Importance of Sustainable Use of Water
Question:
Discuss about the Transformation of Slum and Squatter Settlements.
The environmental issues are rising in the society and there putting huge doubts on the life of the future generations in the society (Berglund et al. 2014). It is the duty of the present generation to save the planet and help the future generation to lead a healthy life (Omole and Ndambuki 2014). Proper innovations help in maintaining a sustainable lifestyle in the society. However, the innovation should be implemented in such a manner so that it will be easier for the individuals to implement and maintain them in the normal life (Yu and Kang 2014). The write-up will throw light on two aspects of sustainable living for the living in the society. The two aspect of sustainable living that will be taken into account are sustainable use of water and recycling of plastic. The innovation that could be brought in will be further discussed. The innovation will help in the adhering to the sustainable living in the society.
One of the most important aspects of sustainable living is sustainable use of water. Many parts of the world suffer from water scarcity (Mercer 2014). Especially, the rural population suffer from water scarcity as the people living in the urban locations use up most of the water (Mehta and Singh 2015). As the farmers are hugely depended on water for their irrigation purposes, they are the most affected people (Mont, Neuvonen and Lähteenoja 2014). If the people living in the urban areas and the companies working in various locations take small steps to save water, the entire water scarcity will be eliminated.
It has been expected that world will be facing a water shortage of 40% by the year 2030 and the scarcity will be going to cost Australia a great deal (Tranter 2015). Australia will be facing issues with food and water security. The people staying at Broken Hill have stated that the people do not care of saving water until the taps run dry.
Australia faces huge amount of challenges energy-water-carbon intersections that helps in facing the challenges of climate changes. The development of Australia is also affecting the water supply (Opray 2016). More number of concrete buildings is coming up due to increasing population. The country has to give water supply to all those people and facing huge issues with water (Taher and Ibrahim 2014). In addition to this, the settlements of the refugees are also increasing the demand for water supply.
As the demand and scarcity of water are growing at a similar pace, it has become necessary to save and conserve water and think of was that would help in saving water (Siegel 2013). The people of Australia should find put ways to live sustainably by putting a check on the usage of water and help the country to combat the issues of water scarcity.
The use of plastics is affecting the environment and he lives of the human beings to great deal (Mazze and Stockard 2013). Even though the plastics have harmful effects on the lives of the people, yet the individuals are not able to get rid of the use of plastics. As the individuals have been using plastics for so long, they are not being able to think about a life they is without plastics (Berglund et al. 2014).
Issues of Water Scarcity and Agriculture
Plastics are not only affecting the human beings are also harming the species present in the nature. One of the most gruesome case that has happened recently is the case of a whale has swallowed plastics that have been thrown into the water (Papenfuss, 2017). The whale has been sighted in the beach of Norwegian shore. The whale had to be put to death humanely as the plastics have caused grievous effect to its health. The whale was unable to swim and remained stranded in the shore for a long time. Thirty plastic bags were found from the stomach of the whale. This incident has thrown light on the dire need of taking steps to stop the use of plastic as it is causing dangerous issues to the nature.
To save water, there are certain innovations that could be helpful (Omole and Ndambuki 2014). The innovations should not be anything that would be hampering the action of the individuals but should be installed in such a manner so that it would be a part of the life of the individuals (Yu and Kang 2014).
The above image gives the example of one such innovation where the individuals can do their normal work and save their water. The used water from the washbasin will go the cistern, the new water is going to the wash basin as well as the cistern. The cistern will be having 50% of the used water and 50% new water. Even though the steps taken are small, it will be helpful for saving water. The amount of water that will be saved might not be huge but on a long run, it will be helpful for the conservation of water. Clean water is needed in the washbasin. On the other hand, only used water cannot be used in the cisterns. Moreover, it would take a lot of time for the used water to fill up the cistern. On the contrary, filling up the cistern with new water will take a huge amount of water. Hence, filling up the water cistern will be best done with the 50% water and 50% new water. In this way, the amount of water that could be used will be reduced. If 5 liters of water is normally used in the cistern, then after the implementation of the innovation, it will be reduced to 2.5 liters of new water will be used in the cistern and the remaining 2.5 liters of used water will be used in the cistern. The users will not have to make any extra effort to conserve water other than changing the pipelines and drainage system in the bathrooms.
Plastics are not degradable in nature and hence it will stay in nature even after it is being used (Mehta and Singh 2015). Thus, recycling of the plastics will be the best action that could be taken. The use of plastics can be reduced but as the consumers have already being using it, hence they cannot stop the use of the plastics at once. Recycling and reusing the plastics is the best practice (Mont, Neuvonen and Lähteenoja 2014). Plastics can be used with asphalt and landfills to construct the roads. In this way, the plastics could be used and the roads with the help of the plastics. The roads that will be made by using the plastics stay longer (Taher and Ibrahim 2014). The costs of construction of the roads will be cheaper. There will be any extra cost for the plastics that will be used. Thus, the companies that are using the plastics will be able to make more profit face less amount of expenditure.
Innovative Solutions to Save Water
The plastic bottles can be used to make footwear, bags and other accessories. In this way, then plastic bottles that cause harm to the nature can be reused. The plastic bottles can be recycled to manufacture the things that could be used for fashion purposes. In this way, it will be less harmful and the things will be manufactured at a lesser costs (Siegel 2013). In addition to this, it will be helpful for creating jobs for the people. The plastic bottles are collected, processes and manufactured. Then people who will collect the bottles will get a job (Mazze and Stockard 2013). At times, the peoples who are not well-educated find it difficult to get a job this type of innovation will not only help the organization to get more profit but will also help other people to get a job (Berglund et al. 2014).
Conclusion
After going through the issues in the nature and the sustainable practice that should be taken into account it can be concluded that sustainable practices can be a part of everyday life. Australia along with the world is facing scarcity of water. Plastics are not only affecting the lives of the human being but other species as well. innovation can be implemented by passing the water from the washbasins to the cistern. The cistern will have 50% fresh water and 50% used water. plastics can be recycled to be used in the construction of roads. It can be further used to manufacture things like bags, shoes and accessories. In this way, the companies will be able to reduce the cost of the operations. In addition to this, the many people will be able to get a job like collecting the plastic bottles and bags. The people who are not educated and find issues in getting a job, the innovations will be helpful for those people.
References
Berglund, B.E., Kitagawa, J., Lagerås, P., Nakamura, K., Sasaki, N. and Yasuda, Y., 2014. Traditional farming landscapes for sustainable living in Scandinavia and Japan: Global revival through the Satoyama Initiative. Ambio, 43(5), pp.559-578.
Mazze, S. and Stockard, J., 2013. Evaluating the effectiveness of a sustainable living education program. Journal of Extension, 51(1), p.n1.
Mehta, M. and Singh, K., 2015. Dissemination of MDV II cooking unit for sustainable living. International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, Public Health and Technology, 7(1), p.1.
Mercer, P. 2014. How Australia’s Perth is battling a water crisis – BBC News. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27225396 [Accessed 8 May 2017].
Mont, O., Neuvonen, A. and Lähteenoja, S., 2014. Sustainable lifestyles 2050: stakeholder visions, emerging practices and future research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 63, pp.24-32.
Omole, D.O. and Ndambuki, J.M., 2014. Sustainable living in Africa: Case of water, sanitation, air pollution and energy. Sustainability, 6(8), pp.5187-5202.
Opray, M. 2016. Not a drop to waste: how expanding Australian cities can tackle water shortages. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/may/16/not-a-drop-to-waste-how-expanding-australian-cities-can-tackle-water-shortages [Accessed 8 May 2017].
Papenfuss, M. 2017. Beached Whale Found With 30 Plastic Bags Crammed In Its Belly. [online] Huffington Post India. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/beached-beaked-whale-had-30-plastic-bags-stuffed-in-belly_us_58957a1de4b0c1284f262e91 [Accessed 8 May 2017].
Siegel, K.A., 2013, November. Sustainable living in retirement communities: Housing modifications to help seniors age in place. In 141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 2-November 6, 2013). APHA.
Taher, M.T. and Ibrahim, A., 2014. Transformation of Slum and Squatter Settlements: A Way of Sustainable Living in Context of 21 st Century Cities. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, 2(2), pp.70-76.
Tranter, K. 2015. Global water woes: Australia’s looming water crisis. [online] Independent Australia. Available at: https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/global-water-woes-australias-looming-water-crisis-,7534 [Accessed 8 May 2017].
Yu, C.J. and Kang, J., 2014. Soundscape in the sustainable living environment: A cross-cultural comparison between the UK and Taiwan. Science of the Total Environment, 482, pp.501-509.
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