It has been said that time is our most valuable resource. However, it is what we do with our time that really matters (which, of course, is what the adage implies). As for the time we have on this planet, both personally and collectively as a species, we know for certain only that it is fleeting, and our actions can sometimes greatly affect the duration one may experience from tomb to womb.
All things of nature are ephemeral, which is reasonably applicable to even the planet itself. As far advanced as we may be within the life cycle of our species, we have attained the ability to learn a bit about the similar processes by which the natural resources of this terrestrial ball function. Sadly, since around 1700, humankind’s decision-making processes have often vastly lacked appropriate consideration for the planet’s resources. This has led to an increasing problem of depletion and loss of many nonrenewable, and even renewable, resources. For example, according to the World Health Organization, by the year 2025 it is estimated that half of the people on the planet “will be living in water-stressed areas” (WHO – drinking water).
Founded in 1970, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has spearheaded through the political battlefield for the environmental movement as an organization that with a mission of continually working “to ensure the right of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities” (NRDC – mission). As a 501(c)(3) organization, the NRDC complies “with legal restrictions on their lobbying activity”, as regulated by the Internal Revenue Service (Worth, 2017, p. 288). However, their teams of scientists, policy advocates, law students, attorneys, and activists (NRDC – advocacy) have given the NRDC a powerful presence in the political spectrum. Their careful navigation of legal and political processes, and boundaries, has ensured that voices that care for the environment and human health rights are loudly heard (NRDC – litigation).
For a moment, think about the cultures of modern societies. Specifically, think about the driving factors of “progress”, the link between them, and the results thenceforth. What terms come to mind when thinking of these things? One may think of wastefulness. Shortly followed by greed. It is an odd dissonance that such wasteful practices are, all too often, actions formed out of greed. Of course, the obvious culprits immediately come to mind; those which we may blame outside of ourselves. However, no real solution to any problem of pollution can be found in such thinking.
Per findings by the University of Utah, just to produce one year’s worth of products for an average family in America, industries use up to four million pounds of materials (Live Science). Note, though too, that Americans have been recorded to produce 258 million tons of solid waste in a year, which is mostly household garbage (Live Science). It is people, from the highest corporate ladder to the lowest curb, that are both where the problem and solution can be found.
In his book, Nonprofit Management: Principles and Practice, Michael Worth (2017) provides examples of failure theories that view nonprofits organizations in the context of entities that “are essentially gap fillers” that “fill the gaps left by market failure and government failure, providing goods and services that the other two sectors for whatever reason, could not” (p. 53). Not only has the market, and often even the government, failed in providing the care and preservation natural resources and the environment deserve, this lack of concern, which has caused increasing global temperatures, depletion of forests and clean water, has no less been the result of public failure too.
The NRDC has placed themselves within the role of “gap filler”, but more is needed to ensure the sustainability of our planet. All people who, at least, care to see this planet remain habitable for our species can and should act to help the cause of securing Earth’s natural resources. If for none other, that reason alone should compel any person to employ the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle – into their lifestyle. It should spark the urge for bigger changes to better affect the inevitable outcome that is faced if things continue as they are now. For that reason, consider the benefit of the NRDC’s advocacy for the protection of the environment and preservation of the planet. Think of the differences that can be made with more support for the trees than the dollar. Visit https://www.nrdc.org/get-involved to learn more about how you can help make changes that will improve the world for people today and preserve the Earth for the generations of tomorrow.
References
Live Science. (February 27, 2018). Pollution Facts and Types of Pollution. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/22728-pollution-facts.html
NRDC. (2018). About Us – Mission. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/about#mission
World Health Organization. (February 7, 2018). Fact Sheet – Drinking Water. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
Worth, M. J. (2017). Nonprofit management: Principles and practice. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
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