(Un)Sustainable?

Do people in developed countries really want the developing world to have the comforts and, on the flip side, the waste of the developed world? A better question is, can the planet sustain the developing world having the comforts of the developed world? From what I’ve seen, no. Then again, I don’t think the planet can sustain the developing world as it is, either.

One cause of the environmental toll of developing countries on the world is traffic, lots of traffic. Usually stopped for no good reason at all, much like in the US. However, unlike many in the US, Nepali cars don’t have any accommodations for ‘safer’ emissions because they are so cheaply made to be affordable for people whose annual income is 200$ US. So where there is a traffic jam, there is a cloud of gray hovering. And these traffic jams are found on every inch of road in Nepal at some point during the day. Every day. Every week. All year.

And it’s creating a dreadful environmental issue, which isn’t contained to the developing world. Can the developed world ask those in the developing world to stop driving such lousy cars in order to help the worldwide environment? But isn’t advancement of this and other such societies a priority for developed nations? How can this advancement be achieved if these countries do not have access to those technological changes that made the developed nations such?

To add insult to injury, there is no centralized trash disposal. The view out my window is of an empty lot scattered with black plastic shopping bags, plastic bottles, empty snuff packages, articles of clothing, broken flip-flops, scraps of paper, and animal and human feces. The view of the street is just as littered, as are the yards of most homes, as well as the bed of the Bagmati River. There are trashcans in some public areas, but I’ve not seen any outside private homes. And I’ve never seen a garbage truck. Indeed, despite the poverty, conspicuous consumption has come to Nepal along with its cousin, carelessness.

This trash, particularly the feces, has made local water supplies unsafe for drinking due to bacterial contamination. It has also ruined grazing areas for the local cows (thank heavens they’re not eaten!), although the goats are having a grand old time. The litter in the riverbed is not just an eyesore, but during the monsoon season leads to the its being swept out to the Terai and on into India.

Can the world sustain such lack of regard environmental protection? Well, it sustained the developed world’s development, but can it continue to tolerate such abuse, now coming from the other, what? – 75% of countries in the world? I guess that’s what remains to be seen. The cynical pessimist in me predicts that, just as the developing world gets up to speed with the developed world, something tragic, like a second Noah’s Ark, will happen. Or Armageddon. Or we’ll all continue to sit in endless lanes of traffic.