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William P. CunninghamUniversity of Minnesota

Mary Ann CunninghamVassar College

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Chapter 25Chapter 25Lecture OutlineLecture Outline**

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What Then Shall We Do?

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Outline• Environmental Education

Environmental Careers• How Much is Enough?

Green Consumerism• Working Together

Mainline and Radical Environmental Groups• Campus Greening• Sustainability is a Global Challenge• Millennium Assessment

What Then Shall We Do?

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Environmental Education

• In 1990, Congress passed the National Education Act establishing two goals: Improve understanding among the general public

of the natural and built environment and the relationships between humans and their environment

Encourage post-secondary students to pursue careers related to the environment

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Environmental Literacy

• William Reilly, former EPA administrator, called for environmental literacy in which every citizen is fluent in the principles of ecology and has a working knowledge of the environment. Foster a stewardship ethic

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Environmental Education

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Citizen Science

• Ordinary people join with established scientists to answer real scientific questions Community-based research was pioneered in the

Netherlands in when they combined researchers with students and neighborhood groups to work on research projects

The Audubon Society sponsors a annual Christmas Bird Count.

Earthwatch International and American River Watch are also examples of enlisting the public in scientific research projects.

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Environmental Careers

• Trained people in environmental professions, at every level from support staff to managers to educators are essential, and those roles will only increase in importance. World Wildlife Fund estimates 750,000 new jobs

in renewable energy in next 10 yrs Environmental law Environmental engineering Environmental education

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Green Business

• Can resource conservation and environmental awareness be an advantage in business? Most large companies have an environmental

department. Companies are beginning to design with

pollution control and waste disposal in mind. Huge market for pollution control technology

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Environmental Technician Taking Samples

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How Much Is Enough?

• Veblen in Theory of the Leisure Class coined the term conspicuous consumption to describe buying things we do not need in order to impress others. The average American now consumes twice as

many goods and services as in 1950- An average house in the U.S. is now more

than twice as big as 50 years ago, even though the typical family has half the number of people.

- We need the additional space to hold all the stuff we buy.

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How Much Is Enough?

• Growing number of people find themselves stuck in a vicious cycle: Work frantically at a job they hate, to buy things

they don’t need, so they can save time to work longer hours.

Some, however, take a cue from Thoreau and are adopting more simple, less consumptive lifestyles.

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We Can Reduce Our Environmental Impacts

• Even small steps can have significant environmental effects: Switching from a diet high in red meat to a

vegetarian one can save as much energy as trading in a normal car for a hybrid.

- It takes only about 2 calories of fossil fuel to grow one calorie of energy in a fruit or vegetable.

- The ratio is as high as 80 to 1 for cattle grown in confined feeding operations.

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“Green Washing” Can Confuse Consumers

• Many terms used in advertising are vague and have little meaning: Nontoxic, biodegradable, recyclable, natural,

organic, environmentally friendly• Several national programs scientifically analyze the

environmental impacts of products. Blue Angel label in Germany Green Seal program in the U.S. The most comprehensive product analysis is

called life cycle analysis, as it follows a product through its manufacture, use and disposal.

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Life Cycle Analysis of Products

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Limits of Green Consumerism

• Often, consumers are faced with complicated comparisons and choices. Paper or plastic grocery bags?

- Both have good and bad points, and represent trade-offs in energy use, pollution production, ability to recycle, etc.

- If you have both paper and plastic recycling, plastic is probably better because it is easier to recycle and produces less pollution.

A better choice may be to take your own cloth bag.

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Limits of Green Consumerism

• Focus on doing your best to recycle, buy green products, and be involved.

• Green consumerism generally can do little about larger issues of global equality, chronic poverty, and oppression in the Third World. There is a danger that an exclusive focus on our

own small steps, such as recycling, may divert attention from greater environmental issues.

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How Can We Work Together?

• Collective action can magnify the power of individuals. For this reason, many people join environmental or social action groups.

• Mainline Environmental Groups Include: National Wildlife Federation World Wildlife Fund The Audubon Society The Sierra Club Ducks Unlimited Natural Resources Defense Council The Wilderness Society

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Growth of Environmental Organizations

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Mainline Environmental Groups

• Mass membership, large professional staffs, and long history provide these groups a degree of respectability and influence not found in newer, smaller groups Mainline environmental organizations are often

criticized by radical environmentalists for their tendency to compromise and cooperate with the establishment.

These groups have local chapters, a good way for you to become involved

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Mainline Environmental Groups

• Some groups have limited contact with members and focus instead on land acquisition, litigation and lobbying. Environmental Defense Fund Nature Conservancy National Resources Defense Council Wilderness Society

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Radical Groups Capture Media Attention

• Direct Action Groups Earth First! Sea Shepherd Greenpeace

• Often associated with deep ecology - profoundly biocentric worldview

• Use creative tactics such as street theater and civil disobedience

• How far should you go in disobeying rules to change public opinion?

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Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

• Rapid rise in international NGOs Rio Summit in 1992 had 30,000 representatives

of environmental groups attending Carry out public education and consciousness-

raising using protest marches and civil disobedience

Conservation International does debt for nature swaps

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Campus Greening

• Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) is largest group with some 5000 chapters. Is there a chapter on your campus?

• Another important student organizing group is the network of Public Interest Research Groups.

• You can learn to organize, use media to get your message out.

• “Step it Up” campaign about global warming was done via internet. Electronic environmentalism allowed them to

organize more than 800 events.

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Schools Can Be Environmental Leaders

• Schools can do campus audits to study water and energy use, waste disposal, recycling, paper consumption, etc.

• New buildings should meet U.S. Green Building Council standards. It does not cost any more to build in an environmentally friendly way. At Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, a kiosk in the

dorm shows daily energy use and there are green dorms with natural lighting, clean air and few allergens.

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Colleges Showing Environmental Leadership

• Dartmouth, Harvard, Stanford and Williams rank at the top for green policies.

• Berea College in Kentucky got special commendation. Berea’s ecovillage has a student designed house

that produces its own electricity and treats waste water in a living system.

College has a full time sustainability coordinator

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Your Campus Can Reduce Energy Usage

• Your campus can reduce energy use by purchasing fuel efficient vehicles using green building standards purchasing energy from renewable sources buying locally produced foods

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Sustainability is a Global Challenge• Sustainable Development - use renewable

resources in harmony with ecological systems Developing countries need access to more-

efficient, less-polluting technologies- Technology transfer and financial aid- Poverty is at the core of many problems.

The $350 billion/yr needed is small compared to the $1 trillion/yr spent on wars and military.

Need to find compromise between no-growth and unlimited growth

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A Model For Sustainable Development

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Millennium Assessment

• Millennium Assessment done by the U.N. in 2000 All of us depend on ecosystems to provide

conditions for decent life. We have made unprecedented demands on

ecosystems to meet growing demands for food, water, fibers for clothing and energy.

These changes improved humans but weakened nature’s ability to purify air and water, protect from disasters.

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Millennium Assessment in 2000

Outstanding problems include the dire state of the world’s fish stocks, the vulnerability of people living in dry regions, and the growing threat of global warming and pollution.

Human actions have taken the planet to the edge of a massive wave of extinctions.

Loss of ecosystem services is a barrier to reducing poverty, hunger, and disease.

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Millennium Assessment in 2000

Pressures on ecosystems will increase globally unless we change our actions.

Conservation is more likely to succeed if local communities are given ownership.

Today’s technology can reduce human impact, but it is unlikely to be deployed fully until we stop thinking of ecosystem services as free and limitless.

Better protection of natural assets requires coordinated efforts of governments, business, and international institutions.