Basic Principles of Sustainability
As stated in the beginning we will explore sustainability. The foundation of this exploration will be built on five basic principles.
There are five basic principles that can be universally applied. These concepts can be used in many ways. As examples are given the situations will be vastly different, however, the basic principles will remain the same
1) Lifecycling: Humans striving to enter the interconnected cycles of our living Earth. When first observing our Earth's cycles they may seem to be separate, however, it is the connections that are the most interesting. In lifecycling the different connections are again, most interesting. Can we connect the economy to the amount of carbon in the soil which is responsible for holding on to water, or global warming? Can education address these connections? At times this website may seem disjointed addressing completely different topics. The reader will be guided along to be able to connect the dots.
2) Paradigm: We as human beings are enculturated into our society. This has benefits in that one can fit into society. On the other hand this enculturation limits our ability to see the possibilities outside the accepted paradigm. The paradigm concept is important when looking at today's problems. It may not be possible to solve today's issues using enculturated ideas of the past.
3) Exponential growth: We will refer exponential growth as a doubling of something over time.
For example, if a paper is folded once the thickness of the paper is twice that of the unfolded piece. If folded again the thickness increases to four times that of the original unfolded piece. The next fold would be eight times, the next sixteen and so on, A piece of paper cannot be physically folded more than six or seven times, but if this limitation is disregarded how many folds would it take to have a thickness be greater than the distance from the Earth to the moon?
When I first read this I could not believe it. Lisa and I read the answer in disbelief. It was voting day and after exercising my civic duty I decided to have a pizza for dinner. I ordered the pizza and I asked for a pencil and paper. I began to multiply.
1) 2 X 1 = 2
There is another great example. In a far distant cold land called Vermont was a king. Being a moral upright king he was loved by all that he ruled. His son, who loved to play chess, just turned 15 and his father was already thinking of his sixteenth birthday because it was such a special birthday. He thought about what he could give his son and decided that he would love a chess set. He searched throughout his kingdom and finally came to the town of Plainfield where he found a peasant who could build the finest chess set. The darker pieces would be carved out of serpentine while the light colored pieces would be carved from soapstone. The square of the board would be inlayed using walnut and birdseye maple. It would take almost a year to make such a chess set. The king asked the peasant how much he wanted for his labor. The peasant told the king that he was a simple man. All he wanted was one grain of rice for the first square, two grains for the second square, four grains for the third square, eight grains for the forth, sixteen for the fifth and so on. The king thanked the peasant and left with his men shaking his head. “No wonder that man is just a peasant, all he wants is some rice for a year’s labor.” The year passed by and the king set his mathematicians to work to figure out exactly how much rice the king owed the peasant. The king had to fill his kingdom of Vermont fifty-nine feet high with rice to pay the peasant for his labor. The king was unable to pay the peasant so being such a moral upright king he handed his kingdom over to the peasant because it was clear the peasant understood exponential growth and the king did not.
Both of these examples, however, only consider open systems. In other words exponential growth is allowed to grow to infinity without any boundaries. What happens when physical boundaries are set? Let’s consider a pond with a pondweed starting to grow on the surface of the water. Let’s say that the weed’s surface area (the amount of area covered by the weed) doubles each day and through calculations it has been determined that the pond will be completely covered in 30 days. On what day will the pond be half covered? The answer is day 29. On the last day the area of the weed doubles and covers the other half. Proceeding backwards on day 28 only ¼ is covered, day 27 only 1/8 and on day 26 only 1/16. Even if the time period is extended to years it will be covered on the last day.
Imagine now the proud owner of this beautiful pond. July 4th is approaching and only 1/16 of the pond is covered by pond weed. The family had planned a four day vacation to celebrate the 4th of July. His time away would be short and he could deal with the pondweed when he returned from his four day vacation. Many of the issues we are facing today are mounting exponentially.
2 Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich, Population Explosion, (Simon and Schuster, 1990), p.15.
4)Throughput:
Throughput is the energy and materials needed to maintain a system. Let’s consider a person who wants to purchase a drinking glass. About 80% of all the energy used in the world is derived from fossil fuels (coal, gas or oil) so most of the energy needed to produce this glass would probably be in the form of fossil fuel. This includes electricity, which is mostly generated using fossil fuels. If we need fossil fuels to produce this glass we need to first find the fossil fuel. The equipment needed to locate fossil fuel reserves needs to be manufactured and this in itself needs materials and fossil fuels. Once the area in which the fossil fuel is found, the process of mining or drilling takes place, using up more materials and fossil fuels. One can see that each step of the process, transportation of fossil fuels, refining the fossil fuels, building the glass factory, mining the materials needed for the glass, etc. all need materials and fossil fuels. As time goes on the reserves are further away, deeper and harder to get increasing the amount of energy and materials needed. At last the glass is made at the factory, shipped to the warehouse, and finally to the store. The consumer sees an advertisement (TV or newspaper), drives to the store, purchases the glass and travels homeward with the glass. As long as the glass is used it has to be maintained by washing with soap and hot water. One day the glass is being washed and opps…the glass slips and breaks. The final destination is the landfill that was built through the use of… you guessed it, materials and fossil fuels. Each step uses materials and energy. The story, however, does not end here. At every stage of fossil fuel use, greenhouse gasses and other pollutants are released into our atmosphere causing the climate to change, acid rain, health problems, etc. Each of the problems caused by fossil fuel use, leads to the use of more materials and fossil fuel use. For example, in recent years climate change has brought about an increase in flooding and droughts. When destruction occurs, materials and fossil fuels are needed to rebuild what was destroyed.
5) Law of diminishing returns:
American Heritage Dictionary
The tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Economic law stating that if one input used in the manufacture of a product is increased while all other inputs remain fixed, a point will eventually be reached at which the input yields progessively smaller increases in output. For example, a farmer will find that a certain number of farm labourers will yield the maximum output per worker. If that number is exceeded, the output per worker will fall.
Oxford Dictionary of Geography
The principle that further inputs into a system produce ever lower increases in outputs. Any extra input will not produce an equal or worthwhile return. Thus, while early applications of fertilizer may increase yields, further applications will not see a corresponding rise in output, and even further applications may actually damage the crop, as excessive fertilizer can butn plant tissue.
These principles seem simple enough to understand but when used in everyday real situations they suddenly become complex.
Let's take a look at Hitchbiking. At first it just seems like a novel idea but when taking a closer look the five principles can be applied. For me it is always easiest to start with throughput. The obvious part is the amount of fossil fuels and other resources it takes to produce a car verses a bicycle. What is not considered most of the time is that the factories that build the car has to be many times bigger that the factories that build bikes. If this is true doesn't it stand to reason that it would take more factories to produce the materials needed to build car factories than bicycle factories. If this is true then could it be that it would take more machinery to mine the resources to build the factories to build the factories to build the cars. All along the process there is pollution (greenhouse gases included) and the only way to reduce the effects is to use more fossil fuels and resources. Throughput blends right into The Law of Diminishing Returns. Since it takes more oil to do all of this we have to drill more and use more oil to get the oil which is really an introduction to Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI). In the 1930's it would take 1 gallon of oil to obtain 100 gallons of oil. This is a great return, however, the return has been greatly reduced to about 1 gallon will only give 11 in return.
Throughput and the law of diminishing returns penetrate all aspects of hitchbiking. Lack of exercise in the United States has increase the need for more medical attention which can also be thrown into the mix. As you think about it the list of throughput and law of diminishing returns connections are endless. Up until recently throughput was an exponential function. As we find ourselves approaching the limits to our resources this will not be the case. If our resources are limited (look up peak oil) then there is a limit to throughput so the next question is where do we want to spend our throughput? Will we spend it on more cars, homes, roads, increasing health issues, etc or education in the art of Lifecycling.
This of course is a huge paradigm shift. Consider that the low impact low energy society of the hunter gatherers lasted up to hundreds of thousands of years. Humankind increased their energy needs to make tools and build buildings ushering in the agricultural era. This period of human history lasted only ten thousand years. It was the Industrial Age that really increase energy use. If we consider this period from 1600-1960 we are only talking 350 years. This brings us to the computer age when shelves at the stores are inventoried automatically along with everything else. Throughput has been put into overdrive and now we are seeing problems mounting. This paradigm is 50-60 years old. When we look at increasing our energy needs should we consider this trend of decreasing years of major paradigms.
Getting back to hitchbiking. Think of all the time one can think while riding your bike and don't forget to pass on your thoughts while you're riding in the car that just picked you
There are five basic principles that can be universally applied. These concepts can be used in many ways. As examples are given the situations will be vastly different, however, the basic principles will remain the same
1) Lifecycling: Humans striving to enter the interconnected cycles of our living Earth. When first observing our Earth's cycles they may seem to be separate, however, it is the connections that are the most interesting. In lifecycling the different connections are again, most interesting. Can we connect the economy to the amount of carbon in the soil which is responsible for holding on to water, or global warming? Can education address these connections? At times this website may seem disjointed addressing completely different topics. The reader will be guided along to be able to connect the dots.
2) Paradigm: We as human beings are enculturated into our society. This has benefits in that one can fit into society. On the other hand this enculturation limits our ability to see the possibilities outside the accepted paradigm. The paradigm concept is important when looking at today's problems. It may not be possible to solve today's issues using enculturated ideas of the past.
3) Exponential growth: We will refer exponential growth as a doubling of something over time.
For example, if a paper is folded once the thickness of the paper is twice that of the unfolded piece. If folded again the thickness increases to four times that of the original unfolded piece. The next fold would be eight times, the next sixteen and so on, A piece of paper cannot be physically folded more than six or seven times, but if this limitation is disregarded how many folds would it take to have a thickness be greater than the distance from the Earth to the moon?
When I first read this I could not believe it. Lisa and I read the answer in disbelief. It was voting day and after exercising my civic duty I decided to have a pizza for dinner. I ordered the pizza and I asked for a pencil and paper. I began to multiply.
1) 2 X 1 = 2
- 2) 2 X 2 = 4
- 3) 2 X 4 = 8
- 4) 2 X 8 = 16
- and so on…
- 39) 2 X 1,380,203,186,944 =2,760,406,373,888
40) 2 X 2,760,406,373,888 = 5,520,812,747,776 - Number 40 represented the number of single thickness of paper as a result of all the folds. A ream of paper is 500 sheets and measures about two inches. After dividing the 500 into the extremely big number I converted the thickness into miles. The information had been right after all. In 40 folds the thickness was equal to 2/3 the distance of the moon and with one more fold (41) the thickness would surpass the moon’s distance from the Earth.1
There is another great example. In a far distant cold land called Vermont was a king. Being a moral upright king he was loved by all that he ruled. His son, who loved to play chess, just turned 15 and his father was already thinking of his sixteenth birthday because it was such a special birthday. He thought about what he could give his son and decided that he would love a chess set. He searched throughout his kingdom and finally came to the town of Plainfield where he found a peasant who could build the finest chess set. The darker pieces would be carved out of serpentine while the light colored pieces would be carved from soapstone. The square of the board would be inlayed using walnut and birdseye maple. It would take almost a year to make such a chess set. The king asked the peasant how much he wanted for his labor. The peasant told the king that he was a simple man. All he wanted was one grain of rice for the first square, two grains for the second square, four grains for the third square, eight grains for the forth, sixteen for the fifth and so on. The king thanked the peasant and left with his men shaking his head. “No wonder that man is just a peasant, all he wants is some rice for a year’s labor.” The year passed by and the king set his mathematicians to work to figure out exactly how much rice the king owed the peasant. The king had to fill his kingdom of Vermont fifty-nine feet high with rice to pay the peasant for his labor. The king was unable to pay the peasant so being such a moral upright king he handed his kingdom over to the peasant because it was clear the peasant understood exponential growth and the king did not.
Both of these examples, however, only consider open systems. In other words exponential growth is allowed to grow to infinity without any boundaries. What happens when physical boundaries are set? Let’s consider a pond with a pondweed starting to grow on the surface of the water. Let’s say that the weed’s surface area (the amount of area covered by the weed) doubles each day and through calculations it has been determined that the pond will be completely covered in 30 days. On what day will the pond be half covered? The answer is day 29. On the last day the area of the weed doubles and covers the other half. Proceeding backwards on day 28 only ¼ is covered, day 27 only 1/8 and on day 26 only 1/16. Even if the time period is extended to years it will be covered on the last day.
Imagine now the proud owner of this beautiful pond. July 4th is approaching and only 1/16 of the pond is covered by pond weed. The family had planned a four day vacation to celebrate the 4th of July. His time away would be short and he could deal with the pondweed when he returned from his four day vacation. Many of the issues we are facing today are mounting exponentially.
2 Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich, Population Explosion, (Simon and Schuster, 1990), p.15.
4)Throughput:
Throughput is the energy and materials needed to maintain a system. Let’s consider a person who wants to purchase a drinking glass. About 80% of all the energy used in the world is derived from fossil fuels (coal, gas or oil) so most of the energy needed to produce this glass would probably be in the form of fossil fuel. This includes electricity, which is mostly generated using fossil fuels. If we need fossil fuels to produce this glass we need to first find the fossil fuel. The equipment needed to locate fossil fuel reserves needs to be manufactured and this in itself needs materials and fossil fuels. Once the area in which the fossil fuel is found, the process of mining or drilling takes place, using up more materials and fossil fuels. One can see that each step of the process, transportation of fossil fuels, refining the fossil fuels, building the glass factory, mining the materials needed for the glass, etc. all need materials and fossil fuels. As time goes on the reserves are further away, deeper and harder to get increasing the amount of energy and materials needed. At last the glass is made at the factory, shipped to the warehouse, and finally to the store. The consumer sees an advertisement (TV or newspaper), drives to the store, purchases the glass and travels homeward with the glass. As long as the glass is used it has to be maintained by washing with soap and hot water. One day the glass is being washed and opps…the glass slips and breaks. The final destination is the landfill that was built through the use of… you guessed it, materials and fossil fuels. Each step uses materials and energy. The story, however, does not end here. At every stage of fossil fuel use, greenhouse gasses and other pollutants are released into our atmosphere causing the climate to change, acid rain, health problems, etc. Each of the problems caused by fossil fuel use, leads to the use of more materials and fossil fuel use. For example, in recent years climate change has brought about an increase in flooding and droughts. When destruction occurs, materials and fossil fuels are needed to rebuild what was destroyed.
5) Law of diminishing returns:
American Heritage Dictionary
The tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Economic law stating that if one input used in the manufacture of a product is increased while all other inputs remain fixed, a point will eventually be reached at which the input yields progessively smaller increases in output. For example, a farmer will find that a certain number of farm labourers will yield the maximum output per worker. If that number is exceeded, the output per worker will fall.
Oxford Dictionary of Geography
The principle that further inputs into a system produce ever lower increases in outputs. Any extra input will not produce an equal or worthwhile return. Thus, while early applications of fertilizer may increase yields, further applications will not see a corresponding rise in output, and even further applications may actually damage the crop, as excessive fertilizer can butn plant tissue.
These principles seem simple enough to understand but when used in everyday real situations they suddenly become complex.
Let's take a look at Hitchbiking. At first it just seems like a novel idea but when taking a closer look the five principles can be applied. For me it is always easiest to start with throughput. The obvious part is the amount of fossil fuels and other resources it takes to produce a car verses a bicycle. What is not considered most of the time is that the factories that build the car has to be many times bigger that the factories that build bikes. If this is true doesn't it stand to reason that it would take more factories to produce the materials needed to build car factories than bicycle factories. If this is true then could it be that it would take more machinery to mine the resources to build the factories to build the factories to build the cars. All along the process there is pollution (greenhouse gases included) and the only way to reduce the effects is to use more fossil fuels and resources. Throughput blends right into The Law of Diminishing Returns. Since it takes more oil to do all of this we have to drill more and use more oil to get the oil which is really an introduction to Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI). In the 1930's it would take 1 gallon of oil to obtain 100 gallons of oil. This is a great return, however, the return has been greatly reduced to about 1 gallon will only give 11 in return.
Throughput and the law of diminishing returns penetrate all aspects of hitchbiking. Lack of exercise in the United States has increase the need for more medical attention which can also be thrown into the mix. As you think about it the list of throughput and law of diminishing returns connections are endless. Up until recently throughput was an exponential function. As we find ourselves approaching the limits to our resources this will not be the case. If our resources are limited (look up peak oil) then there is a limit to throughput so the next question is where do we want to spend our throughput? Will we spend it on more cars, homes, roads, increasing health issues, etc or education in the art of Lifecycling.
This of course is a huge paradigm shift. Consider that the low impact low energy society of the hunter gatherers lasted up to hundreds of thousands of years. Humankind increased their energy needs to make tools and build buildings ushering in the agricultural era. This period of human history lasted only ten thousand years. It was the Industrial Age that really increase energy use. If we consider this period from 1600-1960 we are only talking 350 years. This brings us to the computer age when shelves at the stores are inventoried automatically along with everything else. Throughput has been put into overdrive and now we are seeing problems mounting. This paradigm is 50-60 years old. When we look at increasing our energy needs should we consider this trend of decreasing years of major paradigms.
Getting back to hitchbiking. Think of all the time one can think while riding your bike and don't forget to pass on your thoughts while you're riding in the car that just picked you
