#4

<Ensuring a Sustainable Future>

20160119 Ye Lim Lee

           Our mother nature is deeply exhausted by human greed. Development of technology enabled us to enjoy great food and convenience. Yet, we never stop asking for more, which brought us to the point of severe environmental destruction. It is now time to take serious concern for sustainable future. On a national level, we can ensure sustainable future by promoting emission trading scheme and waste energy while individually consuming eco-friendly products.

             An action government can take to ensure a sustainable future is promoting emission trading scheme. Emission trade is a market based approach towards controlling pollution. Juggernaut companies receive limited number of permits to discharge specific quantities of a specific pollutant per time period. If they manage to cut down on emission of pollution, they receive economic incentives. Basically, the company that can reduce the most amount of pollution will get more benefit. So, many companies will try their best to shift their production procedure to more environmental way which possibly can result to technological innovation. This flexible environmental regulation will not only reduce emissions but also stimulate technological innovation and economic growth.

             Development of waste-to-energy is another significant mission for government to ensure a sustainable future. Waste-to-energy is a process that generate energy from waste using heat or electricity. Today, earth is almost suffocated by the tremendous amount of trash and food waste. WtE not only produces energy from the wastes but also reduce them. Moreover, it is most economical compared to most renewable energies. Its base material, which is the waste, is cheap and we can also earn the processing fees. In fact, the unit cost of production of WtE is 10% of that of Solar energy. Therefore, government should support the realization of practical use in waste-to-energy industries.

             Individuals can consume environment friendly products to support a sustainable future. It’s almost impossible to not use shampoo just because it harms the environment. We can still maintain a convenient life style by picking products that considers the earth. Look for the ecomark when you shop. It is a mark attached to products that meet the standards aimed at the least impact on the ecosystem. For instance, choose a soap that would dissolves to water naturally or buy an air conditioner that has the highest energy efficiency. We know that some of the products that we use has negative impacts on earth. Nevertheless, these are used for human comfort that we insist to keep. A reasonable way of solving this dilemma is to select earth friendly products.

             Everyone knows the earth is in danger. We have seen the poor polar bears swimming endlessly because of the global warming. Yet, it often feels like a faraway story. The truth is, this is the time we need to step forward to ensure a sustainable future. We need to figure out how we can promise once a bright Earth. Most importantly, we should keep considering our foot print and feel responsible.