Gauge Newsletter January 2019 | Page 3

EDITORIAL Senior Treasurer Dr. Manjula Sandirigama SUSTAINABILITY Development in today’s manufacturing industry is playing a great role in the busy lifestyle of people. Today there are many advanced technologies which we can’t even imagine. Though they make our lives easy, there are negative impacts equally. The most dangerous outcome is the damage that has been done to the environment. So now people are focusing on methods to continue these technologies in an eco- friendly manner minimizing the damage to the environment. In ancient Sri Lanka, there were so many industrial technologies where almost all of them are less harmful to the environment. When considering the whole world, dramatically people have changed their process of manufacturing. Later, ancient producers found ways to have machines produce the items which eventually paved the way to the Industrial Revolution. The industrial revolution made a great impact on various industries such as textile, mining, agriculture, construction, etc. For example, textiles which were made with hands were handspun. With the invention of the spinning wheel and loom, cotton was woven quickly and in large scale. Likewise, all the other industries were improved due to the reduction of production time and cost with the invention of new machines. People’s eyes were opened only when they got to know that their lives are in danger due to the destruction of the environment. That is when this important topic ‘Sustainability’ came into consideration. What is sustainability? This is not just only a simple word. When you are doing a business or an industry, the first thing that comes to mind is the profit or the economic development. But sustainability is not only having the economic development. Other than economic development, two other important factors need to be considered. They are environmental development and the social aspects. Earlier, it was not necessary to have a deep discussion on this because almost all the industries carried out fulfilling all the three factors of the sustainability. Relevant to sustainable development, United Nations (UN) charter identified principles and treaties on sustainable development including economic, environmental and social aspects. Sustainable development is a systematic approach to growth and development and to manage natural resources and social capital for the welfare of the present and future generations. This paved our attention towards education, public health and standard of living. UN named these principles as 17 sustainable development goals. These are very interesting and important points. As the whole world consider this sustainable development is a need, let’s get together and do our best to make our country a sustainable country. President Kaushal Amarasinghe Vice President Tharindu Dhananjaya Secretary Sandakelum Bandara Assistant Secretary Sewwandie Nanayakkara Editor Minoli Suriyapperuma Junior Treasurer Lakshan Madhushanka Committee Members Aruni Bandara Kasun Thennakoon Sandaru Prathibha Vishva Navod Chameera Thilakarathne Manjitha Manchanayake Magazine Designing Visakan Thayaparan Magazine Printing Keshara Weerasinghe Engineering Students' Publication Society, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. gaugeuop.com [email protected] facebook.com/GaugeUOP Minoli Suriyapperuma GAUGE Magazine University of Peradeniya PAGE| 1