Making Our Communities Sustainable
31
How we can copy natural cycles
Environmental health promoters
in the Philippines have a saying:
What comes
from the earth
must return to
the earth.
By understanding the importance
of returning to the earth what comes from
the earth, we can copy nature and protect our
natural resources and health. The cycles we create
in our homes, communities, and factories are small
steps we can take toward improving environmental health. For example,
composting, and reusing or recycling glass bottles and tin cans, are ways
to follow nature’s example by creating a cycle instead of a waste dump.
How industry can copy natural cycles
Environmental health promoters in the
Philippines also have another saying:
What comes
from the factory
must return to
the factory.
Industry causes the most toxic pollution.
But even industry can learn from natural cycles to reuse
energy and materials in a process called clean production.
The first step would be for industry to take back all the waste it creates. If
wastes, such as toxic chemicals, cannot be recycled, industry must safely
dispose of them, and reduce and eventually eliminate their use. If industry
is to have a place in a sustainable future, it must be based on prevention,
precaution, and the right to health for all, not on the right to profit from
danger, dumping, and disease.
By using fewer resources, and
recycling and reusing what
they do use, industry can
reduce the harm it causes to our
environmental health.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012