Feeding the World in a Better, More Sustainable, Way

The struggle for finding food has been one that has followed humans since the dawn of the farming societies. For thousands of years food that was raised, fished or farmed was extremely difficult to find to feed the entire human population with times of plenty broken up by famine, a severe shortage of food in an area which can result in mass starvation, deaths, economic chaos and social disruption. Although we have gone through a green revolution, a time period in which global food production increased because of technological advances, irrigation, manufacturing inorganic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, developing high-yield varieties and more. The up side of this is that many more people are being fed than before, yet in the long-term, the over-catches of fish as well as the industrialized method of farming that is now heavily employed leads to unsustainable soil health and marine ecosystems in the future.

Hunter-gatherer and farming societies were around for thousands of years before the green revolution created industrial agriculture.

The methods of fishing and means of raising livestock and growing produce that are employed now may seem to provide enough for the time being but in order to feed all humans into the future there needs to be introduced the idea of organic farming as well as more raising fish via aquaculture without the depletion of stocks of fish that are now available.

Some who hold the Environmental Wisdom viewpoint and also advocate for animal rights may state outright that animals should not be raised for human consumption for ethical reasons. It is true that the traditional system of industrial agriculture is questionably ethical in its handling of farm animals. Many are forced to live their whole lives in strictly small and restrictive pens where animals like chickens, pigs and cows are crammed in. The main goal of industrial agriculture is to provide maximum output with minimal input and this is a product of that. In the case of this treatment, organic agriculture is the simple solution.

An example of a factory farm that crams chickens into small living quarters, an ethically questionable practice.

The problems found in aquatic ecosystems are numerous but mainly are connected to the same problems that are found with general declines in terrestrial biodiversity. These include habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, climate change and over exploitation.

When we trawl the oceans with reckless abandon, taking gigantic submerged nets with huge chains and steel plates and completely destroying the sea floor habitat for a few species that can be sold on the market, we are fishing unsustainably.

Trawling of the seafloor is one practice that severely depletes the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems.

Invasive species are another danger to aquatic ecosystems, as evidenced by the accidental introduction of the lion fish into the Caribbean. As excellent predators they flourish in the east coast of North America, out-competing native species to the point of their extinction.

Lion Fish have invaded the North East Atlantic off of the coast of Florida and other states, unfortunately out-competing native species.

As we examined in a previous entry, human overpopulation has many unforeseen problems associated with it, and directly influences aquatic life in a negative way. Despite the simple overcrowding of oceans by means of boating, humans have accidentally allowed agricultural nitrogen runoff into the waters of many oceans, causing eutrophication leading to algal blooms, fish die-offs and a general degradation of ecosystem services. This nitrogen runoff is connected to the unsustainable system of industrialized agriculture we will discuss later, which we will see must be changed. Toxic pollutants are also extremely detrimental to the marine habitats, as are plastics that threaten the lives of millions of marine animals.

This mass die-off of fish in the Salton Sea was due to eutrophication.

We also affect the aquatic ecosystems that sustain us by overfishing wild species of fish. Modern methods of fishing have caused as much as an 80% depletion of some wild fish species in 10-15 years with the modern fleets now on the water. Trawler fishing (mentioned earlier) severely degrades the ocean bottom as well as catching many wild fish species that are not easily re-established. In addition, these methods are unsustainable because they not only capture the fish that are going to market but also bycatch, or fish that is unwanted.

This Loggerhead sea turtle was unfortunate bycatch of fishing nets.

Many believe that overfishing is simply done out of necessity to feed the growing number of humans, however there are alternatives that will maintain the wild populations of fish and also keep the world fed. Aquaculture, or fish farming, is a better way to maintain supplies of fish for the human population and still keep aquatic ecosystems filled with a wide variety of wild fishes. To save many of the losses that are associated with trawling and more, consumers can use their dollars to purchase sustainably caught or farmed fish. There is even an app powered by the Monterey Aquarium to help you make sustainable choices. Yet again, the power to change many of these policies is in the hands of the consumers, as mentioned in an earlier post.

A recirculating aquaculture tank houses young fish

Some believe we should simply cease obtaining our food from the ocean, they reflect a viewpoint akin to the Environmental Wisdom viewpoint. However, I believe the number of people who require the sustenance of fish is overwhelming-especially with the constraints of overpopulation. A more obtainable goal is managing the fisheries by way of reducing our coastal activities as well as preventing overfishing by way of aquaculture. This reflects the Stewardship viewpoint, or the idea that you can care for both the earth and humanity when making sustainable decisions.

Policy-wise, many bills have been passed to protect the wild species in oceans and freshwater bodies of water. As mentioned previously CITES, a bill that was implemented to help endangered species, is also used to look after marine life. The 1979 Global Treaty on Migratory Species was also passed, as well as the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, among others were all passed in order to protect aquatic biodiversity. The difficulty with implementing many of these policies is that the ocean is considered a commons of the world’s countries, and is thus trickier to police.  But with luck these policies, in conjunction with the bottom-up support of aquaculture and sustainable fishing, will help the oceans recover.

The Bottlenose Dolphin is an example of one species protected by the Global Treaty on Migratory Species.

Despite the great contribution by fisheries, most food is actually produced on land by industrialized, modern means. In general, this implies that synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, genetically modified seeds, antibiotics and a significant amount of fossil fuels are used in the farming and raising of food.

Although the recent increase in technological advances to increase output while reducing lost crops seems to have increased the number of people that can be fed per square acre of land, the new methods are unsustainable in that they degrade the soil over the course of months and years  as well as being unsustainable to the rest of the environment. Much of the time irresponsible farming practices cause salinization, desertification, and  erosion of the soil. Because soil takes thousands of years to build, as bedrock needs to be eroded to create the substrate and leaf litter and other organic materials must decompose, the fact that soil is being degraded at a faster rate than it can be made is a bad sign.

This soil profile shows the layers of healthy soil, which generally take centuries to be created.

One example of an intense period of soil erosion was the midwest in the 1930’s. The Dust Bowl, as it was later named, happened when much of the topsoil under the sod was lost from a combination of cultivation practices and drought threatening to turn the Great Plains into a desert. Plowing in the conventional way tore up the roots of natural grasses, and the crops that settlers planted had shallower roots that did not prevent erosion. Once a drought hit, the area was a dead zone.

A farm degraded into dust-covered debris.

Looking back, the catastrophic consequences may have been avoided had the farmers looked at the land and adapted their practices to the landscape. Today’s organic agriculture takes into account the natural processes of the land by looking towards sustaining the soil, and thus maintaining a healthy ecosystem, rather than plowing the fields blindly looking for maximum yield

The fossil fuel emissions from tractors and trucking of the food is quite immense, but also adding in the amount produced by farm animals such as cows that release methane gas, the amount increases.

Cow flatuation contributes more CO2 emissions to the atmosphere than many would think, mainly due to the diet of grains that they are fed in industrial agriculture

With the rampant use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in the fields, as well as feedlots, or acre large areas of land without any natural scrub or grass to raise animals, there comes the eutrophication of bodies of water. Many times fish are killed by the deoxygenation of large swathes of nitrogen that runoff from these feedlots, as well as the toxic pesticides.

Even human health is affected by industrialized agriculture, as nitrates and pesticide residue in drinking water cause ill health effects. Wastes from the huge feedlots can be found in places they aren’t meant to. E. Coli outbreaks are a prime example of the trouble with the mismanagement of animal wastes.

A graphic explaining the outbreaks of E. Coli in Germany. The bacteria, originating in the guts of cows, is found in produce when feedlot waste contaminates irrigation water.

A new technological advancement in the form of genetically modified organisms have been begun to be harvested for numerous reasons. They require less fertilizers and water, and are more resistant to disease, frost and drought as well as grow faster. However, many believe the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.

In general, the genetically modified organisms may have unpredictable genetic and ecological effects. Much of the worry with GMO’s has to do with the precautionary principle because, untested, we do not know the consequences of these organisms interacting with the environment. Also, there is no proof that they have even created a higher yield since they have been introduced. And because they are perfectly engineered they may also out-compete other wild strains of crop and lower genetic diversity outside of the farm.

GMO salmon compared to the farmed salmon are extremely large.

Genetic diversity for seeds is actually extremely important as even if sickness kills of one strain, other strains will survive. In essence, though GMO’s are huge advancements in the field of science, they may not be the miracle cure-all that is needed to feed us all.

All of this natural capital degradation is the main reason why organic farming has been turned to in the past couple of decades. Organic agriculture involves crops grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or using genetically engineered seeds and animals, and synthetic growth hormones. What is better about organic agriculture is that the main goal is to prevent soil erosion and the use of synthetic fertilizers and sewage sludge to raise crops. Instead, animal manure and compost is used to maintain the health of the soil. Crop rotation is a practice used that gives the soil time to rest, in place of involving a slash and burn method of growing crops which gradually wastes it away, and is used in organic agriculture. Organic Agriculture’s other aims are to reduce fossil fuel usage and increase the usage of renewable energy such as solar and wind on farms.

9 Miles East is an organic farm in Schuylerville, NY which stands by its pledge to “improve the soil every year.”

Generally, organic farms are local and thus involve less fossil fuel input in order to deliver produce from one area to another. The practice of industrialized agriculture of globally exporting food from all corners of the globe has brought a bounty of new and exciting produce to many people, but on the flip side it does carry with it the problems of increased fossil fuel usage and more greenhouse gasses.

To address the ethical conundrum of industrial agriculture, organic agriculture provides a solution. Animals are given more land to live on, and thus are labelled as free range, as they were supposed to-grazing land that has scrub grass and a diverse ecosystem. Waste from organic farms is not a worry and in fact helps maintain the grazing land that animals live on.

An Organic pig farm, with heritage breed free range pigs. Also a point of recent scandal with the state of Michigan, which is attempting to label all free range hogs as feral

 

A Factory Farm for pigs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many claim that organic agriculture is better for human health as well, as there are no pesticides or hormones found in the produce that could have negative effects on the health of the consumers. Various health problems that arose from the overuse of these chemicals can be avoided by farming organically.

Subsistence farmers in Bhopal work on their fields planted with soya bean crop.

Subsistence farming in extremely poor countries reflects that past viewpoint, as poverty is the sheer motivation for poor farming practices in those countries. Polyculture, in which numerous crops are grown on land instead of one crop, can be done as well as high-yield hydroponics, which avoids the use of soil altogether. As we have seen before, poverty creates many problems within environmentalism. Working the land in a more sustainable way will lead to the overall healthiness of the soil, although there may be large short-term price tag.

Overall, what we can come away with is that with thinking towards a more sustainable agriculture, there are solutions to the environmental problems we face today. Organic agriculture is a ready example of a system two decades in the making that can change the way we look at food. In addition, although aquaculture only provides 7% of the food produced, that number can rise to help maintain the proper diversity of wild fish species to balance the aquatic ecosystems and the oceans, the lifeblood of Earth.

The Beauty and Value of Biodiversity

Biological Diversity in the forms of species and terrestrial diversity is more important than many realize. As mentioned previously, the ecological and economic services that the members of the planet, be they flora or fauna, provide is extremely prevalent in thinking about their preservation (The Stewardship View). In addition, there is the supplementary view that states that this should not be the only reason for their preservation, but that there are also ethical reasons they should preserved, that they have a right to exist no matter how useful they are to us (Environmental Wisdom Viewpoint). These conflicting views I believe should be used in conjunction as motivation to preserving Earth’s biodiversity.

The Amazon Rain Forest is one of the most biologically diverse environments in the world.

Despite what many believe, the aim of preservation groups such as the Wildlife Conservation Society is not simply to preserve the aesthetic beauty of environments (although it is true that many more visible anthropomorphic species receive more attention within these causes) but also to stabilize environments and economies.

With a commitment to protect 25 percent of the world’s biodiversity, we address four of the biggest issues facing wildlife and wild places: climate change; natural resource exploitation; the connection between wildlife health and human health; and the sustainable development of human livelihoods.

-Wildlife Conservation Society

There are many ways that humans threaten species and terrestrial habitats with extinction but there are also solutions to these problems. I will detail both here but I will maintain, as before, that I do fall more under the camp of a stewardship viewpoint, and the solutions I list here will reflect that perspective.

New York based Wildlife Conservation Society rediscovered a rare species of turtle in Cambodia

The idea of biological extinction, or when a species can no longer be found anywhere on Earth, represents first and foremost the irreversible loss of natural capital and also the unbalancing of the ecosystem if the species is a keystone species or even if it isn’t. Throughout biological history there has always been a background extinction rate that has eliminated certain species that were simply out-competed by natural selection.

The massive Quaternary extinction event eliminated many species of Megafauna like mammoths

Mass extinctions, or extinctions of many species in a relatively short period of time, have happened throughout geologic time, when 50-95% of the world’s species have become extinct. Climate changes and large-scale catastrophes such as volcanoes. However, the current annual rate of species extinction is up 1,000 times the historical background rate due to factors such as habitat loss, climate change and other anthropogenic sources.

Although species diversity from past mass extinctions have recovered since the extinctions happened, it would take the biodiversity of the earth 5 to 10 million years for natural processes to replace the projected number of species that will become extinct during this century, as human influences have made it more difficult to allow them to regain ground.

Many question why in fact we should preserve species if we do not interact with species like orangutans or passenger pigeons. Biologists maintain four reasons why we should preserve species. One, they provide natural resources and services, two is that most species contribute to ecosystem services such as plants and animals that may provide new material sources for medicinal drugs. Third is, due to the idea that species diversity will not be renewed for 5-10 million years, future generations will not be able to experience the unique biodiversity of the Earth. Finally, as per the environmental wisdom viewpoint, many people believe that there are ethical reasons to preserve living organisms on Earth.

Honey bees provide a priceless service of pollinating most of the crops that we use to sustain our food supply

The most prominent causes of species extinction are habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation, invasive species, population growth and increasing consumption, pollution, climate change and over exploitation.

One prime example of an invasive species that interfered with native species that previously lived there is the kudzu vine. The kudzu vine grew rampant in the southeastern United States when it was imported from Japan and has since caused intense erosion and knocked out other species due to its ability to adapt to the new environment better than the native species.

The kudzu, though a commonly seen plant in the southern United States, is an invasive species

In general, to deal with the reduction of biodiversity, policies such as prevention of invasive species from spreading to other continents than attempting to eliminate them once they’re there. For example the kudzu vine is suggested to be harvested and used for nutritional supplements in order to thin its prominence in the United States.

However, for species that haven’t already spread, stricter customs policies are in order. To prevent a further loss of biodiversity, human population growth needs to be managed (by the policies mentioned previously) as well as pollution controlled and climate change mitigated. Although climate change is somewhat inevitable some policies can perhaps be put into practice in order to mitigate it. Poaching must also be put to a stop because the hunting and selling of parts of endangered species is extremely detrimental to the sensitive species that are usually poached. Owning an exotic pet such as a tropical fish or snake can put strain on the environments that they are conventionally taken out of.

Beautiful Tiger skins such as these are extremely valuable, but also taken at the extreme expense of an endangered species and its habitat

There have also been policies passed in order to ensure that endangered species are unharmed such as CITES or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in 1975 which bans the hunting, capturing, and selling of endangered or threatened species listing 900 species that cannot be traded commercially. The power of the treaty is limited to a per country basis so the effects of the treaty are limited, but this treaty does show initiative in the global community for an effort to protect species worldwide.

The United States Endangered Species Act is more powerful of a policy within the United States-punishing people who harm endangered species on private lands with a $100,000 fine or 1 year in prison to ensure protection of the habitats of endangered species.

The endangered Fender’s blue butterfly and its host plant, the threatened Kincaid’s lupine are two species protected under the act

Gene or seed banks are other unconventional methods that can be used to conserve species basically by providing genetic information for at-danger plant and animal species.

The Svalbard seed bank in Norway stores seeds indefinitely for future necessity

As discussed earlier, Theodore Roosevelt established wildlife refuges in order to conserve the activity of hunting and protecting wildlife habitats but in general the idea that there are wildlife reserves pays off even to our time. One-fifth of endangered species make their homes in the refuge systems which helps them immensely. 

Overpopulation, as addressed earlier, needs to be curbed in order to prevent land being taken away from the other species of the globe, but there are two areas that need to be kept under surveillance of their problems. Although humanity severely impacts all parts of the globe, the activities of agriculture most intensively erode delicate ecosystems across the world. Specifically, forestland and grasslands are  delicate ecosystems that need to be protected. Forests such as tropical rain forests are typically used for farming, which destroys the extreme fragility of the environment. Roads that are built to reach the farms, any settlers in the area, and logging of the areas by selective cutting negatively impact the forest. Valuable resources that could potentially be used for medicinal drugs can be lost in the destruction of these forests.

An oil palm nursery in Cambodia has been created on previously protected rain forest land.

Grasslands are also delicate ecosystems that cattle graze on. Despite belief that grasslands are less productive than others, the soil in grasslands is very fertile. However, once it is grazed, trampled and eroded the soil is destroyed and the species that live there are forced to vacate the region.

The Great Plains Erosion in 1996 led to lack of visibility as the grasslands were reduced to dusty conditions

Solutions to the problems that humans bring to the grasslands and forests can be implemented to help preserve the precious biodiversity of the ecosystems. Instead of the forests being razed for farming, the farmers could be given incentives to trade off parts of the land to not use them for farming in order to preserve them. There is hope for the lungs of the world, as many citizens of the regions of rain forest have taken initiative to reforest their homes.

Citizens of Morro da Formiga lead the reforestation project to replant and preserve the existing rain forest on the edge of their settlement.

Grazing’s impact can also be reduced by advising ranchers to follow the lead of James Ranch and rotate the land used for grazing. Wind barriers can also reduce erosion as well as save much soil.

On James Ranch, cattle are rotated, which allows for the grasslands to recover

The beauty of the natural world is based in the biodiversity of all flora and fauna on Earth. From lush tropical rain forests to oceans of grassy plains, there is a great abundance of natural capital and beauty on Earth. However, whatever your motivation, it is vital that we preserve natural biodiversity. Most methods encourage the prevention of species loss, but for those species that are too late we have gene and seed banks that are kept climate controlled for the storage of vital material. I think that our main focus should be tackling aforementioned issues such as overpopulation and consumption, but not having to resort to the gene banks to bring extinct species back is ideal.

The Problems with People and the City: Overpopulation and Overconsumption

Over the past century, the human population has grown at exponential levels due to improvements in agriculture, healthcare and other conveniences of modern society. Humans have also, in the past several centuries, created a novel form of living-the city-which has in itself also created problems.  Alongside these phenomena, human consumption is also at an all time high in many developed countries. These two factors of human overpopulation and over-consumption have lead to situations of reduced sustainability across the world, causing many environmental problems. There are, however, solutions that we can put into place to be able to handle the demand on the earth’s resources that this amount of people will require. I believe solutions that can lead to the improvement of sustainability in the face of massive influx must include birth control, more sustainable means of farming, different plans of many cities among others.

There are three main contributions to the population increase that marked the past two centuries: humans were able to adapt to many more climactic zones, modern agriculture allowed humans to grow more food per land unit, and death rates dropped sharply because of improved sanitation and health care, as well as the development of antibiotics. These three factors lead us to the conclusion that the leading reason for the population increase was a drop in the death rate, rather than a rise in the birth rate. Overall, in the sphere of human health, these are huge steps towards a better life for many, but they have caused a strain on the environment.

Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic substance penicillin in 1928

The rate of population growth has since slowed, but there is still reason to worry about the management of our resources in order to support this population. Many believe, however, that we can avoid seriously over-straining our environment by technological advances in areas such as food production and medicines as well as finding replacements for the resources we are depleting (see, Planetary Management Worldview) but many others, myself included, maintain the idea that we need to make sure the earth does not suffer because of our overexploitation (Stewardship Worldview). Specifically, that there should be a program implemented to slow population growth limiting it to merely the replacement -level fertility rate, or the average number of children couples need to have to replace themselves (slightly more than 2 in developed countries). Although the primary cause of the population growth has been found to be linked to a decline in death rates, obvious ethical implications lead us to examine ideas preventing excessive humans from being born rather than extinguishing life already in existence.

There are ways that we can slow human population growth via childbrith. One way is to promote economic development because it has been proven that people will have less children with the aid of wealth allowing them to be better educated, have a  higher status of women, and have planned parenthood and reproductive health care accessible to the population.

Macao, according to the UN, has the lowest fertility rate and also offers all of its citizens a free fifteen year education.

Countries that are considered failing states, or states that can no longer ensure the personal security of their citizens because they have lost control of their own territory, have major problems with population growth. Because the economic prosperity in those countries is so low, citizens feel the need to have more children in order to get them working and contributing to the family income as well as replace those lost to sectarian violence and diseases that plague the countries. These people are in a truly desperate situation.

A typical Somalian family. Somalia (considered the world’s most failed state), has higher rates of population growth, 3%, than it would had it had more resources to fund universal education, or planned parenthood programs.

One way to control population growth would be to give women equal rights in society. Women tend to have fewer children if they are educated, can control their own fertility, earn an income of their own and live in a society that does not suppress their rights.

Women, such as this burn victim from Afghanistan, are abused when they have less rights. Afghanistan is an example of a society that treats women like second-hand citizens and thus have disenfranchised them of their reproductive rights.

The basic inequality of women is staggering-women account for two-thirds of all hours worked but only receive 10% of the world’s income and own less than 10% of the world’s land. Women make up 70% of the world’s poor and 64% of the world’s illiterate. Woman’s inequality, has always been an issue in the sphere of social relations, but few realize the indirect detrimental impact on the environment that occurs when women are no longer in control of their own reproductive rights, and population growth becomes unsustainable. It is truly an issue that must be

Family planning is also vital in the role of stabilizing the population. It provides educational and clinical services to help couples choose the amount of children they will have. When the stigma around such services is erased, then that will result in a major decrease in births throughout the world. The programs, such as FPA India, working alongside economic development, have resulted in a 55% drop in fertility rates in less-developed countries which is significant.

A family planning ad from India to encourage the use of contraceptives

Overconsumption in conjunction with overpopulation, has also been shown to be a serious environmental threat. Some have begun to tend towards the Degrowth movement, which advocates for the down-scaling of production and consumption in general to counteract this phenomena. This is in response to the idea that, although stabilizing the population is important to aid in saving the environment there are factors such as the rate of production and consumption in many countries which will continue to grow unchecked despite the population size of the country. With Degrowth, happiness and well-being through non-consumptive means is emphasized via sharing work or consuming less while devoting your life to simpler pleasures. Implemented in conjunction to family planning, this movement could significantly reduce the strain on our planet’s resources.

Edward Goldsmith, a founding member of the Green Party and founding editor of Blueprint, was a supporter of the philosophy of Degrowth.

Critics to the movement argue that economic growth brings about the creation of wealth, so we should increase resources in order to make and improve on society and standards of living. In general, it is hotly debated as a potential solution, or simply not necessary. This movement is on the fringes of society now, but may become more relevant as the stresses of modern society begin to show. People have already been seen to adapt some of the principles into their everday life by growing their own food or joining the D.I.Y. Movement. Even websites like Instructables provide instructions for people to create their own technology, furniture, and more.

A D.I.Y. project on the website Instructables made with basic supplies

A major culmination of both unchecked population growth and rampant consumption manifests itself in cities. Urbanization, or the transfer of rural are to more urban and suburban land uses has continued to increase steadily since the Industrial Revolution, creating large cities, and even today megacities, or cities with more than 10 million people or hypercities with more than 20 million people. In some cases Urban Sprawl between major cities creates land between them that is unbroken by rural usage called a megalopolis. One example in the United States is called Boswash-the almost 800 km long urban area that sprawls from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, DC.

Boswash at night, an unbroken cityscape from Boston to Washington

There are inherent reasons that people move to urban areas: the search for jobs, housing, educational opportunities and better healthcare among others. However, with the influx of people from rural areas to urban areas comes problems that cities cannot handle such as an increase of sewage waste that is not treated. Instead it is allowed to flow untreated into U.S. Waterways each year. In general, unless there is economic prosperity that allows the cities to eliminate their environmental and living conditions, these problems go unchecked.

In addition, the urban planning of cities also contributes to its environmental impact. Because cities are not planned with people in mind and rather cars, a huge portion of air pollution and contributor to carbon emissions, they are less sustainable than they could be.

What solutions exist are, again, employable once economic prosperity increases within developing cities in less-developed countries. A better plan  will help them interact with the environment and handle the massive, inevitable influx of people to the cities. One great example of a city that utilizes sustainability measures in its planning is Curitaba, Brazil. Although under stress in recent decades because of the spike in population, Curitaba has shaped its city around bus service as opposed to cars, created green spaces around vital waterways and encourages recycling. Its greatest challenge will be to adapt to the problems that result from more people choosing to live in the prosperous city.

Curitaba, Brazil had some of the most efficient mass transit in the world in the 20th century.

Another city that has handled planning the urban environment well is Portland, Oregon. Called the most livable city in the United States, it has reduced car usage by having an extensive network of bike lanes and walkways, encourages cluster neighborhood development, and increasing access to mass transit. They have done so well in creating a light-rail system which carries 45% of all commuters that they were able to turn a former expressway into a waterfront park. Portland shows that urban areas can not only be planned to be sustainable for the environment but also make citizens happier overall.

Governor Tom McGall Park of Gov. Tom McCall’s 1968 Harbor Drive Task Force, which called for the closure of Harbor Drive Freeway.

One major part of the land usage in the United States primarily, is suburbia. Created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the price of gas was cheap enough to encourage people to own land in an area in between the urban and rural environment, suburbs create a plethora of problems. The strip malls that populate the landscape do not encourage mass transit, rather cars are required to get to these spread-out parking lots and buildings and homes are spread out too far to walk or bike to. Although regional rail, such as SEPTA and the LIRR service metropolitan suburban areas to help citizens travel from the suburbs to jobs or entertainment in the cities, this urban sprawl is an unsustainable use of land overall.

Regional Rail service, like SEPTA in Philadelphia, brings passengers from the suburbs to the cities.

Evidently, the suburbs may be headed for a complete overall themselves as hypothesized in “The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream,” a documentary which cites future high oil prices among other factors that will discourage people from living in the suburbs. This phenomenon has already been observed as baby boomers (a sizable demographic) are already deciding to move out of the confines of the suburbs into the more accessible and now livable cities. A continual decrease in crime and continued sustainable urban planning will further encourage this.

Rolling Acres Mall of Akron, Ohio, once hosted 140 stores in 1.3 million square feet of retail space, it declined and ultimately closed in 2011.

There are, however, inherently sustainable aspects of cities. For instance, it is the basic nature of the city to be organized so recycling is more widespread there than in rural or suburban areas. Also, city residents generally live more concentrated, which helps preserve biodiversity by reducing stress on wildlife habitats outside of the city. Finally, cities that are centralized have the ability to have, or may already have, mass transit, bicycle lanes and walking as options, rather than just cars.

I think that it is vital that we do not ignore rampant overpopulation by using such methods as planned parenthood, the education of women, and increasing universal education and we must also reduce our consumption-perhaps by taking ideas from the Degrowth system and planning our cities better. There are basic limits on our growth, due to the fact that we have but one Earth which we cannot replicate, so measures must be taken to reduce the risk of us running our resources to the ground and dooming ourselves.  We can change our future for the better to not only help the environment but improve our quality of life.