What is Sustainability?
Recycling is a path to sustainablility!
This series of activities will guide you though some of the concepts around sustainability and provide you with fun and creative activities to do along the way.
Sustainability is the measure of how we can remain healthy, and keep our planet healthy over a long period of time. This affects every living organism on the planet now and for future generations to come.
Click on the button below to learn more about sustainability, so you can start thinking about how this would apply to mobile technology, in particular the iPhone 5.
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs. - Brundtland (1987)
Sustainability can be viewed in the the following broad categories:
Human
Human beings need to reproduce to ensure the continuation of the human race. Those that reproduce have the responsibility of caring for their children, giving them access to proper education, and promoting their health and wellness. At some point, the children should have enough skills and knowledge such that they can sustain their own way of life.
Environmental
This is the impact of our actions on the environment including the the areas of food production, water and air quality on a global scale.
Economic
This is the ability of an economy to support a defined level of economic production. For example how does Apple and other companies ensure that the costs of developing, building and transporting of each iPhone are as low as possible? For example if you were living in Sydney would it be sustainable for you to order a iPhone directly from the US if you could have the same product for the same price locally?
Social Dimensions
As a society we need to be aware of the sustainability of our actions. This relates to poverty and meeting the needs of all human beings fairly and efficiently. Something to think about is what if iPhone's were available to everyone for free? What impacts would this have on the environment and our society as a whole?
Find out more about these areas by clicking on the button below. This will help you answer questions in your task at the bottom of this page.
Mass production and Sustainability
Figure 1.1 - Smarter ways of packaging
Mass production of mobile and computer technology is due to the demand of consumers around the world. With large companies, in this case Apple, spending billions of dollars on design, development and marketing. The requirement to take into account the projected impact on the environment is necessary.
Some aspects to consider include:
How the product is packaged? (See Figure 1.1.) This shows how the design of the product packaging can affect the transportation of the product in terms of reducing the number of planes required to transport this particular Apple product.
The smallest things can make a difference as you can see, so designers are constantly improving battery life and reliability of mobile technology so consumers require less
power usage and instances of having to buy new mobiles due to breakage and overall poor
design.
Some aspects to consider include:
How the product is packaged? (See Figure 1.1.) This shows how the design of the product packaging can affect the transportation of the product in terms of reducing the number of planes required to transport this particular Apple product.
The smallest things can make a difference as you can see, so designers are constantly improving battery life and reliability of mobile technology so consumers require less
power usage and instances of having to buy new mobiles due to breakage and overall poor
design.
CO2 Emissions and Global Warming
Figure 1.2 - Apple products vs the standard lightbulb.
The issues around Global Warming will be something you may have looked at in the past, in class or heard about on the latest news.
The environmental effects of carbon dioxide are of significant interest. Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas, warming the Earth's surface to a higher temperature by reducing outward radiation.
Greenhouse gases are generated when we use our cars and electrical appliances.
Please see Figure 1.2 to get a clearer idea of how different products affect the environment.
Burning of carbon-based fuels since the industrial revolution has rapidly increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing the rate of global warming
and causing what experts refer to as 'climate change'.
The environmental effects of carbon dioxide are of significant interest. Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas, warming the Earth's surface to a higher temperature by reducing outward radiation.
Greenhouse gases are generated when we use our cars and electrical appliances.
Please see Figure 1.2 to get a clearer idea of how different products affect the environment.
Burning of carbon-based fuels since the industrial revolution has rapidly increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing the rate of global warming
and causing what experts refer to as 'climate change'.
Recycling and Re-usability
Apple, recycling 50% of weight per year in 2010.
Recycling is a process using materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from burning) and water pollution (from land filling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to plastic production. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction. Figure 1.3 will outline how Apple are moving towards a higher percentage of recycling of their products.
The overall concepts of sustainability are important for you to understand and be comfortable with before moving further in this research project. If you have any questions it would be a good idea to 'Google' the question or ask your teacher.
Please print and complete the following worksheet when ready.