Advanced Technology Conserves Global Resources

Technology has a positive role in the conservation of global resources. A resource is any physical or virtual unit that is of limited availability or anything that is used to help us, humans, earn a living. Because resources are not unlimited, we are required to manage them properly so our needs will be satisfied; and because the whole of humankind use and benefit from them, thus the term – global resources. 

Resources have three main characteristics: utility; quantity in terms of availability and their use in producing other resources. There are two main types of resources, Natural resources and Human resources. Natural resources include non-renewable resources that are formed over a very long period of time including minerals and fossils which then produce coal and petroleum. These kinds of resources form slowly over millions of years, that is why they cannot be replenished once they get depleted. On the other hand, renewable resources are those that can be replenished or reproduced such as sunlight, air, wind, etc., that are always available and are not affected by human consumption. Though some may be depleted, they can be replenished in longer or shorter periods like water or forests.

Human beings are also considered to be resources because of their ability to change raw materials into valuable resources. Human resources can also be defined as the skills, energies, talents, abilities and knowledge that are used for the production of goods or the rendering of services.

Having said this, it is believed that while global resources are concerned, advanced technology does help in their conservation. Advantages in technology have helped conserve global resources in many ways.

(1)  First, advanced technology has made the conservation of resources such as water, soil and energy possible; these resources are very important to humans. Because of the technology at hand, scientists have come up with ways in order to use the techniques of reducing, reusing and recycling. Technology has given mankind the capacity to maintain and extend the productivity of such very important resources. With technology, humans are able to maximize the productivity of such resources and at the same time, reduce the negative effects on the environment.

As mentioned earlier, technology plays a very important role in recycling, one of the three R’s of conservation. For instance, in the effort of conserving forests, technology has given us an option to conserve timber by using more recycled fiber, new engineered wood products and substitutes based on alternative materials.