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Kea Simpson

Dr. McCoy

ENC 1101

23 April 2022

The Difficulties of Achieving Sustainability Sustainably

Most people are aware of the concept of sustainability, but few take action in order to

achieve sustainability themselves. This is mostly due to the fact that even if a person is aware of

the concept, they will find there are many obstacles that they will face in an effort to achieve

sustainability. The general public would likely lack the needed funds to purchase solar power,

and most people can’t afford to drive an electric car to reduce carbon emissions. Developing

countries typically don’t have the resources they need to build windmills or watermills. Even so,

there are still small ways one can contribute. For instance, an individual might reduce the amount

of waste they produce on a daily basis by repurposing or recycling plastic items or composting

kitchen waste. Paper mills such as IP in Cantonment, Fl, and Riegelwood in Wilmington, NC,

can produce the energy required to power its plant by burning the residual matter (bark) from the

tree bark and waste. The resulting energy powers most of the mills’ processes. Individuals and

companies should strive to protect and restore the surrounding natural environments because it is

crucial for the health and well-being of the earth and its inhabitants. Both are crucial to reaching

a point in which we can live sustainably while achieving sustainability. In order to achieve the

most optimal solution to environmental issues, prescribed policy changes themselves must be

sustainable and protect all natural environments so as not to have disastrous effects on people’s

livelihood.
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Worldwide, the use of non-renewable energy has become a prevalent problem. As this is

looked into, it is revealed that developing countries are quickly becoming one of the largest

consumers of non-renewable energy. Itbar Khan states that "developing countries urgently need

to promote economic growth. Therefore, for decades, they have widely used fossil fuel energy to

promote economic and developmental activities. The reason of environmental degradation faced

by developing countries is the reason [for] energy from fossil fuels being used to increase

economic activities." (1) Although developing countries are using non-renewable energy

resources such as fossil fuel to ensure economic growth, it reflects the dire need of an

economically challenged region where growth is a more prevalent concern than environmental

degradation. This reliance on non-renewable energy significantly increasing carbon emissions.

(Martins)As a result, environmental quality is declining.

Digging even deeper, one finds that many large-scale industries are using non-renewable

energy sources, like fossil fuels, in order to maintain growth and minimize overall costs

regardless of their effects on the environment. This strikes some people as strange, since, in

recent years, several renewable energy sources have slowly started to become more viable and

visible. However, it seems as though industries simply brush off these options in the opinion that

they are unattainable or cost inefficient. The price or availability could pose a problem when

considering renewable energy, but sources of renewable energy, such as wood are not

necessarily inefficient or inaccessible in all scenarios. Additionally, renewable energy could

prove to be even more cost efficient than non-renewable energy sources. "The use of renewable

energy can fulfil the production requirement for energy and enhance environmental quality as

well as it does not cause pollution by replacing nonrenewable technologies and does not degrade

environmental quality." (Itbar 2) But even if renewable energy is more cost efficient, one could
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argue that it is expensive to switch energy sources due to the different equipment needed. This

may be true in some cases, but in the long run, switching to renewable energy will potentially

cost much less than using fossil fuel, coal, or natural gas. Companies could start by researching

which energy source will work best for the specific land or area requiring changes. They could

also instigate different methods with which to gradually ease into using renewable energy.

Most people would likely conclude that renewable energy is the lesser evil when

compared to non-renewable energy. Regardless, after further inquiry, it is revealed that not all

forms of renewable energy are particularly good for the environment. “We find that bioenergy

production has potential to severely harm biodiversity.” (Santangeli 947) Careful research is

costly and time consuming but necessary to determine environmental impact of the new

“sustainable energy” policies. Here one can see that some kinds of renewable energy are also

harmful, but in different ways. “Some studies suspect the role of renewable energy in

environment protection, such as Jebli and Yossef's claim that waste and combustible renewables

are not clean energy, and the use of combustible renewables and wastes increase emission”

(Itbar 2) Wastes and combustible renewable energy are both examples of energy that are

potentially harmful due to them being an impure or dirty form of energy. Each energy source has

its pros and cons; some options are better than others but aren't necessarily going to be perfect.

"Unlike bioenergy, solar and wind energy to some extent allow other uses of the same land

(IPCC, 2011).” (Santageli 949) However, the results of the scenario included a restriction based

on costs, and energy demand, which calls for caution with these two renewable energy sources.

Even though most may not be able to afford the best kind of renewable energy, one can still

make an effort to improve the environment by other methods.

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Land use is another area in which achieving sustainability is difficult. Each land has

different needs, and prescribing changes to certain lands can be particularly tricky. Some regions

already utilized for farming for centuries consist of mostly wide pieces of undeveloped lands.

Herders or pastoralists use these lands to this day, but now the vast stretches of terrain on which

indigenous people once grazed their livestock have been reduced significantly. In some cases,

most of the herders do not get much say over the land, and as a result, fields are portioned out

and used for other advancements. “Large military installations also occupy land, most of which

could be grazed.” (Prince 1) The land that the herders are left with cannot sustain large herds of

livestock. So even if they have some good land left, they will need to rotate between good fields

and dry fields in order to keep from overgrazing their more productive fields. “With the loss of

more productive land, pastoralists have moved to drier areas, which are more susceptible to

degradation.” (Prince 2) The degradation caused by this issue can take more than 80 years to

reverse. This would pose a threat to not only to our sources of food, but also to wildlife. One

country located in Africa, Namibia, has already taken measures in an effort to help keep their

land protected from degradation. They have dealt with several issues regarding land use and

conservation. “The questions of what is the best possible use for communal land, and which is

the most suitable land tenure system have been controversial issues for a long time, and

successive governments have not held uniform or consistent views.” (Gargallo 133) After

making many changes, Namibia constructed their own conservation program. This program is

now considered as one of the most successful in the continent. However, they did not just keep

people from using certain lands, rather, they set apart different lands that contained wildlife and

put different sets of restrictions on each land. "Official interventions are not univocal and often

contradict each other, and local actors’ actions may work against the expected line. Conservation
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itself is not homogeneous in its discourse or programs – and even less in its effects – and is

helping communal resilience in some ways.” (Gargallo 130) There is no golden ticket to solve

all our environmental problems all at once, but by researching what works in a specific region,

and putting our knowledge into practice, we are capable of moving towards sustainability one

step at a time.

Whether you simply delight in photography of cascading mountains, shimmering

beaches, or rolling hills or you enjoy outdoor activities like skiing, chances are you appreciate

nature in some form. The environments we cherish so much will no longer be able to sustain

themselves if we continue to disregard the effects we have on them. You may think there is not

anything you can do to help take steps toward achieving sustainability, but there is always at

least one thing that anyone can do. Know. It may not sound like a traditional answer, but by

being knowledgeable of how changes affect environments, we can help direct ourselves on a

path of living with “sustainability” sustainably. Being aware of how different factors play roles

in the environment could very well be the best thing you can do. If you knew that planting a pine

tree in a certain region would eventually degrade the surrounding environment, then you

(hopefully) would not plant pine trees there. On an even larger scale, knowing how different

energies affect the environment, as well as people, would be beneficial when voting.

Furthermore, I believe that this issue is important, because if the general public knows more

about the different methods used for achieving sustainability, they will be able to contribute by

making small decisions in their daily lives that will be of great affect in the long run.
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Works Cited

Prince, Stephen, and Uriel Safriel. “Land Use and Degradation in a Desert Margin: The

Northern Negev.” Remote Sensing, vol. 13, no. 15, Aug. 2021, p. 2884. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.3390/rs13152884.

Khan, Itbar, et al. “Analyzing Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy Sources for Environmental

Quality: Dynamic Investigation in Developing Countries.” Mathematical Problems in

Engineering, Sept. 2021, pp. 1–12. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.1155/2021/3399049.

Santangeli, Andrea, et al. “Global Change Synergies and Trade-Offs between Renewable Energy

and Biodiversity.” GCB Bioenergy, vol. 8, no. 5, Sept. 2016, pp. 941–51. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.1111/gcbb.12299.

Gargallo, Eduard. “Community Conservation and Land Use in Namibia: Visions, Expectations

and Realities.” Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 46, no. 1, Feb. 2020, pp. 129–

47. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.1080/03057070.2020.1705617.

Martins, Florinda, et al. “Analysis of Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption and Environmental

Impacts in European Countries †.” Energies (19961073), vol. 12, no. 6, Mar. 2019, p.

964. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.3390/en12060964.