A New Hope: Sustainability, Technology Education, and Less Consumption in Development

1050 Words3 Pages

By rethinking development, the focus of growth needs to be based less on increasing consumption and more on increasing quality of life. The change would also have to be from a US model to something different. The US model is one of over-consumption, where purchases are not always necessary and there is a great deal of waste. Instead, there needs to be a greater push for sustainability, for consumers as well as for producers. The need for development in education needs to be at the top of development priorities as well.
Development needs to evolve to become investment in scientific progress, especially in the fields of renewable energy and sustainability. In order to reduce environmental impact as much as possible, resource use needs to be altered. By investing in technology, there is the possibility that advances could aid in the reduction of our reliance on fossil fuels. If solar panels are developed to be more efficient, they could provide energy for regions that are impoverished and where there is a lack of access to fossil fuels. This could also cut back the carbon emissions that are past being out of hand. In Limits to Growth Revive Malthusian Fears, Lahart, Barta, and Batson point out that, “In the past, economic forces spurred solutions” (2). This needs to happen today as well, by reducing or eliminating subsidies, methods of production would have to become sustainable.
Growth is limited because of the lack of sources, for energy, food, and drinking water, that can support the world population as it is and as it continues to grow. Development should change to mean development of education, the creation of a foundation of knowledge for every person. More education creates not only more job opportunities, but lowers the...

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...ch waste huge amounts of water.
By altering what it means to have development in a country, there can be a way to continue growth, if only in a different sense. There needs to be growth of education and sustainability, rather than a growth of production and consumption. The idea of what it means to be a consumer needs to change as well. Instead of overconsumption being the goal, a moderate consumer should be the ideal: never buying too much, only what is needed with small luxuries at the most. With sustainable practices in place and different kinds of jobs taking the forefront limits to growth can be assuaged, but only if these practices become universal. While one farmer’s switch to drip irrigation is always appreciated, it will not drastically lower the world’s water waste. With all of these working together, the real threat of global warming could become reduced.

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