In order to achieve sustainability, humans need to think about their decisions in almost every aspect of daily life. This applies to people’s individual actions as well as to the actions of industries.
Industries—such as manufacturing, agriculture, and construction—depend on fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). These fuels create pollution that affect the land, air, and water. Burning fossil fuels also leads to the production of greenhouse gases. These gases contribute to a problem called global warming. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources. Once they are used up, they will be gone forever. To achieve sustainability, industries are starting to focus on using alternative energy sources, such as solar power, wind power, and waterpower. These energy sources are renewable, which means they cannot be used up. They also produce little pollution.
Construction requires a large amount of steel, concrete, wood, and other materials. One way construction can be made more sustainable is by using recycled materials, such as metals and concrete from demolished buildings. Sustainable building design, or green architecture, focuses on making sure each structure wastes as little energy as possible. For example, some buildings are designed to collect and store energy from sunlight to use in heating the building. Builders can also install a “cool roof” made with materials that absorb less heat than a traditional roof. This keeps the building cooler during hot weather.
Water conservation is very important, especially in agriculture. Agriculture uses about 70 percent of the world’s fresh water. Farmers can conserve water by planting crops that are suited to the climate where they are planted. Farmers can also collect rainwater and use it for irrigation.
