Technology and Sustainability

Should we rely on Technological innovations to achieve Sustainability?

Sustainability is very complex a subject to understand. If it is taken literally, it feels so simple but is very deep in its meaning. It has varied contexts ranging from macro to micro contexts. It has its roots in every field possible, ranging from fashion designing, product designing, Architecture, Urban Planning etc. each field being so different from the other.

How do we think of technological innovations when we think of sustainability? The way world changed in the past 100 years is because of the technological innovations that took place. How dependent we really are on technology? To be honest, the quality of life became better, our life styles changed after the industrial revolution after which our societies have been continuously changing and evolving and taking a step higher and higher with regards to lifestyle changes. The amount of resources we used up in the past 100 years is enormous and we are aware that we can never reverse the cycle.

So, it is important to think, if we should continue on the same path. We all feel trapped because we know that we are heading towards a natural resources crisis that could bring our lifestyles to a standstill. Inspite of the awareness, we still continue to use the resources ruthlessly without giving a thought of what might happen to our future generations. How would they survive if we were to use up all the resources on earth?

The most important question is, “Can we still rely on the technological innovation to give us solutions on how to live sustainably without having to compromise on our current lifestyles?” Should we still place our faith in innovation? Would it be the right thing to do?

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Recycled OR New Modern Furniture?? | Sustainable Design

Step-wise procedure for conducting a research on Furniture Design

In this article, we will discuss the steps for carrying out a research on the proposed topic. This research will help us evaluate if the concept of recycled furniture is workable and whether it could be profitable as compared to the New modern furniture made from new materials.

Step One:

Study the process of making recycled furniture. This would include studying the materials for the furniture, the factories, the energy resources required for the manufacture, amount of skilled and unskilled labour and finally the costs.

Step two:

Where have they been used? Study the successful examples of the use of recycled furniture in various countries and analyse the reasons behind their success.

It is also important to consider the negative aspects of the same. It is important to know why people wouldn’t want to prefer recycled furniture and that should be very clear.

 Dining Table | New Modern Furniture
Dining Table | New Modern Furniture

Step three:

Remember for any venture to become a success, it has to be profitable. If it is not, then nobody will care to pay attention towards it. This applies for both the consumer as well as the manufacturer.

Analysis of the profit and loss for a company manufacturing recycled materials for the furniture has to be done. It is important to know whether these run in loss or in profit which will give you an idea of  the interest that people show towards using recycled furniture.

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Problems in the city of Brighton | Sustainable Development

 Sustainable Urban Development in the United Kingdom

Movie Dialog:

Mr. Henry (the old man): Hello Benazir! How are you?
Architect Benazir: Hello Mr. Henry! I am good. Nice to meet you.
Mr. Henry (the old man): I am so glad that you are an Architect! There are some important issues to discuss. I was looking forward for a discussion with you regarding the so called eco towns.
Architect Benazir:Oh great! I would love that!
Mr. Henry (the old man): What are eco towns?
Towns which are ecologically sensitive are called eco towns.
Mr. Henry (the old man): Does that mean we have to compromise on our lifestyle?
Architect Benazir:Well, I do not know if you would call it compromising your way of living but its entire intention is to make human life more comfortable and save it from destruction.
Mr. Henry (the old man): Alright!That sounds good. So, how different are eco towns from our conventional towns and cities?
Architect Benazir:Ecotowns will fully support pedestrianization and cycling activity and focus on enhancing public transport.
Mr. Henry (the old man): Pedestrianization and cycling?? Hold on to that. Aren’t we having enough of it at Brighton right now?The streets have been narrowed down by drawing 2D cycle pictures on the road making it uncomfortable for cars and buses.
Architect Benazir:I don’t understand what you mean? Could you give an example?

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Climate change and energy depletion | Sustainable Development

Moving towards the Sustainable World!

Is anyone of you fond of the concept of Sustainability? Well, to be really honest, people just do not want to consider sustainability a good alternative for the energy crisis we are in.

Designers are struggling so hard to embed the concept of sustainability into people’s minds. Now, it is high time we start aiming at sustainability. All of us are pretty much aware of the fact that we will not be able survive if we don’t consider sustainable options for our future survival. It is just that people find it really difficult to get out of their comfort zones and make decisions that would make a difference to the world.

Climate is a grave problem. When we have overwhelming problems ahead of us, we tend to seek simple answers. Now when we think about the climate change, it is important to figure out the major cause behind it. Let us have a look at the sources of emissions that are causing climate change.

So, where are the emissions coming from?

The emissions are coming out of tailpipes and smokestacks, so basically the emissions are coming out because of the burning of fossil fuels. So, we need to figure out how we could replace fossil fuels with an alternative source and clean source of energy that would not be hazardous to the life on earth.

And the fact is we do need clean energy in order to get out of the energy crisis that we are already in.

Our world is rapidly urbanizing. In fact by mid century, the world population will be 8 billion or more. This is one of the major problems why we are heading towards energy crisis with such great speed.

The amount of energy that will have to be generated for the kind of lifestyle we have at present in the west will be astonishingly difficult. Generating clean energy is extremely difficult and it is possible that we may not be able to generate as much as clean energy that will be required on our rapidly urbanizing world.

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