Sustainability: What Stands in the Way of a Pollution-Free Planet? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Today, all nations are campaigning towards an environment that is free from pollution. Global warming and other climatic changes are increasing, becoming every nation's concern. The massive destructions and threats according to weather forecasters and geologists say it is just the tip of the iceberg. The world is on a constant process of change, and it is at the verge of a planetary disaster. With an unprecedented magnitude and intensity, the dawning of a sustainability era and what stands in between is the ability to adapt to change. The world is made up of different individuals, systems, and forces that are interrelated, interdependent, and intertwined. Each exists with a community and holds a particular niche within the community. Therefore, sustainability cannot be attained by prioritising on specific individuals or factors, but rather by their incorporation. Persistent systems cannot be achieved by mere integrity. This essay, therefore, aims to discuss ways through which healthcare facilities can manage and utilise resources in a manner that encourages environmental suitability. The article will discuss the different roles healthcare professions play in ecological sustainability - the steps being taken in ensuring a suitable healthy life through resource usage.

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Now more than ever, health care organisations - both private and public; nations - both developed and developing, are all collaborating intending to establish a long-term and sustainable strategy to curb this threating situation before it gets out of hand. Such international organisations as the World Health Organization has been on the forefront in developing programs for the health systems that will reduce and managing how resources will be used in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emission (World Health Organization, 2015). According to the WHO report, there are seven significant sustainability elements within the workplace can range from essential and large-scale environmental sustainability to the immediate sustainability of capital, energy and other resources (World Health Organization, 2015, p. 4).

The sustainability triad will be a vital tool in analysing, evaluating and inventing ways through which a particular workplace could attain sustainability. Hence why the three dimensions are as relevant in developing this essay as they are in the article. The economic aspect offers a form of critique on how sustainability at the workplace must lead to the satisfaction of human wants through the production of good and services, as well as the distribution of financial and physical products. The social aspect would look at the satisfaction of the community, say the school fraternity at large, and not merely the happiness of an individual while the environment aspect would bring in the issue of environmentally friendly production processes. Attaining a level ground in such distinct dimensions will be challenging, but an unseen benefit is that it is attainable. As portrayed in Waterton mini-case, these dimensions often collide, but it is in harmonising them that sustainability can be achieved.

According to the Commonwealth of Australia (1969), a persistent ecosystem will not be achieved by mere integrity. As a result, the article presents the triple bottom line idea that is conjured from the three E's that is the environment, economics and equity. The first E, the environment presents sustainability as an act or process that leads to the attainment of preservation and restoration of living systems (Commonwealth of Australia, 1969). It calls for the understanding of the ecosystem, as a whole, rather than by the individuals within it. Economics, the second E, advocates for the equitable distribution of resources as a tool towards the satisfaction of human wants. Economic motivation often spurs change, and hence, any sustainable system must first ensure the satisfaction of human desires. Equity, on the other hand, vouchers for social equality that is the equal access to provisions, services, and the freedom from unhealthy living conditions. By combining and balancing the three E's, sustainability is bound to happen (Commonwealth of Australia, 1969, p. 7).

The resource usage in the workplace often targets a certain level of sustainability, and with the ever-changing workplace parameters and conditions, adapting to change is the pathway towards sustainability. Hence, the primary emphasis of health care systems should be to optimise the patients' outcome, quality services, and universal health services. (World Health Organization, 2015). However, this will not be possible if the healthcare systems do not consider money value (economic), patient satisfaction and affordability (equity), and waste disposal and resource Mangement to protect the surroundings (environment) around this facility (Harris, Green, Ramsey, Allen, & King, 2017). This is not the only challenge facing resource usage within hospitals; there are an increasingly aging population and the prevalence of chronic diseases. Besides, the emergence of new diseases and the improvement of treatment procedures have led to the proliferation of expensive and modern health technologies that have multiplied gaps in environmental sustainability. Major contributors being poor waste management, poor coordination, ineffective programs and practices as well as economic pressures (Harris, Green, Ramsey, Allen, & King, 2017).

The triple bottom line provides the right combination of perspectives and factors that can lead to the realisation of the sustainable use of resources in the workplace. The environmental aspect of sustainability first advocates for the ecological friendly usage of resources. However, what its inner layer presents is the necessity of the workplace first to acknowledge that it is composed of people of different niches, and hence work towards balancing these niches to come up with a stable system. This will be an incredible persuasive point for the essay. The economic bit of the triple bottom line resources must primarily be used to satisfy human wants. To do this effectively, there must be an equitable distribution of factors of production.

Consequently, the workplace cannot be sustainable if the resources are only accumulated to the higher ranks. Economic motivation is also critical, and therefore, the workplace should be equipped with such tactics. The last E, equity and this correlates to social capital. Every member of the workplace must feel like an appreciated member, meaning there must be ways to ensure fairness in terms of resource allocation, labour appraisals and promotions.

Environmental Resource usage in a professional place can have damaging effects on the environment. The more resources that are being used means, the more waste that is being produced. As an employee of a large hospital, it has called for close attention, the number of resources being used at an alarming rate. In particular, plastic products, such as medicine cups, syringes and IV fluids, which is having a significant impact on the environment. Social, although resource usage in professional workplaces can be damaging on the environment, it can positively contribute to social sustainability. When hospitals, schools, law firms etc. have enough resources, they can support the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and livable communities. However, as discussed above, the overuse of resources can have an impact on environmental sustainability. When the environment is impacted, it can also affect the livable status of communities, for example, workplaces, schools and housing.

Economic sustainability is the ability of an economy to support a defined level of commercial production indefinitely (Commonwealth of Australia, 1969). According to Lopes et, al. (2019), any economic crisis within experienced within a workplace has an impact on social network development. Thus, these scholars argue that hospitals have a substantial obstacle to overcome to have sustainable programs that address any issue of sustainability in all the three aspects of economics, environmental and equity (Lopes, Scavarda, Carvalho, & Korzenowski, 2019). The reason for this argument according to them is that hospitals used fragmented systems that are often characterised by discontinuous attention and a majority of the decision made are primarily influenced by governmental bureaucracy (Lopes, Scavarda, Carvalho, & Korzenowski, 2019). If resources are in large professional workplaces are being used at a faster rate than the economy can handle, it is not economically sustainable.

Resource usage and effective management in the hospital can be achieved if the hospitals adopt suitability based business models (Ochieng', 2016). This business model will add a visually oriented system that incorporates economic, social and environmental issues into the planning process rather than "a vision projected around a value proposition for a wide range of the parties" (Lopes, Scavarda, Carvalho, & Korzenowski, 2019). Business models are usually characterised by unity or as a system rather than as a fragment. "A property of every system is that its identity is always more than the sum of its parts." (Commonwealth of Australia, 1969). It is therefore suggested that having a multilevel perception towards hospitals will not only be viewed as treating workplaces as single entities but as a system with shared values. The more aware we are of the deficits in maintaining sustainability, the more sustainable we will be. Thus hospitals and healthcare providers will be more likely emphasise on reusing recyclable resources and services as well as strategies using new techniques to ensure that the institution is realised and maintained for prolonged periods without affecting the environment in a negative way (World Health Organization, 2015).

Environmentally, if we are aware of the number of resources, we were using education on the damaging effects of the overuse of resources; it will contribute to a sustainable outcome. To achieve social sustainability, I think it is essential to recognise how the use of resources can contribute to sustainability while also taking into consideration how it can a negative impact. Economically, if we do not respond to this, it could eventually put a strain on our economy, which could Learning reflection two then lead to more problems. In my opinion, all three pillars link closely together, and without targeting them all, I believe sustainability cannot be achieved.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the environmental aspect of sustainability first advocates for the environmental friendly usage of resources. As a result, hospitals have a huge role to play not only on how they use the resource but also on also how they manage these resources. It has been pointed out that sustainable usage of resources aims to ensure that benefits, management, and efficiency of the workplace are maintained for an extended period without having any adverse effects on the environment. And as Lopez and his fellow scholars suggest, suitability within workplaces and especially within the hospital will only be achieved if hospitals adopt a more stratified business model that views hospitals as a system with multiple fragments and not as fragments with multiple levels. Remember, the goal of suitability is to strike a balance between the three E's - economics, environmental, and equity.