A group of 12 of us just returned from Alaska – a trip we took in the month of February!
Why Alaska, (and more specifically, in the middle of nowhere in Delta Junction), and in the coldest time of the year? To “chase” auroras, the stunning dance of the northern lights!
Alas, our trip was not a success in viewing much aurora (a slight show of a green hue of light only), but a fun trip, nonetheless. What is certain is that nature there, even if frozen solid in the month of February, is just so lovely and abundant, from the vast empty lands to the clear, crisp skies, where the stars are shining in all their glory, and even the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye.
Within the week of our stay, at the hotel first, the lodge for the aurora viewing, and (especially!) at the airport, I noticed (because it’s important to me, and I tend to notice these things), that in none of those places were there any recycling bins/system.
In the lodge we stayed at, pretty much every plastic bottle or other plastic item, glass, and everything we consumed was simply thrown in the trash altogether. Worse (to me anyway), is not seeing bins separating paper, cans, glass…, at the airport, only trash cans.
The actual percentage of what is in fact being recycled seem to range between countries, cities, and even websites of difference organizations, so it’s hard to say for sure how beneficial the practice of recycling is. But what is certain, is not having a system at all leads to zero items being recycled.
Not recycling (or the practice of “reusing, reducing, and recycling”) is just adding to the tragedy of what is already accumulating in our oceans and landfills. But also, it is not showing a good example for youngsters looking on. The lack of being proactive on this matter is devastation for our planet and adding to the burden future generations will have to face.
Although the population in Alaska as a whole and in all its cities and tiny towns is small, the state of Alaska is the largest state of all the United States. But there is a tourist market and crowd that come regularly to see and visit Alaska. Just think of all that is consumed…and then thrown away carelessly.
There seem to be a direct correlation between states’ “political color”, and whether their cities, their airports, hotels, streets… have recycling bins or not – that is really such a shame!
The health and beauty of our planet has nothing to do with which side of politics you lean towards, rather, it’s an important global issue that affects every single one of us, from the indigenous community in Alaska, to the farmers in Oklahoma, to big city living in New York, Dallas, and everything in between and from every continent!
And now, with the new “space race” and humans venturing out to the new frontier, a couple of new terms emerged and are heard more and more frequently: “space debris” and “space sustainability”. Terms, unless you follow up on space news, many aren’t aware of. But indeed, an issue that is only growing in importance for us all, both on/for our planet, and, for continuing our exponential growth and activities in venturing out to low Earth orbit and beyond.
The three main challenges of space sustainability (the 3Cs) are: *
- Congested (with active satellites),
- Contaminated (by space debris),
- Contested (by state and non-state actors alike).
The overconsumption problem we face on Earth and our negligent ways of riding of materials, is not always known of seen by us, city folks, but our oceans and other bodies of water are affected greatly by it.
Left: a post by The Ocean Cleanup
Organization. Their IG account shows their remarkable work at cleaning oceans and other bodies of water.
Strongly recommend to follow them!
Just like on Earth, in space too it is starting to get congested with the increase of satellites and their various capabilities, the accumulation of debris from past rocket launches, and what is worse, is the millions of little bits of fragments and debris that is estimated to be in the millions (and can’t be detected and avoided due to their size). These objects as tiny as 1 mm to 1 cm can cause collision hazards to the increased activity, from active spacecrafts to human spaceflights, and that can potentially lead to a catastrophic situation.
Many parallels here between the thorny sustainable issues on Earth and those in space: like those tiny fragments of debris in space, we have microplastics in our oceans, from the materials pollution we cause on Earth (land and water), to the congestion of debris in space.
It is often said by actors in the space arena that we are going to space to make Earth a better place.
So, let’s do better on Earth first! Let’s practice the concept of sustainable development on Earth: educate on overconsumption and reduction of single-use plastics. Let’s show a better example to youngsters looking on, and who will continue to live on Earth once we’re not longer here.
We must do better in space too. We must have more conversations about space sustainability.
Earth and its beautiful lands and oceans, the only place w call home.
Let’s unite in the global effort of sustainability, conservation and increase the awareness of our carbon footprint.
*Text from Room The Space Journal of Asgardia, Special Report by Peter Martinez, based on a keynote speech given a the 6th New Space Atlantic Summit in Portugal on 10 May 2023, organized by the Portuguese Space Agency with the theme ‘A Global Effort for Space Sustainability’.
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