Written By: Binbin Li
Sustainability consists of various components and different dimensions all around our lives. Sustainable resources include water, trees, wind, solar energy and a lot more resources that you could or could not imagine. But only a health ecosystem or a planet is able to continually develop and achieve the goal of lone-term maintenance.
I am a graduate student focused on water research; hence I am going to explore the sustainability issue in the water perspective first. Water has magic power for sustainable usage. And what we use to treat waste water today is the method that perfectly illustrates the sustainability of water . Actually, there is no need to use expensive and toxic chemicals during waste water treatment process. The waste (technically called active sludge) in water is a precious gift for microorganisms. Thus by cultivating “water treatment microorganisms” in the water, these magic and fast-growing tiny life beings take away most of the bad things in the water. In the end, both people and microorganisms are happy, and everybody gets what they want. This is sustainability! And this is also the magical and ingenious design of NATURE!
Last year, some my friends in Clemson University took part in an awesome competition of sustainability in Washington D.C. Projects of small-scale constructed wetland, wind power generation in developing countries, etc. My friends designed a small and convenient piece of equipment to transfer waste from leaves into electric energy. The mechanism of this bio-electrochemical system comes from the microorganism in the water. The chemicals in the system could transfer electrons from bacteria to the anode and generate power. This sustainable system avoids endless recharging. Now they are thinking about designing a more powerful sustainable system integrating rain water collection, household waste treatment, and power generation to make a much greener housing unit. Does it sound attractive to you? Don’t you also want a sustainable, resource-saving system in your own house too?
Sustainability to me is not just a concept, but a creative idea of living. It was indeed a natural mode of life hundreds of years ago, but it was jeopardized in the years since the industrial revolution. Given our polluted environment nowadays, it requires more innovative and progressive approaches to maintain a sustainable planet. Put away your old-fashioned way of using-and-discarding lifestyle, and let’s welcome a greener and healthier future!