sustainability

There was once a town on the side of the mountain. The mountain top was covered with beautiful snow which flowed crisp and clear to the river that supplied water to the people.  

The river emptied into a lake near the bottom of the mountain. One day a local townsperson came to realize that the snow which supplied the river must surely run out as all the water continually flowed down to the lake. And the lake water evaporated into the air. 

“We must save the water; the molecule is too valuable to waste!” he cried.  

In a panic the town collected massive taxes to install a large pump that could be powered by burning the local trees and built a pipe to direct the lake water back to the top of the mountain. They also covered the lake to prevent evaporation. 

The towns celebrated their wisdom and conservation of the water, feeling confident that not one molecule would be wasted.  

Over the years, snow ceased to fall on the top of the mountain as there was no longer rain in the sky. The trees grew scarce as the town continued harvesting them to power the massive pump. And the water in the river and lake became more polluted.  

The town was concerned.  

“What happened to our water?”, the townspeople cried. “We have worked so hard to conserve this resource? We have spent all our money to recycle it, our trees have all been burnt to pump it up the mountain, so it can be reused, yet we can no longer drink our water.”  

The town gathered together discussing new measures. Could they install a filter to clean the water? How could they lower the temperature on the mountain to prevent the little snow left from melting? What new materials could they use to power the pump? Would they need to move to a new mountain?  

As the town continued deliberating, a wise man stepped forward. “You failed because you did not understand what you were trying to save.” He continued to teach them of the circular process within nature. How the water changed form from ice, to water, into vapor and then back into the snow that fell on the mountain top and fed the river. They learned that the process of the water flowing to the lake, evaporating and returning to the mountain was the ultimate wisdom of nature; purifying the water and returning it to the mountain top without the need to burn trees.  

The town needed to expand their understanding to the circular nature of water rather than focus only on the river.  

Such is the dilemma of modern day sustainability. With the best of intentions, we attempt to circumvent natural processes without understanding the larger impacts. Most often the human understanding pales in comparison to the millennia of natures’ processes. The Circular Economy and Sustainable Plastics Economy aim to harness the wisdom of nature and replicate it in human processes. Just as the town needed to expand their understanding of the river water, we must expand or understanding of plastics and how they fit into the carbon flows of nature.  

We do not need to protect a plastic molecule, the solution is understanding and integrating plastics into the broader circular process of carbon. This will achieve sustainability. 

: sudhir dixit