Our activities are unfavorably affecting Earth, and according to a recent study, one of many, the planet’s resources are getting severely distorted by expanding human populations and consumption rates. 

Climate change is another factor. The Earth is predicted to be approximately 2°C hotter by 2050, and the world’s ice sheets are already melting at much higher times than in the last century, providing to rising sea levels. At the same time, the planet is wasting much of its biodiversity, which scientists state will create “unforeseen and unpredictable” consequences to life on Earth.

With all this in mind, global sustainability initiatives are more critical now than ever. Fortuitously, we can shift to advanced technological devices to discuss the most urgent concerns. One technology that has an emerging role in sustainability is blockchain.

Blockchain is famously known as the underlying technology behind digital currencies like bitcoin, although it has applications well ahead of that. Blockchain technology allows a system of recording data in a way that makes it very troublesome or near-impossible to modify or hack.

That’s because documents of every new transaction need to be attached to each of the different ledgers before the transaction is confirmed and recorded. To improve anything in that transaction, consequently, would need adjusting details in every ledger. This system is what makes blockchain virtually challenging to hack.

Blockchain as a key to sustainability

Blockchain is having an emerging position in sustainability by supporting foster collaborations between customers and producers, by helping people in fostering more sustainable lifestyles, and by assisting companies to enhance their sourcing and recycling practices.

Another significant advantage of blockchain technology is that it can assure transparency. Blockchain offers a verifiable record as to who purchases what from whom. This indicates that companies’ claims of being resource-positive and decreasing their environmental consequences can be counter-checked and verified.

Blockchain and a circular economy

Essential to sustainability is the idea of the circular economy and its three R’s: reusing products, reducing materials and waste, and recycling materials. This standard assures that products and services are traded in sealed loops or cycles, indicating that nothing goes to trash so we can adequately conserve Earth’s natural resources.

Blockchain can assist in this regard, too. Apart from transparency, technology assures traceability. Collectively, transparency and traceability promote fast and easy provenance of items. Consequently, differentiating authentic products from fake ones assists battle counterfeiting and the negative pressure it causes to our natural resources, not to consider fair work practices.

Just as importantly, acknowledgments to blockchain technology customers can have sufficient information about genuinely sustainable products, allowing them to make knowledgeable choices.

Ultimately, blockchain is streamlining the supply chain by immutable, time-based databases for every stage: production, collection, arrival, transportation, and even disposal. A streamlined supply chain, like that of Amazon, Walmart, and IBM, then helps companies optimize processes, come up with innovations, and enhance productivity.

These result in decreased operating costs and, more importantly, reductions in waste. They can also assist in the preservation of resources. Nevertheless, blockchain technology is moderately nascent, which indicates that it might take some time, though before more companies about the world figure out how to use it efficiently for the sake of sustainability.