Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

Sustainability: Curbing Down The Entropy Curve

Illustrated by Mia Gosselin-Gilbert

The path I walk where I encounter entropy is one that might seem at odds with the notion of entropy: sustainability.

Sustainability implies a search for the stability and longevity of natural resources as well as of all species (including the human race) for generations to come; a balance. Entropy implies constant change, in particular towards a more chaotic state; a constant shift in the balance. How do these two concepts stride hand in hand? Can there be sustainability in a world whose entropy is always increasing?

My response is, unquestionably, yes. Entropy, which tends to move in the direction disorder, is an ironically consistent process, a reality we can accept and respond to. I would like to curb the change in that direction by producing the least amount of entropy. That response, that challenge, is sustainability.

Global warming's definition: "A gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants." To paraphrase, a global phenomenon that challenges humanity's and many other species' exsistence.

There is great consensus amount scientists that this is indeed a human-made problem, as humanity has not been using their resources responsibly. Thus, global warming is the result of a society failing to mitigate entropy, to recognize that our way of life is actually increasing the curve of entropy upwards, rather than curbing it down.

Thus, what I hope to accomplish with SPACE is the intertwining of sustainability and entropy in the realm of technology and the environment. What can I, an individual, change in my school to make it a more sustainable place––that is to say, to bend the curve of entropy downward? With the Dawson Green Earth Club at my side, Dawson College's environmental club, I hope to assess what can be done at Dawson to create a more sustainable environment and how best to implement solutions.