Hope for our world. Always half full.

Our society has a paradigm of conspicuous consumption. Once we establish and achieve one goal, we soon make another one and work towards the new goal. We love material things and it really is part of our culture with myself included. While I understand the need for sustainability, my consumer side says that I want companies to make as much to get the least expensive product available. I do have optimism in the fact that our world can be more sustainable but I do have pessimism because we have gone global and I think there is no going back.

When asked about how do I see sustainability in the future, I look through many perspectives. I see the consumer, manufacturer’s and world’s view. Because we live in such a global world, I really do believe that we are never going back to localized in total form. I believe that if we buy and produce local when possible, that will reduce on a lot of transportation. Also, some products will always be made in specific areas: champagne from France, electronics from Asia, and spices from India – those are products I think that will always be imported and exported. What I see consumers buying locally and companies producing smaller quantities so their merchandise – and our precious resources -  do not go to waste.

Visoneering: An Essential Framework for Sustainability Science discusses that in order to have success there needs to be three crucial compontents: 1) Management 2) Governance 3) Monitoring. My idea for the world includes those three aspects, I envision that the UN creates a worldwide organization to regulate pesticides and water use. Through an organization, countries can provide subsidies and make changes accordingly to usage. Education to consumers on why costs may initially go up as well should be provided as well as how to properly use sustainable systems to farmers, manufacturers and companies. I feel that although there are a lot of positive technological advances unless they become more widely used as well as less expensive to replace with older technology, they really cannot make a large impact on the environment.

I see company’s that are making the switch to using less energy, less packaging, renovating to become more sustainable and reduce spending. In the article Limiting Consumption Toward A Sustainable Culture, Durning cites using the Golden Rule. Every generation uses what they need and nothing more because excess could cause trouble for the upcoming generation.

I realize that the modern society is materialistic and honestly I am okay with that but if we, as designers, merchandisers and fellow consumers, could put into their minds that they do not ever have to stop buying but rather buy items that can be upcycled, then there are endless possibilities for our future. In order to become sustainable we need to be able to have imagination, foresight, goal setting, possibility thinking, scenario thinking, critical thinking, open-mindedness and creativity as cited by Lombardo. Without these skills there is not true way to see how our world is. I really do have hope for our future. Maybe it’s my in my religion to be optimistic but I know there is hope for our planet. I know we are capable for a more sustainable, rich future.