Essay example --

The most common definition of sustainability is living in a way that meets the social, economic, and other requirements of the current population as well as ensuring the same requirements will be able to be met for future generations. Living sustainably is something that affects every person on the planet. The way we live now affects our lives today, as well as the future population. Some people believe that sustainability and living green will not matter to them as the effects of their actions will not manifest in their lifetime, but this assumption is incorrect. Currently two-thirds of the services provided to us by nature are declining, 85% of all fish stocks in the ocean are overexploited, depleted, recovering or fully exploited. There was a 38% increase in annual global carbon dioxide and it will take 50+ years for the ozone layer to get back to pre 1980 levels. Global warming is one example of long-term change in the environment that has been caused by humans. Other examples ar e the introduction of nonnative and invasive species, land development, and changes in water quantity and quality. Statistics according to the article Resilient People Resilient Planet. There is no guarantee that if people continue to live the way they are living, things will continue to be sustainable. However sustainability is not just about the environment, social and economic aspects are equally as important to creating a sustainable world. (Figure 1). In this paper I will explain what it means to live sustainably, why it is a problem, challenges and how humans can live more sustainably. The way people live now has detrimental effects on humans and the planet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 800,000 people die prematu... ...t future generations can also live in. If humanity continues to disregard the planet and disappearing resources and live in an unsustainable way, people now and later will suffer. A conscious effort must be made by the entire world to make this important change. Developed nations, like America, and poor nations have especially difficult work to do. This is because consumption is a major driver of negative human impacts on the planet, these practices are especially motivated by extreme poverty and extreme wealth. People all over need to make a concentrated effort to change. Personal change will make an impact for the better, but government must be involved as well for a complete change to occur. If concentrated efforts are made to live more sustainably humankind will be able to make changes for the better to preserve the planet for themselves and future generations.