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LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, 18e G. TYLER MILLER • SCOTT E. SPOOLMAN

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25 Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability

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• 1991 – Biosphere 2 – Constructed near Tucson, Arizona

• Designed to mimic the earth’s natural chemical recycling systems

• Many unexpected problems – Life-support system issues

• Some successes – Waste and wastewater recycled

Core Case Study: Biosphere 2 – A Lesson in Humility

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Fig. 25-1, p. 684

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• Major environmental worldviews differ on which is more important—human needs and wants, or the overall health of ecosystems and the biosphere

25-1 What Are Some Major Environmental Worldviews?

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• Environmental worldviews – How people think the world works and what

they think their role should be • Environmental ethics

– Beliefs about behavior is right and what behavior is wrong with regard to the environment

There Are a Variety of Environmental Worldviews

Environmental Worldviews

■ Resources are limited and should not be wasted.

Environmental Wisdom

■ We are a part of and totally dependent on nature, and nature exists for all species.

■ We should encourage earth- sustaining forms of economic growth and discourage earth-degrading forms.

■ Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself and integrating such lessons from nature into the ways we think and act.

Stewardship ■ We have an ethical responsibility to be caring managers, or stewards, of the earth. ■ We will probably not run out of resources, but they should not be wasted. ■ We should encourage environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and discourage environmentally harmful forms. ■ Our success depends on how well we manage the earth's life- support systems for our benefit and for the rest of nature.

Stepped Art

Planetary Management

■ We are apart from the rest of nature and can manage nature to meet our increasing needs and wants.

■ Because of our ingenuity and technology, we will not run out of resources.

■ The potential for economic growth is essentially unlimited. ■ Our success depends on how well we manage the earth's life- support systems mostly for our benefit.

Fig. 25-2, p. 685

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• Two human-centered worldviews – Planetary management worldview

• We can and should manage the earth for our own benefit

• No-problem school • Free-market school • Spaceship-earth school

– Stewardship worldview • We have an ethical responsibility to be caring

stewards

Most People Have Human-Centered Environmental Worldviews

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• 35% of the country’s land is managed by the federal government – National Forest System – Bureau of Land Management – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – National Park System – National Wilderness Preservation System

Case Study: Managing Public Lands in the United States

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• Four principles should govern use of public lands and their resources: – Primary use for protecting biodiversity – No subsidies for using or extracting resources – Fair compensation for use of land – Fully culpability for environmental damage

caused by users

Case Study: Managing Public Lands in the United States (cont’d.)

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• Developers wish to open more federal lands: – Sell public lands to private corporations or

individuals – Slash federal funding related to public lands – Cut diverse old-growth forests – Open national parks to oil and gas drilling – Eliminate the National Park Service

Case Study: Managing Public Lands in the United States (cont’d.)

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• Criticism of the human-centered worldviews – Wrongly assumes we can be good stewards – We do not know enough about the earth

Can We Manage the Earth?

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• Inherent or intrinsic value of all forms of life

• Environmental wisdom worldview – We are all part of the community of life and

the ecological processes that sustain all life – The earth does not need our management

Some Environmental Worldviews Are Life-Centered and Others are Earth-Centered

Fig. 25-6, p. 689

Biosphere

Biodiversity)

Ecosystems

All species on earth

All people on earth

Nation

Community and friends

Family

Self

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Fig. 25-7, p. 690

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• The first step to living more sustainably is to become environmentally literate

25-2 What Is the Role of Education in Living More Sustainably?

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• Three foundations of environmental literacy: – Natural capital matters – Our ecological footprints are immense and

growing rapidly – Ecological and climate tipping points:

irreversible and should never be crossed • Requires answering key questions and

having basic understanding of key topics

We Can Become More Environmentally Literate

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Fig. 25-8a, p. 691

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Fig. 25-8b, p. 691

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• Formal environmental education – Is it enough?

• We have much to learn from nature: – Ecological, aesthetic, and spiritual values of

nature

We Can Learn from the Earth

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Fig. 25-9, p. 692

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Fig. 25-10, p. 693

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• We can live more sustainably by: – Becoming environmentally literate, learning

from nature – Living more simply and lightly on the earth – Becoming active environmental citizens

25-3 How Can We Live More Sustainably?

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• Ethical guidelines: – Apply principles such as the principles of

sustainability – Protect the earth’s natural capital – Use matter and energy resources efficiently – Protect biodiversity – Leave the earth in as good condition as we

found it, or better

We Can Live More Simply and Lightly on the Earth

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• Voluntary simplicity – Learn to live with less – Start by asking “How much is enough?”

• Living more sustainably is not easy – Change the way we think about, and act in,

the world – Mental traps:

• Gloom-and-doom pessimism • Blind technological optimism

We Can Live More Simply and Lightly on the Earth (cont’d.)

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Fig. 25-14, p. 696

Food

Reduce meat consumption

Buy or grow organic food and buy locally grown food

Transportation Reduce car use by walking, biking, carpooling, car-sharing, and using mass transit Drive an energy-efficient vehicle

Home Energy Use

Insulate your house, plug air leaks, and install energy-efficient windows Use energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, lights, and appliances

Reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, replant, and share

Resource Use

Use renewable energy resources whenever possible

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• 2007 – massive tornado destroyed town • Citizens proposed rebuilding as a more

sustainable community – By 2012, town has more LEED Platinum

certified new buildings per capita than any other U.S. city

– K-12 school building uses 72% less energy than a comparable conventional building

Case Study: Rebuilding Greensburg, Kansas – From Ruin to Sustainability

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Fig. 25-15, p. 697

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• Sustainability revolution: – Increase energy efficiency – Shift to renewable energy resources – Stabilize climate change – Stop destroying forests – Produce food more sustainably – Reuse or recycle 80% of the solid wastes we

produce – Reconnect and work with the biosphere

We Can Bring About a Sustainability Revolution in Your Lifetime

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Fig. 25-16, p. 699

Current Emphasis Sustainability Emphasis Energy and Climate

Fossil fuels Direct and indirect solar energy

Energy waste Energy efficiency Climate disruption Climate stabilization

Matter

High resource use and waste Less resource use

Consume and throwaway Reduce, reuse, and recycle

Waste disposal and pollution control

Waste prevention and pollution prevention

Life

Deplete and degrade natural capital Protect natural capital Reduce biodiversity Protect biodiversity Population growth Population stabilization

Fig. 25-17, p. 700

Cha

nge

Unsustainable Living

More Sustainable Living

Environmental Concerns Protecting natural capital Sustaining biodiversity Repairing ecological damage Addressing climate change

Social Trends Reducing waste Using less Living more simply Reusing and recycling Growth of eco- cities and eco-neighborhoods Environmental justice Environmental literacy

Economic Tools Full-cost pricing Micro-lending Green subsidies Green taxes Cap and trade Net energy analysis

Technologies Pollution prevention Organic farming Drip irrigation Solar desalinization Energy efficiency Solar energy Wind energy Geothermal energy Environmental nanotechnology Ecoindustrial parks

Time

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• Our environmental worldviews play a key role in how we treat the earth that sustains us, and thus, in how we treat ourselves

• We need to become more environmentally literate about: – How the earth works – How we are affecting its life-support systems

that keep us and other species alive – What we can do to live more sustainably

Three Big Ideas

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• Living more sustainably means: – Learning from nature – Living more lightly – Becoming active environmental citizens who

leave small environmental footprints on the earth

Three Big Ideas (cont’d.)

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• Biosphere 2 created a microcosm to help us understand how to live sustainably – The takeaway: nature is complex

• Our lives depend on natural capital – We need to reuse and recycle – We need to depend on renewable energy

resources – We need to mimic biodiversity

Tying It All Together: Biosphere 2 and Sustainability

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• We need to look for win-win solutions – Satisfying the largest number of individuals

while minimizing environmental harms – Example: paying more for the harmful

environmental and health costs of our goods and services

• We need to band together as individuals to make progress

Tying It All Together: Biosphere 2 and Sustainability (cont’d.)