For activities to be genuinely sustainable it must be possible for them to continue indefinitely. The impact human beings have on the environment and the humorous demands that people place on the resources that are available on the planet can be summarized by what is known as the IPAT equation. .
Is it possible to quantify the impact human beings are having on the Earth? It's easy to use words like "huge" or "catastrophic" but is it actually possible to put a number on it? We can measure the amount of carbon dioxide in terms of parts per million. We can measure the growing acidity in the oceans. We can also guess at the amount of plastic released into places it shouldn't be. IS there a way to quantify the overall impact? Most likely not, the useful equation IPAT examines some of the variables that control the extent of our impact hopefully reducing it. An Eco village is a community whose inhabitants seek to live ecological principles, causing as little impact on the environment as possible. There are more than 400 Eco villages that exist in the world, all examples of sustainable communities. Guidelines that some Eco villages have established towards reaching sustainability are as follows, 1. No vehicles are used or stored in the village, 2. Fossil fuels for cars, refrigeration, heating and cooling homes, as well as heating domestic water aren't allowed 3. All gardening must be organic 4. All power must come from renewable resources 5. No lumber from outside the local area is allowed unless it is recycled or salvaged 6. Organic waste and recycled materials are to be reincorporated into usable products through composting methods. The Dancing Rabbit Eco village in Missouri is an example of an Eco village that follows these restrictions in hopes to attract between 500 and 1,000 residents. Although sustainable communities like Eco villages are very drastic ways of life, this shows humans around the world are making an effort to improve the worlds sustainability.
