Sustainable Development and Urban Environment

Over the past centuries, mankind’s action has seen a great number of other species being driven to extinction. These creates a huge problem to our environment as we are destroying vital parts of every ecosystem. This has proven consequential to our environment and personal well-being. Taking for example deforestation. Deforesting a single ecosystem and causing a cascade effect to its neighboring ecosystems, we are seeing a huge number of ecosystems being damaged due to our actions. At the point that we are, we need to not only combat against this, but also attempt to restore ecosystems that we have already damaged. Furthermore, land area that has been cleared for the purpose of agriculture has seen great degradation, and to be able to restore ecosystems within those areas would be a long and tough task. I believe with current technological advances, older conventional methods are no longer viable, for example, agriculture does not require to happen on conventional farms, and can ...

I recently came across a phrase, “everyone wants to save the planet, until it costs them money.” Upon hearing the phrase, I realized how true it is. Money and convenience are enormous factors of why sustainable initiatives put in place by the government is progressing at a very slow rate. Knowing that the planet could be in a much better condition if it was not due to our selfish needs is disappointing. As we move towards the coming decades, government bodies are pushing out more initiatives, these initiatives propose a number of actions to progress sustainably. However, these initiatives are unlikely to succeed without the citizen’s assistance. As individuals, our commitment to helping out in sustainable initiatives could help progress forward faster. But how do we convince everyone to put self-gain behind responsibility. This seems like an almost impossible task. It seems that areas that deals the greatest visible impact to the environment is often tucked away where people do n...

I recently stumbled upon a video that demonstrates a guy named Dave Hakkens recycling used plastic at home. He created a machine that shreds used plastic items and using the shredded residue, to create new products. This innovative product not only reduces plastic waste contributing to landfill, but also creates a unique way of recycling and reusing plastic items within the comfort of his own home. He demonstrated a wide range of different end products such as rock climbing wall rocks, bowls, pots, vases, furniture, lamps and many more. Another interesting thing about this is that he shares his design online for free, allowing other people to do the same thing. Such innovativeness allows the idea of recycling and reusing to reach a completely different level. It brings recycling and reusing to a more personal level, allowing people to bring about personal contributions to sustainability in a more productive way rather than conventional recycling. It not only reduces plastic waste b...

Reduction in greenhouse gases, carbon emission and footprint, fresher and healthier produce, less water wastage. These are opportunities that urban agriculture is providing as alternatives. A company named Aerofarms have converted multiple old buildings turning them into an agriculture area within cities. Aerofarms uses old empty buildings and turning the interior into layers of agriculture plots. The produce allows for less transportation and importation time from grocers to farms and cuts out the carbon emissions from the transportation, whilst providing fresher and more nutritious options to consumers. Their technology cultivates the crops by sitting them in oxygenated water. Their system also allows them to use 95% less water compared to a conventional farm. The crops are also grown from a reusable cloth made from reused plastic instead of soil, also replacing sunlight with specialised LED lights. With a controlled agriculture area, their controlled climate system allows crops ...

With development of automobile in the last century, its understandable the urge to indulge in purchasing a new vehicle knowing the status, comfort, and convenience that it comes with. With this inclination to purchasing a vehicle, we have seen a majority of main mode of transport shifting towards a personally owned vehicle. Being one of the main reasons for our environment to plummet to its current state. However, with congested roads, lack of car parking in dense urban areas, and a conscience to save the environment, cycling as a main mode of transport is making a return. Cycling provides users with a healthier alternative, it cuts down transport time in heavily congested areas, reduces the trouble of looking for parking, and it benefits the environment. Dismissing it as an option due to convenience is no longer viable. While cycling does not provide the convenience of a vehicle, it proves to be the best option with the other benefits it provides. Though recognizing this would tak...

It is upsetting that nearly every week, you come across news and videos of people openly discriminating another based on their race, gender, and even sexual preferences. In recent years, tolerance for such discrimination has been slowly dropping, but yet, such incidents still happen frequently. Racial discrimination is detrimental to our society, creating animosity, breeding bigotry and hinders social sustainability development. Ridding racial discrimination might be ways in the future, but I believe it is time that everyone takes a stand. Often stereotypical comments or jokes on racism are marginalised and dismissed but I believe these are often the roots to such problems. This creates a barrier in which one race views differences in another, and leaves room for it to develop into further resent or distaste. When such jokes and comments are made, though often not offensive due to its neutral delivery, it is important for those on the receiving end to speak up and mention its inapp...