Some stuff under here would be:
- Soil-erosion, agriculture
- Forests-managment, deforrestation and measures to prevent it
- Animals/fauna/Biodiversity-overhunting and measures to prevent that, introduced species
- Water usage/conservation-what the societies water sources are and how well they manage/d them
- Waste managment-how the society dispose/d of its waste materials
- Climate change-is an environmental thing because it does have the biggest effect on the enivironment but this would be the societies response to climate change and how they plan to combat it
- Adaption to environment-if a society adapts to their environment and uses it to their andvatage, they are more likely to be succesful
Now to the societies,
Edo Japan-http://www.japanfs.org/en/newsletter/200303-1.html
In the history of Japan, the 265-year period between 1603 (when Tokugawa Ieyasu became the generalissimo or great "shogun" of the Tokugawa shogunate) and 1867 (when Tokugawa Yoshinobu formally returned political authority to the emperor) is called the Edo Period. Edo is the former name for what is now Tokyo.
The Edo period did not last long enough for it to be classed as sustainable society in itself but Japan (as a whole) has been around a long time.
During most of the Edo Period, Japan was closed off to the world, suffered no invasion from the outside, and had virtually no exchange with other countries. For the most part, it was a peaceful period, with almost no war inside the country, and marked a remarkable time of development in the economy and culture of Japan.
They would have had to depend on their own environment to produce the sustinance to support their country/society
The first national census, conducted around 1720, indicates a population of approximately 30 million people, which remained relatively constant throughout the entire two and a half centuries of the Edo Period. The population of Edo, at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. In comparison, London had about 860,000 people (1801) and Paris about 670,000 (1802).
Like the Romans, they developed a census and they had a very large population, larger so than any country in Europe
Today Japan depends on imports from other countries for 78 percent of its energy, 60 percent of its food (caloric value), and 82 percent of its timber consumption. But for approximately 250 years during the Edo Period, Japan was self-sufficient in all resources, since nothing could be imported from overseas due to the national policy of isolation.
They have either run out of resources or are trying to protect their remaining resources.
Novelist Eisuke Ishikawa is one of Japan's leading researchers on the Edo Period. With reference to his book "The Edo Period had a Recycling Society," ("O-edo recycle jijo": published in 1994, Kodansha Publishing Company) we now introduce some elements of what made this sustainable society possible for 250 years. This month's issue of the JFS Newsletter focuses on the reuse and recycling practices of the Edo Period. Next month we will focus on its energy systems, showing that at the time Japan was a nation that functioned based on plants.
Japan is now promoting efforts to recycle end-of-life products and materials. A major motivation for this today is to reduce the burden on landfills and prevent dioxins and other toxic chemical emissions from incinerators. But people in Edo Japan recycled of goods and materials for another reason: they had very limited goods and materials in the first place.
This shows that the Japanese are actually learning from their past societies-this is an example of taking the lessons of the past and implementing them in modern day society.
Many specialized traders and craftsmen were also engaged in reuse and recycling (though there was no word for recycling, since "recycling" was just a normal part of life). Below we introduce some of the specialized recyclers of the Edo Period.
- Tinker (repairers of metal products): Tinkers repaired old pans, kettles and pots, even those rendered useless by holes in the bottom. They had special techniques to use bellows to raise the temperature of charcoal fires and repair holes using other metal pieces or by welding.
- Ceramics repairer: These specialized craftsmen glued broken pieces of ceramics with starch extracted from sticky rice and heated for coagulation.
- Truss hoop repairer: Until 40 to 50 years ago, people usually used wooden tubs and barrels to store liquids. Wooden tubs and barrels were made of wooden slats fastened by bamboo hoops. When the hoops aged and broke or warped, the craftsmen fixed the tubs and barrels with new bamboo fasteners.
There were many other kinds of specialized craftsmen to repair broken items, including paper lanterns and locks, replenish vermilion inkpads, and refurbish old Japanese wooden footwear, mills and mirrors, to name a few.
They actually had specialised trade persons to recycle-this is probably one of the earliest examples of recycling (to this extent).
Besides the repair experts, there were other specialized workers who collected and traded end-of-life materials.
- Used-paper buyers: These buyers bought old shopkeepers' books, sorted and sold them to paper makers. In those days, Japanese paper (washi) was made of long fibers of over 10 mm, and specialized paper makers bought and blended various kinds of used paper to make a wide range of recycled paper, from bathroom tissue to printing paper.
- Used-paper collectors: Some collectors were also specialized in used paper, but didn't have the financial resources to buy it. Instead, they picked up and collected trash paper by walking around the town and sold it to used-paper warehouses to get a daily cash income.
- Used-clothes dealers: Until the end of Edo Period, clothes were more precious and expensive than today since all clothes at the time were hand-woven. It is said that there were about 4,000 old clothes dealers in the city of Edo.
- Used-umbrella rib buyers: Umbrellas in the Edo Period were made of bamboo ribs with paper pasted on. Used-umbrella rib buyers bought and collected old umbrellas and sold them to specialized warehouses. At the warehouses workers removed oiled paper from the ribs, repaired the rib structures and then other workers were contracted to paste new oiled-paper onto the ribs to make new umbrellas. Incidentally, the oiled paper from used umbrellas was removed and sold as packaging material.
- Used-barrel buyers: When barrels became empty, specialized traders bought, collected and sold them to specialized warehouses. Japan today has private collection systems for beer and sake (Japanese rice wine) bottles, and collection/recycling ratios are high. Some of today's used-bottle dealers are descendents of those who conducted this business in the Edo Period.
- Singing collectors: Some traders walked around the town, singing, "let's exchange, let's exchange," and offered small toys and candies to children in return for old nails and other metal pieces the children found while playing.
They found new fertilizers that were easy for their society to produce.
- Human waste dipper: Until around 1955, human waste (night soil) was the most important fertilizer source for farmers in Japan. In many parts of Europe, before construction of sewage lines, human waste was simply thrown from the window to the street below, and the plague occurred repeatedly due to bad hygiene conditions. In contrast, in Japan human waste was treated as a valuable resource in those days.
Farmers regularly visited homes with whom they had contracts and paid money or offered vegetables they had grown, in return for night soil to be used as fertilizer. As distribution channels became more established, specialized night soil warehouses and retailers emerged.
They actually traded within their society for human waste (Wow) to use as fertilizer-sustainable resource at the same time as disposing of their waste without the risk of disease in the major cities/towns
Landlords with many tenants made good money from the night soil produced on their premises. There are even stories of friction between landlords and tenants about ownership of the night soil. Some farmers were very particular about their sources of fertilizer. For example, certain areas were regarded as sources of highly-coveted night soil for growing exclusive brands of Japanese tea.
Source of income for people-night soil actually had an effect upon the economy
"ultimate recycling"
In the Edo Period, the reuse of goods was a common practice. There were many temple schools for children of commoners in Edo Period. Textbooks at temple schools were owned by the schools, not the users. According to records, one arithmetic textbook was used for 109 years.
Yep, I feel sorry for anyone who had to use that textbook now.
Japan in the Edo Period could serve as one model of a sustainable society. The basis of its sustained economy and cultural development was not mass production and mass consumption for convenience, as we see in modern society, but rather the full utilization of limited resources.
It is certain that many things have changed today, but perhaps there are some hints for a sustainable future if we look at the past.
http://billtotten.blogspot.com/2005/10/japans-sustainable-society-in-edo_04.html
For approximately 250 years during the Edo Period, Japan was self-sufficient in all resources, since nothing could be imported from overseas due to the national policy of isolation.
The society of Japan during the Edo Period was driven only with solar energy. Plants transform solar energy, using water and hydrogen, into branches, wood, stems and fruit. If you harvest and use as energy the branches, plants and fruit that have grown in the past year, you are using the past year's solar energy in plant form.
During the Edo Period, about eighty percent of daily commodities was made from the solar energy of the previous year and 95 percent was derived from solar energy received in the past three years. This means that the Edo society was a sustainable society in which almost everything needed for living was provided by solar energy of the past two or three years.
So, basically, the Japanese were using solar energy....25o years ago!Oil for lighting was mainly from sesame seeds, camellia, rapeseeds and cottonseeds. People in regions where fishermen hunted whales used whale oil, and people in areas where fishermen caught sardines used sardine oil. Oil cake that remained after extracting the oil was also used as a quality nitrogen fertilizer.
More recycling and more fertilizer
Other websites:
http://www.energybulletin.net/5140.html
http://www.backyardnature.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=438 http://www.japanfs.org/en/column/images/edo_pdf/edo_chapter10.pdf
Finland
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Finland-ENVIRONMENT.html
Finland's main environmental issues are air and water pollution, and the preservation of its wildlife. Finland's principal environmental agency is the Ministry of the Environment, established in 1983. Beginning in 1987, environmental protection boards were established for every community with more than 3,000 inhabitants. To preserve the shoreline profile, 30–50% of the shores suitable for recreational use may not be built on. Industrial pollutants from within the country and surrounding countries affect the purity of both the nation's air and water supplies. In 1996 carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources totaled 59.1 million metric tons. Acid rain from high concentrations of sulfur in the air has damaged the nation's lakes. Finland's cities produce about 2.8 million tons of solid waste per year. The nation has 107 cubic kilometers of renewable water resources with 82% used for industry and 17% used in domestic and urban areas. In 1993, the Finnish Council of State introduced new approaches to the control of water pollution. Lead-free gasoline was introduced in 1985.
This demonstrates that the society responds to threats and finds ways to combat them. (Able to change to suit their changing environment)
Care is taken to protect the flora and fauna of the forests, which are of recreational as well as economic importance. Closed hunting seasons, nature protection areas, and other game-management measures are applied to preserve threatened animal species. As of 2001, 5.5% of Finland's total land area was protected. In 2001, 4 of the nation's 60 mammal species and 4 of its 248 breeding bird species were threatened, as well as 1 type of freshwater fish. Endangered species include the Siberian sturgeon, European mink, and the Saimaa ringed seal.
[In 2005] Finland ranks first in the world in environmental
sustainability out of 146 countries according to the latest Environmental Sustainability
Index (ESI) produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale and Columbia
Universities
Their high ESI scores are attributed to substantial natural resource endowments, low population density, and successful management of environment and development issues.
The lowest ranked countries are North Korea, Iraq, Taiwan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan. Esty said these countries face many challenges, both natural and manmade,
and have poorly managed their policy choices.
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25664
Many polluted lakes and rivers have been cleaned up. Air quality has improved greatly around industrial locations. An extensive network of protected areas has been built up to safeguard biodiversity. Forests – Finland's most valuable natural resources – are managed more sensitively than in the past, and the overall annual growth rate clearly exceeds the total timber harvest.
The vegetation of Finnish Lapland is especially sensitive to disturbances such as logging and overgrazing by domesticated reindeer. Fortunately these threats have been reduced through the protection of large areas of forest and restrictions on the number of reindeer.
It is much harder and more expensive to repair any damage done to the environment than to prevent harm in the first place. In the worst cases damage may even be irreparable. Arctic climatic conditions may inhibit the natural regeneration of logged forests in northern Lapland. On the other hand, the predicted warming of the climate could completely wipe out species and whole ecosystems adapted to cold conditions.
Water quality is classified as excellent or good across 80% of the total area of Finland's lakes.
Finland's strengths include highly effective environmental administration and legislation, and the ways environmental protection is considered in all sectors of society.
Finland has achieved notable nature conservation successes in recent years, particularly in the cases of some larger animals and birds that were formerly hunted or harassed. Finland's national bird, the whooper swan, for instance, has become much more widespread in recent decades.
Other websites:
http://www.stat.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_alue_en.html
Australian Aborigines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_archaeology
It is proven that that Megafauna existed in Australia alongside Aborigines until about 6,000 years ago. A large extinction occurred as is evident by the lack of these species in modern times. The great debate centres on whether Aborigines were responsible for the extinction of these animals. Many factors have been considered as possible causes of the extinction, ranging from environmental variables to entirely human-based activity.
The most extreme theory is that Aborigines were completely responsible for the extinction of these animals through extensive hunting. This theory is largely based on the
It was unlikely that the Aboriginals caused the extinction of the magefauna.
For instance, Aboriginal women in traditional societies often transplanted immature "bush tucker" plants found growing in unfavourable locations to more favourable spots. There were also a number of plants (particularly seeds and roots) that could have lent themselves to cultivation, and were used in making such foods as damper. Charles Sturt in his exploration of the Murray River reports seeing large hay stacks built by Aboriginal people of seed crops harvested at the beginning of summer. Firestick farming has also always been a technique used by Aboriginal people to open the canopy of closed canopy forests, introducing sunlight to the ground, and prompting germination of a number of foodstuffs known to attract kangaroo and other marsupials. This would encourage a more intensive landuse than otherwise. But the main reason for the lack of agriculture in Australia is the extreme variability of the climate.
Australia is the only continent on Earth, which, as a result of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, experiences greater variability between years than it does between the seasons. Such climatic variability makes farming very difficult, especially for incipient farmers, unable to be supported from outside of their community. Australian Aboriginal people found, by maintaining stable populations below the effective carrying capacity of the environment, would enable an adequate supply of food, even in drought years, so maintaining a stable culture. This made hunting and gathering a more sustainable activity on the Australian continent than neolithic farming.
This proves that the Aboriginals adapted to the Australian environment (and they would have to be able to survive in such a harsh environment) and that they did a much better job than the Greenland Norse. They were also isolated from any other societies and so did not have the ability to trade with others.
Ancient Romans-They built acqueducts to transport water to their cities from water sources that would be too far away otherwise.
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