Sustainability

[ramaldonado]

When I think about sustainability, my general “human” sustainability definition would be… the point at which an equilibrium is reached between the amount of environment humans use to their benefit and the environment’s ability to replenish itself. What I mean by that is, I believe that true sustainability only exists when we can harvest enough from our interactable environment to sustain the lives of all humans and for everything that we take from the environment the environment is able to replenish what is taken in the same amount of time that it took to harvest this item from the environment.
When Solow discusses sustainability he goes from a vague idea similar to what I have mentioned, and he gets specific throughout the essay about the importance of a substitute for resources. So, in his first early definition of sustainability (which involves leaving species alive and as unpolluted for the future) we share similarities in definition. My original definition involves the constant replenishment of anything we use which is, in essence, keeping species and their environment alive.
Now, on the subject of the availability of substitutes, I believe that on a non-morally obligated level the availability of substitutes is all that is needed for human sustainability. The reason I say it is not morally obligated is because if all humans care about is the availability of substitutes, humans do not have to feel any certain way when any species goes extinct because a substitute exists. I believe that the conscience in most humans will have issue with the extinction of species just for the sake of their own sustainability. Because of this, I think sustainability is inherently selfish. That we believe our own sustainability carries the same weight if not more than all species in the world speaks a lot to our own arrogance and our disregard for all others, especially since I believe we are on the side of the spectrum that will always favor our own sustainability over that of any other species.
I think that solely in terms of sustainability AquaCulture is a viable option, but I also do believe the extinction of salmon species will occur before we use AquaCulture to provide full sustainability.

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