Go Green

            The first video had an incredibly refreshing and interesting idea. The speaker asserted that humans must actually look to nature to move forward and progress sustainability. This is a profound idea that was shockingly new to me. I had never exactly considered looking into nature and some of the incredible processes it contains in order to then apply it to human living. Nature and everything living on the planet has had billions of years to advance and evolve, so looking there for answers is a very productive idea. He was able to use various natural examples to get ideas for finishing his projects, as well as easing the burden on our natural resources. This idea of mimicking nature is a fantastic way to promote sustainability. Nature works on a closed loop system, where everything that is discarded by one organism is inherently used by another. By copying this process, humans can learn a great deal and help themselves in the long term. If we were able to somehow incorporate these processes we could have a sustainable future without harming the place we live and call home. This video promotes the advancement of humans being more “green” and shows that it actually could be very exciting.

            The second video did a great job of actually demonstrating the severity of our current sustainability situation and how drastic things may get if nothing is done. It also talked about how complex this problem is and how we don’t exactly know how we will solve this problem yet. This part of the video is fairly pessimistic, and makes it seems that sustainability will be too difficult to achieve in a relevant time frame. However, after this point the video shifted to what we are looking for and how we can solve these issues. It gives parameters of what to look for and what possible models we should follow. This gives the feeling that every person has the ability to help change and sparks the imagination of everyone watching the video. It supports and promotes sustainability and solving these problems in a new, different way.

            There is a very clear and prominent connection between sustainability and consumerism. The two go hand in hand and are inversely related. As you have more consumerism, more things must be produced, therefore limiting sustainability. If I had to produce a sustainable invention I would make a battery that doesn’t contain battery acid and all of the harmful things batteries have now, and instead replace this with a sustainable, non-corrosive element, such as a solar cell.