What Will You Leave Behind?

EDITORIAL_A family member passed away recently. In his funeral service program, a letter was printed from him. In it, he wrote about what he hoped his legacy would be; what he was leaving for his children and grandchildren and those of us remaining.

Have you ever asked yourself what you want to leave behind?

Many of us would like to leave an inheritance. We’d like to smooth the path of life for our children, paved with the fruits of our toil. It is natural, even instinctive perhaps, to want your children’s lives to be better because of what you have done and what you leave them as a result.

Remains of the Day

Certain chemicals, materials, and gases produced in some industrial processes—and by the power sources that fuel them—if allowed to enter the Earth’s water systems and the air, cause damage to immune, neurological, reproductive, developmental, and respiratory systems. Most air toxins originate from human-made sources, according to the EPA, including factories, refineries, power plants, and some building materials and cleaning solvents. Scientists in environmental agencies in the European Union, Canada, and the U.S.—REACH, Environment Canada, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—have definitively identified chemicals produced during manufacturing processes that have caused cancer in humans.

It’s been said that several large landfills in the U.S., such as the famous, now-closed Fresh Kills landfill in N.Y., are visible from space by satellite.

Radioactive waste from nuclear power generation has a 24,000-year half-life, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). It will be up to our descendants to store that radioactive waste for twice that length of time because our current storage methods are only temporary. At this time there are no facilities for the permanent disposal of high-level waste, the NRC reports.

Do we want our children, our grandchildren, and our heirs to inherit our environmental messes?

When you strip everything away, when you consider what people truly cannot live without—breathable air, drinkable water, nutritious food, and healthy shelter—what could be a better inheritance than clean air and water, and a land undamaged by thoughtless abuses and excesses?

This I Leave to You

Will you be able to say this to your children, grandchildren, and future generations of your family:

“I conserved water in our operations and refrained from discharging hazardous chemicals into the water you will drink.

“I minimized our energy consumption and sourced most of it from clean, renewable sources so as to limit or eliminate toxic and carbon emissions.

“I sourced only nontoxic materials that would not pollute your air and water.

“I managed all of the waste our plant and operations generated so that you will not have to?”

Will you be able to look your grandchildren in the eyes and say, “I did everything I could to ensure that the fulfillment of my lifestyle and comfort did not come at your expense?”

You have probably have heard the adage attributed to Native American culture: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” Truly, manufacturers have a choice today as to what condition they leave the planet in after they’ve finished borrowing it from future generations.

What will you leave behind?

Got thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. [email protected] or enter in the space below.

Related: “Detoxing Manufacturing” series.