The concept of sustainability and acceptable trade-offs between economic, social and environmental factors wasn’t widely understood either. Even lighting up a cigarette at the wheel of the family car was considered an OK way to while away a stressful traffic jam! And fuel economy was a political issue prompted by the ‘oil crisis’ that led to the demise of ‘proper’ cars.” (Though he is very proud of his latest-generation hybrid and its ultra-low emissions determined according to ISO 23274.) My father-in-law adds: “Back then, air pollution was such a remote concept. In fact, I had children of my own by the time ISO 13216 gave rise to the now-famous “ISOFIX” term associated with safe child transport. This was years before rear seat-belts were mandatory. I remember taking rides as a kid in the back of our estate wagon with the family dog. In 1977, 30 years after ISO was created, I helped to bump world population to 4.2 billion.
Their use was really taking off at that time as farming industrialized.” We could all fit on Jamaica (theoretically) 1) “In fact, one of the first pieces of major environmental legislation was passed at that time in the USA, to control the use of pesticides. But back in 1947, it was the dawn of environmental awareness. We’re only just beginning to understand the way that these things interrelate.
My brother-in-law, Étienne, an environmental engineer at Switzerland’s National Arboretum in Aubonne, gives some useful context to the debate: “Today, there are so many things that we have to concern ourselves with. That’s less than the combined population of India and China today. If the world’s resources seemed inexhaustible, it was understandable: 70 years ago, the world population was just 2.4 billion. We had labour-saving gadgets and white goods, the miracle of television, unheard-of leisure time and affordable travel”. So shutting off taps, switching off lights, and the gloomy, make-do austerity of the war was maybe forgotten. Mum explains how, looking back, “we were growing up in a new time of plenty. Re-growth simply couldn’t have happened without a coordinated effort, and all the rebuilding had to begin with factories, jobs, houses and infrastructure. It’s no coincidence that this was the same year that ISO was founded. She was born just after the War, and came into the world at a time when loss and destruction were slowly being ousted by progress, reconstruction and, above all, hope. The journey begins in 1947, with my mother. How have society’s ideas about ecology influenced standards from their industrial beginnings to becoming a benchmark for protecting the planet? Mum knows best I reflect on the story of ISO and its own evolution toward standards that touch all aspects of our environment, from reducing toxic substances to sustainable growth. The theme of the environment, and how our relationship to it has changed over the years, gives us a lot to talk about as plates are passed around and glasses filled and emptied. I smile and shut off the tap, as my father-in-law affectionately rolls his eyes at me. Even in Switzerland (whose green and grassy landscape is adequately rained on all year round), water is a resource that needs to be conserved, like any other. “Turn it off ! Water is precious !” He’s right, of course. I zone back to the present when a friend’s five-year-old points to the kitchen tap that I’ve left running over a lettuce in the sink. Last Sunday, after getting up early (thanks again, Baby James) and busily chopping, mashing, seasoning and roasting my way through the morning, I experienced this small gratitude-filled hiatus at the sight of three generations of family gathered around my kitchen table. More often than not, it’s the simple things in life that give us reason to pause and consider how lucky we are.
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