"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. -the United Nations, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future
Another popular definition further breaks down sustainability into three different components: environmentally, economically, and socially. It is more than the latest buzz word
Something that irritates me are some of the 'sustainable design' elements of the new Taylor Place residence halls at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. The complex is proud of the fact that they're using television monitors as video message boards instead of paper. First, is using a television, using the definitions above, sustainable? I think that it would fall more under the phrase, 'environmentally friendly'. In the long run, however, which truly is more environmentally friendly? Is a piece of paper - or a ream of paper, for that matter - more environmentally friendly than a television? Which creates more greenhouse gases in its production and use: paper or a television?
Paper requires minimal greenhouse gases to produce when from recycled sources, and a television requires a lot in manufacturing, use, and even disposal. Little of a television can be recycled. The entire piece of paper can be recycled and reused.
Is this truly environmentally friendly? Or, in the words of ASU, sustainable?
If an institution is going to be sustainable in all three uses of the definition, then it should just be sustainable and not talk about it. It should not talk up how 'environmentally friendly' it is but use the term 'sustainable' to talk about it. If we were going to promote environmentally friendly practices, sometimes the way it's been done is the best way to do it.
Cheers-
Edward Jensen
1 comment:
You're right on about this..
Assuming the TV requires a very low 145 watts.. we can use a formula to calculate the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere just to create enough electricity to power it 24/7 for the year. (We're forgetting about the whole process of making and getting these TVs into the dorms)
Formula: 145w x Conversion(0.278 × 10−3wh) x 24hrs x 365 days = 35.988768 kwh (year)
Emissions: 35.988768 kwh = 49 lbs of CO2 per TV
I know that it's jumping around a lot, but there you can see it emits 49 lbs of Co2 for one TV per year. There's more than 1 tv I am sure and check out this article on how TVs contain gases that are thousands of times more dangerous to the atmosphere than CO2(http://www.techradar.com/news/television/could-lcd-tvs-be-more-dangerous-than-co2--415644).
Sources:
TV Power consumption: http://www.greenpieceblog.com/2007/11/plasma-lcd-tv-electricity-usage.html
Watt to kwh formula: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt-hour#Conversions
Emissions based on Zip Code per monthly kwh: http://oaspub.epa.gov/powpro/ept_pack.emissions?p_zip=85004&p_egcid=16572
Post a Comment