Economic growth and environment

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Economic growth and the environment

For centuries, most countries in the world placed emphasis on economic growth as a principal means towards the welfare of human beings. This is because economic growth brings wealth to a given population. Over some time, people realized that economic growth was occurring at the expense of environment’s health. This, however, creates a confounding scenario as regards whether economic growth can occur alongside environmental sustainability. It is arguable that economic growth can occur without environmental damage.

Recycling is one of the most instrumental strategies of enabling economic growth without damaging the environmental. A typical recycling activity involves transforming waste products into their usable forms (Ekins, 2000). A simpler way of recycling regards reusing given products. Recycling is an instrumental activity because it avoids the depletion of resources. This is because it provides an alternative to using raw materials for producing certain products. Consumers usually utilize certain items that are indispensable in daily lives. For instance, paper is a regular item that offices, organizations and individuals utilize for writing and other uses such as cleaning. Due to its wide applicability, recycling is the best strategy for preserving trees. In this perspective, the use of natural resources becomes limited.

The government is a principal organ that controls trade activities in countries. As a watchdog, the government defends economic agents from overexploiting resources and the people. In this perspective, the government issues guidelines that tame industrial activities from affecting the natural environment. In a traditional setting, these guidelines are articulated as ethics that define a standard behavior for companies and other forms of organizations. Ethics are organizational elements that stretch over a wide area. In this perspective, ethics form the guiding philosophy and responsibilities of organizations towards the consumer and the environment. For instance, the government may place ethical systems that require companies to pay for any form of damage that they create to the environment (Egelston, 2013). A relevant example regards regulations that require companies to cater for their effluents as pollution fees. In this perspective, companies and economic agents will cater for costs that they create to environments.

The green technology is an additional strategy of harmonizing economic growth with environmental sustainability. In green technology, there arises the need for efficiency in production. Instead of utilizing natural resources, green technology enables the exploitation of other forms of resources that possess unlimited capacity for depletion (Ekins, 2000). In the recent age, there has been the concept of green energy. Green energy is a deviation from the use of natural resources, such as oil, in producing mechanical and electrical power. For instance, communities are investing in wind and solar energy as a means of enabling clean environments. In this perspective, communities turn to other forms of survival that do not necessarily peg on their natural environments.

In conclusion, it is evident that economic growth can occur without creating environmental damage. Recycling is an instrumental strategy of transforming waste products into usable forms. In this sense, communities limit the use of their natural resources towards meeting insatiable needs. The government is a critical force that manages trade activities for environmental sustenance. By introducing guidelines, companies face the disincentives for creating environmental damage. Green technology diverts economic agents from overexploiting endangered resources. By utilizing clean sources of energy, communities avoid environmental damage. These strategies and scenarios enable communities to harmonize economic growth with environmental health.

References

Egelston, A. (2013). Sustainable development: a history. Conroe, TX: Springer.

Ekins, P. (2000). Economic Growth and environmental sustainability: the prospects for green growth. New York, NY: Routledge.