuels. Reuse of electrical 'waste' can be to take advantage of lower night time electric rates by charging electric vehicles or other rechargeables or use of a dump load in an off-grid renewable energy system. Recycling used electricity can be taking advantage of waste heat created by numerous appliances, such as refridgerators and freezers, to help warm a room by keeping the room well insulated and airtight. The possibilities in each area for each resource are expansive. And by systematically and progressively exploiting these possibilities, Man can reduce its negative impact on the planet to the point where Man and Earth can symbiotically coexist.