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Mark Ernst klein.jpg Mark Ernst

Integrated sustainability

In a previous column I wrote about the three things that are needed to get to a sustainable world. First, we need to achieve an enormous increase in resource efficiency. Second, we have to change from a fossil-fuel economy to a solar economy. And third, we have to transform our linear, wasting and polluting way of using resources to a closed, circular way where nothing is wasted. What is noticeable is that these three points are something we need to do. During our research in the last weeks I have noticed that this is exactly the main problem we have at this moment.

In order to make the change to a sustainable society, it is the mind that needs the largest adaption. We are so used to live in an unstainable world, that we don’t even notice how unsustainable we are. Or actually, we basically just don’t care. Lamps are left on for nothing, trash is barely separated, heating is on while nobody is at home, etc.. Why don’t we do something about it? Because we are lazy! It takes an effort to do that, and who would spill their ‘energy’ for that? And if we do it, we aspect something in return, preferably money. But what some don’t seem to realise is that using less energy is actually saving you money, cause you are saving money on your energy bill.

I think it is really hard to change the human mind, especially once it is used to something. So what is important is that we learn it the sustainable way from the beginning. Young children should get used to a sustainable way of living, so that it won’t feel for them as an extra thing to do. They should be taught to go to school by bike, to separate their waste, to not use any more energy than is needed, in other words: to be aware of their ‘sustainable behaviour’. A great role is here for education. Sustainability should be a topic for everyone, at every age. Not just some architecture students, at their 20’s, who get some courses about it. No, it should be an integral part of every education, from little kids to students, so that it’s a part of us and our society.

A problem lies still in the fact that also parents are mainly responsible for the behaviour of their child. This generation will be the hardest to change, since their mind needs to be changed. But wouldn’t it be great to see a small boy correcting his dad for not separately throwing away his plastic bottle and apple? Or to see mum standing at the car, ready to go to the supermarket that is five minutes away by bike, and the kid refusing to go because he wants to go by bike?

I’m convinced that once we introduce this in our nowadays world, the transition to a sustainable world will go fast. Isn’t it beautiful to see the future of humanity be established by the future generation, by correcting the previous?