Sustainable Development - What Does it Mean and Who Wants To Tell You?

Today's journals of trade and popular culture are all but awash in the buzzwords 'sustainable' and 'sustainability'. Here, we are obliged to raise the red flag and warn of lurking danger. These diverse and many advocates do a great disservice in more ways than they know.

For in this great sea of 'sustainability', which spans business strategies and regimens of weight loss, one all too easily loses sight of the real battle. We know that over-use of a term can have an unintended blunting effect. But the word is so much in vogue, and its employment so overzealous, that it has in many instances become obscured entirely. So, you ask, what is sustainable development? Who are its proponents and antagonists? And, oh yes, why exactly is it to be so desired after all?

Ours is an age in which we have come under the twin pressures of burgeoning population growth and an accompanying intensification of economic development. This development is necessary for the provision of the surging population's needs and wants. Though rates of population growth show signs of slowing, the number of earth's inhabitants will continue to expand massively in the foreseeable future. With the added variable of impending climate change, there is a sudden and new awareness of the potentially destructive nature of the human project.

These realities have given immense weight to calls for an oversight which explicitly takes account of the fate of future generations. Many nuanced definitions have been devised, but the most commonly evoked is that sustainable development "meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." General consensus holds that the sustainability project spans three interactive domains; these are (1) environmental sustainability, (2) economic sustainability, and (3) social-political sustainability.

Environmental sustainability is concerned with the preservation of resources and our earth's natural environment. In the strictest sense, any process which allows natural capital (the net sum of all natural resources and other bounties of the earth) to be depleted faster than it can be replenished threatens its ability to function and to serve us properly and indefinitely. Advocates of environmental protection actively seek solutions which will minimize the present and future burden to our natural environment of industrial and other pursuits. The best solutions are those which find ways to incorporate renewable methods of resource exploitation.

The notion of environmental sustainability is thus inextricably bound to the premise of economic sustainability. Rapid advances in new technologies and production techniques are constantly altering and expanding the boundary of production possibilities. But ultimately, economics is the science of the allocation of a finite resource pool. Promotion of economic sustainability thus seeks to allow for future generations to reach their own optimal allocations free from constraints imposed by our own patterns of exploitation in the here and now.

The sphere of social-political sustainability is interesting in that it expands beyond the simple necessity of economic growth and its effect on the natural environment to more directly include the human element in the equation. Social-political sustainability promotes social harmony and continuity of healthy political institutions so that a mechanism is in place for the enactment of the collective will (presumably a will which is favorable to sustainability).

The project of sustainable development has inevitably encountered resistance. Some are eager to point out that any economic pursuit which entails resource depletion is by that very fact unsustainable. But to make this charge is to reduce the debate to semantics; to contend that the impossibility of an absolute application invalidates the endeavor wholesale is to court the ridiculous.

Another more prominent criticism is slightly more troublesome to counter. Available evidence seems to confirm the wisdom that as nations emerge from poverty and amass wealth they are more willing to dedicate a portion of their incomes to combat pollution and other unpleasantries. The wealthy industrialized nations of the world at one time advanced through dirtier stages analogous to the present progress of developing economies. However at that time there were no monitors or whistle-blowers. This school of critics cries hypocrisy. They uphold "dirty" mediums of economic growth that wealthier nations can now afford to bypass as the only hope to elevate massive populations from abject misery. In so doing, they seek to force arbiters of sustainable development into the unenviable position of choosing between the welfare of the earth's poor and that of the earth itself.

In the face of these criticisms, proponents of sustainable development strive for the national and international coordination of environmental, economic and sometimes social policies in the advancement of responsible progress. They are mindful that the world more than ever is a system of actors, none of whose actions bear no consequence for others. Their goal is the day-to-day management of policy decisions such that humanity might enjoy the bounty of our natural environment without exhausting it, and without selfishly revoking the privilege of coming generations to do the same.

Without sounding the bells of certain alarmists, sustainability of this color is to be venerated and upheld. Dilution of the term's strength by those who would seek to hijack its nobility is, on the other hand, to be regretted and indeed resisted.

Daniel Lafleche is the co-founder of Alternative Channel, a website dedicated to giving non-profit organizations concerned with issues of sustainable development, environmentalism, and humanitarian issues an online forum for their video content. You can learn more at http://www.alternativechannel.tv

Teaching Kids to Love Science and Rekindling Our Fascination in the Process

Teaching our kids to love science can help them become clearer thinkers and better persons. A sustained interest in science will not only help them as children (in school or in play), but will also aid in their development as adults, allowing them to function well in any field of work and to be happy and successful in their lives. The best way to engage our kids in the wonders of science is through educational toys.

Science in our midst

Science is important; we were always taught that in school. But as adults, with all the preoccupations we have to deal with in real life from our jobs to our domestic obligations and our personal affairs and financial concerns, we tend to forget just how important science is. Because of the everyday problems and mundane tasks we have to deal with, we may find that science has little relevance in our lives. What we fail to see is that a sustained fascination with the workings of the world and a constant love for science and technology can actually lead to a more satisfying and fulfilling life.

Being a role model

We need to rediscover the joys of science to truly teach our kids to love science. Kids learn the most by imitation and what they see in the actions and words of adults (especially their parents) they tend to file in their little heads as a matter of importance. Buying them children's educational toys is one way to make them value learning; showing them how interested we are in the world and are fascinated with science is another way of affecting their minds for the better.

Seeing science in a new light

Each day, wonderful and amazing things elude our thoughts: how the world wide web connects the entire planet and how the way we work has changed (and is changing) because of the gadgets and technologies we use; the structure and composition of the engineered food we eat, grown in a remote farm built for mass production and located millions of miles away; how the shoes we are wearing, constructed with ergonomic rubber soles, are able to correct our gait; or how our office chair was conceptualized by an industrial designer to mix style with functionality. Everywhere, in every corner or space, in the air and in our midst, in our house, in our neighborhood, and in our workplace, are interesting facts and opportunities for discovering more about the world. We have to look at things in this light again-in the eyes of a child where everything is an opportunity for discovery and exploration, everyday can be an adventure. Toddler educational toys can help our kids learn the wonderful world of science, and at the same time, help rekindle our curiosity and sense of discovery. Together with our kids, we can make learning fun and make playtime a great opportunity for bonding.

Science for kids and adults

Science is not just for kids or scientists; they are for adults too. Kids' toys do not need to be silly or boring for adults. Today's science toys are sophisticated and complex that any adult will be amazed and perplexed. Simple chemistry lab sets, microscopes, DNA testing kits, robotics, telescopes, and other fascinating gadgets and science kits are available in the market. There are also baby toys that teach basic scientific concepts such as gravity and the law of motion. Together with our children, we can learn a wide field of sciences including geology, geography, astronomy, anatomy, physics, chemistry, and a whole lot more!

Munoz is an online marketer and entrepreneur that enjoys writing about a variety of topics. Specializing in outdoor products, kids educational toys, and other family friendly topics.

Technology Investment - What You Need to Know to Profit by Investing in Technology

With the stock market on a crazy roller coaster this last year or so in the wake of the global financial crisis, investors are looking for sectors where they can make the most money on their investment; and, recover what money they have lost. I think a good argument can be made that technology investment will be one of the most promising sectors to be in for quite some time to come.

Whether you are referring to green technology or the HITECH legislation intent on uploading medical records into computing "clouds" or nanotechnology, most experts agree that the future is quite bright in this area.

Contrast that with non technology investment in such areas as has heavy industry or even Detroit auto manufacture and I think you'll find that maximum profit potential lies with technology.

But how does one go about finding specific stocks or funds to invest in to take advantage of these technological breakthroughs without losing significant portions of the capital on stocks that fail to deliver or simply fall behind in their particular industry?

The most money can be made in areas that are volatile; but that volatility works both ways and can easily produce negative returns on a large scale as well. It really takes an expert to be able to sort through all the information available on companies and the advanced sciences they employ.

This need for high expertise to sort out the winners from the losers is what drives most investors to seek out a technology mutual fund or a technology newsletter with experts who have the time and competency to do all the research necessary.

There are advantages and disadvantages to investing in a mutual fund and one of the disadvantages is a fund has to invest in more stocks than what they really would like to be involved with simply because of the large volume of money that is thrown their way and the small pool of companies with potential.

Quite often a technology investment is best placed in a very small capitalization company that is too small to be capable of producing a large return for a mutual fund. An individual investor on the other hand can take a sizable position in relative terms to profit handsomely if that company delivers on what the market expects of them and rewards them with a higher share price.

This tips the scale towards the technology newsletter as the go to source for the expertise to determine what companies should be the recipient of your capital and which ones should not. One would do well to look at the credentials of the individual researcher employed by the research firm in order to determine if they will be a good source of information.

I also believe track records should be examined, although sometimes those can be somewhat difficult to verify and ascertain to insure that the figures you see resemble real-life experience.

Find out what newsletters and technology investment I think are worthy of my capital and are expected to perform well in the uncertain markets we see in today's global environment.

Our website is dedicated to scraping away the marketing fluff and finding out exactly which researchers have what it takes for investing in technology. The address is http://www.InvestLetters.com.

The Fine Line Between Science and Science Fiction

Science is based on fact, while science fiction is based on imagination. Where exactly is the fine line between them? What I really find interesting is that sometimes imagination becomes science. Many products, inventions and innovative ideas began as a thought and manifested into reality. The telephone, television and even the social Internet were born in the imagination, but came to life through intelligent innovation.

Writers, especially of science fiction, create places, people and things (vampires, heroes, creatures) that have some bases of truth. There are vampire bats that suck blood. This came to mind because years ago I was writing a story called E.A.R.T.H.

This stands for Experimental Action to Reach Terrestrial Harmony. It was about Captain Hendrick, leader of the Star Ship Nabin, who hears about his father's death on a scientific lab station. An explosion nearly eradicated the outpost, except for a file he locates about an experiment his father was working on, called E.A.R.T.H

After obtaining permission from the Inter-Galactic Counsel, he sets out to finish the evaluation of this project in memory of his father.

Landing on the far side of the moon, Hendrick and his crew send an infra-laser camera to take pictures of life on Earth so they will be able to duplicate things and mingle un-noticed, with the inhabitants.

The story details his findings that show a planet still in primitive social development and without a peaceful environment. Many crewmembers develop relationships with the earthlings and there is a mix opinion whether this experiment is a success or failure.

At the close of the story and his return home, Captain Hendrick, now in love with a human from Earth, has to persuade the Inter-Galactic Counsel not to destroy the planet. He learns that Earth was created as an experiment, combining all unique creatures from other galaxies to see if they could peacefully co-habituate. The Inter-Galactic Counsel deems E.A.R.T.H as a failed experiment and Hendrick is ordered to destroy it. The story has a surprise ending.

Even though this story is science fiction, there actual is a camera today that can be airborne, but invisible to the eye. It was written in 1990, yet some of this science fiction is now science.

It is fact that other galaxies or even universes are out in space, even though we cannot see them, we know they are somewhere in outer space.

Even though science and science fiction can be worlds apart, the line between them can be small and narrow. Think about the movies, Inception, Avatar and The Matrix, which used advanced technology that may one day become realities. What if one day some of these concepts, prove to be true. It would rock our world.

Then there are the creative science fiction writers like Stephen King, H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Jules Verne and George Orwell. They drew us into make believe worlds that drive our minds to wonder what is possible.

I remember reading the book 1984 by George Orwell and there was a Big Television in every home, which watched the citizens of Oceania. Just think about it, isn't what the Internet does today?

We all have untapped creativity in our brains. Add a little imagination and you never know what can be manifested. Many talented people in the arts, music and motion picture industry deserve credit for crossing these lines by their unique and open imaginations.

Even the illusionist and magicians test our minds to determine what divides reality. Maybe that is the purpose of our minds, when we dream. For in this human state they cannot detect the difference between what is real and illusion.

Why not ponder the brotherhood of science and science fiction and the possibilities offered when those line cross?

I am an author and a mystic. My book is called, Blood, Money, Power and it was inspired by a true story. My home is in Portland, OR and I belong to Willamette Writers. Please see my blog at http://michelemarietate.com

The Importance of Packaging and Strapping in the Home and in Industry

According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, packaging is

"the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial, and personal use."

This is certainly food for thought for those whose concept of packaging starts and finishes with items on supermarket shelves or glitzy wrappers on their Christmas presents.

In actual fact any kind of material designed to protect its contents from damage or from perishment falls into the ambit of packaging. Containers on cargo ships which enable goods of irregular shape to be stacked into regular patterns are packaging of a sort.

It doesn't take a great deal of reflection therefore to appreciate just how important packaging is to all our everyday lives. Goods we have ordered arrive in the post in one piece because they are packaged in such a way as to make relatively sure that they won't be damaged in transit. Food can be stored in bottles and in tins, often for years, which would otherwise have perished within little more than a week. And the labels on the tins tell us precisely what they contain - an obvious statement possibly, but without this extra item of packaging we would be unable to distinguish between a can of soup and twelve ounces of chopped tomatoes.

Likewise machinery, furniture, indeed almost anything that we take for granted both in a domestic and an industrial situation arrives surrounded by packaging - typically polythene bags, seemingly endless shavings of polystyrene and a sturdy wooden or cardboard box surrounded by strapping.

Some of the more inspired inventions in the world of packaging would include pallet wrapping and bar sealers, and often on an industrial scale these are applied through the use of sophisticated machinery. It would not be an exaggeration to say that packaging has itself become an industry and a field of expert endeavour.

Mark Richards is General Manager of The Middle Man, an online, low-cost business promotion company.