Benefits of Going Green

People often talk about "going green" as if it's some chore item we've been assigned on account of our environmental negligence. Maybe it is. Going green is also the acceptance of a wide array of technological, scientific and social advancements. These advancements focus on sustainable development, resource management, environmental awareness and cultural concepts of need, utility and waste. Going green is much more than a corrective measure to fix environmental damage - going green is advancement.

Here are just 3 of the ideas in the "go green" movement, and why they represent advancement.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a very generic concept which can be applied anywhere from manufacturing to the growth of metropolitan areas. Sustainable development is a long-term model for resource use with the principle goal of ensuring the constant availability of resources. If resources are consumed at a rate that is equal to or less than the rate at which they are replenished then they will never run out. Fossil fuels for example, are not replenishable. Whether there is enough oil to last 10 years or 50 years is of no consequence; both numbers fall within the lifespan of a single individual, and both are minuscule compared to the 1000s of years that society has existed. In order to continue using vehicles, they will have to run on something other than fossil fuel. A fully electric car who was charged by solar panels, for example, would represent a technology which is sound in principle for a few billion years rather than a few decades.

Renewable Energy: Wind Power & Solar Power

The sun provides of with two sources of nearly boundless energy: the mechanical energy in wind, and light. The currents of air created by the sun heating the earth daily and the energy latent in light both represent energy stores far beyond the conceivable demands of society. The limiting factor in converting either of these forms of solar energy into electricity is technology. Even at our current technological level wind and solar power are already replacing existing fossil fuel dependent systems. Solar energy is distributed globally everyday unlike oil fields thus making it an unlikely target of a military campaign.

Conservation

A huge amount of our modern medicine originates from other organisms. Penicillin for example is a form of mold. It is unknown how many other discoveries remain to be made in places such as the Amazon Rainforest however nearly 1/4 of pharmacy drugs can cite the Rainforest as their origin. Furthermore, 99% of organisms in the Rainforest have yet to be studied. Even ignoring the potential allure of the undiscovered, the Rainforest presents us with a very basic solution to global warming. TREES! Land-based plant life has 500 million years of evolution on its impressive resume, and all of that spent taking carbon out of the atmosphere and releasing oxygen.

The benefits of going green span from great business innovations to preventing wars, from harnessing endless sources of energy to curing disease. Going green isn't a hippie movement, isn't a fad, it's here to stay. And if it isn't, well, neither are we.