SUSTAINABILI-DIT

Words by Karim Hassan

It is no secret that since the first industrial revolution, and the subsequent idle hopes of perpetual growth, that Earth is on its last legs, and it begs the question of how we got to such a terrible position, and what can we do to prevent our imminent demise. Well, as it turns out, history does repeat itself. Studying what ancient civilizations did right, what others did wrong, and what solutions were done back then, could provide us with a good backbone of what to do next.

Some early civilizations, such as the Native Americans and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples focused their time and efforts towards living harmoniously with their surrounding environment with which they felt a spiritual and hereditary connection to (Venorio, 2020) (Indigenous Australians and the Environment, 2022). This is one of the reasons that these cultures were less technologically advanced than their European and Asian counterparts. A prominent notion among the native Americans was self-restraint, as overconsumption in a constantly changing environment was bound to lead to struggle in future generations (Venorio, 2020). The Wampanoag practiced organic farming and understood that plants, like animals, required sustenance and acted accordingly, enriching the land instead of depleting it of natural resources (Venorio, 2020). Many of these cultures also understood that their actions have environmental impacts and therefore worked to have a symbiotic relationship with nature, rather than a parasitic one, granting them the nickname of the ‘first environmentalists’ as they treated nature with respect which has since been discarded by colonials (Venorio, 2020). Much like most ancient civilizations, the sheltering system for Native Americans required minimal space and was achievable without any drastic changes to the environment (Venorio, 2020) (Rethinking The Future, 2022). Apart from foreign invasion, the downfall of the Mayan Empire was caused when the need for human sacrifices increased more than the population can maintain (Apocalypto, 2006). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, like the Native Americans, also saw the significance in nature yet believed it to be a part of them, and thus felt responsible to maintain their community through sustainable living (Indigenous Australians and the Environment, 2022). They only hunted what was necessary and left no part of the animal to waste as they were very rich in nutrients. Medicine was also gathered purely from natural resources gaining the nickname ‘bush medicine’ (Indigenous Australians and the Environment, 2022). Since the invasion of the colonials, and their poorly integrated farming systems, it’s been left to the owners of the land to reduce the salinity of the soil using their traditional methods such as fire management which the colonisers have since adopted (Gilles, 2017). These methods of land maintenance which were claimed by the aforementioned colonisers have faded over time (Gilles, 2017).

embedded into their societies. For example, ancient China was considered to be ‘the world’s earliest environmental protection ministry’ where living sustainably and being eco-friendly was advocated politically (Liu Xiongfei, 2014). In fact, Chinese philosopher and politician, Guan Zhong, who was in office at around 680 BC stated that ‘a king who cannot protect his vegetations is not qualified to be a king’ (Liu Xiongfei, 2014). The environmental protection legislation can be traced back to four millennia ago under the reign of Dayu, who banned wood chopping in March and fishing in June, the times of year they thrived (Liu Xiongfei, 2014). Living in a harsh desert terrain with limited resources, ancient Egypt could not have thrived without upholding a sustainable lifestyle which involved cyclical stability used to take advantage of the annual Nile floods which brought in fertile mud from the interior of Africa (Ellen, 2020). Upon each annual cycle, the local farmers would gather as much water and nutrients as they can, which they conserved and utilised to the best of their ability to stockpile on crops for the upcoming dry season (Ellen, 2020). The Egyptians held stability at a very high regard and feared all forms of chaos. Be it from the wild desert, the collapsed old government, and especially the floods that would cause their farmland borders to disappear. They upheld these borders by keeping such records in their bureaus. The most prominent sign of stability to the Egyptians was growth and continuity, as stagnation was deemed dangerous (Ellen, 2020). However, this became Egypt’s downfall as generations passed and other governing bodies took place. Utilising the sustainable flood cycle was discarded as dams were put in place in 1960 preventing the fertilizing muds from assisting farmers. This caused the water to grow stagnant and the soil saline making it a better environment for parasites than crops (Ellen, 2020). Does the notion of perpetual growth at the cost of sustainability sound familiar? Now you know the outcome of it. Ancient Rome, creating sewage systems, aqueducts, and practicing crop rotation have prided themselves in their water distribution skills and been known as the ‘pioneers of the eco-friendly home’ (Derbyshire, 2010). Their sustainability, however, can be disputed as their economy was based on slavery, and their philosophy was based on conquest (Ancient Roman Economy, 2022). In order to feed their masses, Rome went to invade many countries including present day Lebanon which was utilised for its vast farmlands to feed the invading army as it pressed onto Egypt.

Studies have shown that even ancient civilizations experienced some degree of global environmental impact. Twelve millennia ago, humans were simple hunter/ gatherers, but in the last 3000 years, we started using excessive land for farming and housing causing deforestation, and we began domesticating animals to become more reliant on humans via selective breeding, each culture used different methods to compensate for these impacts. These methods could be used to our advantage to adapt them to our modern-day equivalent. For example, Bhutan and Suriname are the first two carbon negative countries ever, Japan is constantly researching green energy storage using hydrogen, and Albania, Paraguay, and Iceland use nearly 100% renewable energy. Is that enough? Definitely not, major changes need to be made, (looking at you USA) before we can buy ourselves enough time before climate change becomes irreversible in 2030.

Sustainabili-Dit Book Recommendation:

Learning, Environment, and Sustainable Development: A History of Ideas by William Scott, Paul Vare