352 Green Chemistry, 2nd ed
The achievement of sustainability will require that individuals adopt sustainability as
part of their belief systems. Indeed, it would be very helpful if environmental protection
and the preservation of Mother Earth and her limited resources were to become virtually
a religion or to be incorporated into existing religions. In this respect, some of the
more primitive of Earth’s tribes had belief systems that were much more consistent
with sustainability than the predominant religions of today. In some pre-Columbian
Native American cultures, Earth and nature were worshipped, a belief system that could
well serve as an example to current denizens of the globe. There is some evidence that
modern religions are beginning to consider sustainability as a moral issue. One example
is the movement, “What would Jesus drive?,” that preaches that pollution from vehicles
significantly impacts human health, peace and security are threatened by reliance on
imported oil from politically unstable regions, and, therefore, Jesus would not likely
drive a fuel guzzling sport utility vehicle!
14.3. THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: GIvEN THAT THE BURDEN
UpON EARTH’S SUppORT SYSTEM IS THE pRODUCT OF NUMBER
OF pEOpLE TIMES DEMAND pER pERSON, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO
ADDRESS BOTH NUMBERS OF pEOpLE ON EARTH AND THE
DEMAND THAT EACH pUTS ON EARTH’S RESOURCES.
The burden placed upon Earth’s support systems can be expressed by the
equation
Burden = (Number of people) × (Demand per person) (14.3.1)This equation shows that both the number of people and the demand that each puts on
Earth’s resources must be considered in reducing the impact of humans on Earth. Both
must be addressed to achieve sustainability.
As of 2005, Earth’s human population stood at approximately 6.5 billion people and
that of the U.S. at approximately 295 million people. These are staggering numbers to be
sure. However, the good news is that these numbers are not nearly so high as those from
projections made 40 or 50 years earlier. Even in developing countries, birth rates have
fallen to much lower levels than expected earlier. Particularly in Italy, Spain, France,
and other nations in Europe, birth rates have fallen to much below the replacement level
and there is concern over depopulation and the social and economic impacts of depleted,
aging populations. Even in the U.S., the birth rate has fallen below replacement levels and
population growth that is taking place is the result of immigration. The increase in world
population that has occurred over the last half century has been more due to decreasing
death rates than to increasing birth rates. One U.N. official opined that, “It is not so much
that people started reproducing like rabbits that they stopped dying like flies!” Although
these trends do not provide room for complacency — explosive population growth could
resume — they are encouraging and give hope that the first factor in Equation 14.3.1
may be controlled.