Analysis Of David Orr 's The Principle Of Mastering Oneself

“Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future.”

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.” The Lorax said this quote in a very popular book and movie called The Lorax. This quote shows mankind that if we do not care about our environment, the world is only going to go downhill from here. In response to the Lorax, we should encourage our government to better govern how we use our natural resources. The government needs to maintain a good state of control in the environment or else we will destroy our world. As a nation, we are not respecting our world as we should be with recycling, and proactive steps to stop climate change. Our government is fully responsible for fostering green practices because they are able to control how our nation utilizes our energy, water and land.

Have you ever thought about how your actions or opinions affected the environment around you? We’re constantly unaware of what we do that impacts the environment’s condition. One author named Wendell Berry blames the public in his article regarding the way society and the industry has treated the environment and its natural resources. This raises concerns whether we should be putting more importance on the economy or the land that we live in for the sake of our future survival. While I agree with most of Berry’s points and perspectives I slightly disagree with a few of his opinions, but nonetheless he brings up a great matter in today’s modern society.

“Water and air, two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.”

Americans, as a whole, do not care about the environment anymore. When we watch the news or simply talk about our day, there are always more pressing topics that come up. However, as a nation, the threat of a failing environment seems to be forgotten because the effects are not as obvious as other threats. Bill McKibben’s “Waste Not, Want Not” discusses how much time, money, resources, and people America has actually wasted and how little effort has been made to try to change. McKibben causes readers to think it is too late to save the environment from our wastefulness because we put our efforts into systems that do not help the environment, spend more money and resources than necessary, and refuse to acknowledge how much were wasting.

“Sooner or later, we will have to recognize that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans.” -----Evo

“We have to learn our way out of current social and environmental problems and learn to live sustainably.” (ESD)

Everyday the world we live in changes. Some of these changes are small while others our impacting our health and futures. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” –Dr. Seuss. I can’t think of a better way to say it, especially when talking about the environment. The problem with the environment is not that people don’t care enough to change it; it’s that people aren’t educated enough to know that they need to care to change it. We cannot know what we don’t know; if we don’t know about something we can’t be expected to care to change it.

For us to make a difference now and tend to the environmental “monsters” we have created we have to first learn and appreciate our connection with

ou can only have so much good before it is all gone. Resource depletion is the biggest environmental issues known to man. As humans we’re using what we have to live, but we use more than we give out. Through science, we’re finally starting to understand that people are using too much of the resources and altering the face of the earth. If we’re not careful, these problems can’t be fixed.

Justice to future generations requires us to pass along the beauty and bounty of Earth diminished. Our politics, economy, and media betray an almost infantile fixation on the present moment, seeking or selling instant gratification, oblivious to history. We need to develop a culture worthy or adults, one that recognizes our actions have consequences. If we take more than we need from the riches of the planet, if we drain aquifers, squander topsoil, or fish the seas bare, we are stealing from our children. If we fill dumps with toxic waste, fill barrels with radioactive debris, spew poisons into the atmosphere and oceans, we will leave our descendants a legacy of grief. Conservation aims to avoid causing harm to our children, or their children, or to any children ever” (Sanders

"Save the Planet," "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," "Go Green." Quotes like these have become a commonality in today's age. We all are familiar with the large efforts to help preserve the environment. In "Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments," Thomas E. Hill Jr. sums up his essay by stating, "The point is not to insinuate that all anti-environmentalists are defective, but to see that those who value such traits as humility, gratitude, and sensitivity to others have reason to promote the love of nature" (688; par. 4) This excerpt provides the thesis behind Hill's argument. The author found that

Everyone in my generation has probably grown up seeing ads or watching videos about pollution or about the environment in general, so much, to the point that these constant reminders about protecting our planet are already part of the norm for us. While these reminders have had positive effects, like how more and more people have become informed of the Earth’s condition, many people, myself included, still remain indifferent to the threats our environment faces. I won’t lie; I’m no saint or crusader for the cause, but every now and then certain videos or articles strike a chord within me and makes me reflect on the way how I’ve been living affects the environment. One such article was the one we read last week in class, “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert in the Upfront magazine.

So, as we are human, we can do something to protect the environment. It is good to ourselves. We can do a very small thing like using less disposable goods in our daily lives. Since we cannot control the environment, we should make some safeguards before the disaster

According to NCF 2005”The present status of Environmental Education (EE) in schools had its genesis in the National Policy of Education (NPE) 1986 (modified in 1992), in which 'Protection of the Environment ' is stated as a common core around which a National Curriculum Framework (NCF) would be woven. The National Policy on Education 1986 emphasized the need to create awareness of environmental concerns by integrating it in the educational process at all stages of education and for all sections of society. Accordingly, the National Curriculum for Elementary and Secondary Education: A Framework 1988 presented the NCERT 's view: "The school curriculum should highlight the measures for protection and care of the environment, prevention of pollution and conservation of energy." In consonance with these documents, Environmental Studies was introduced as a subject at the primary level. The topics related to environment were suitably infused with different science and social science subjects at all school stages. Understanding of the environment in its totality, both natural and social, and their interactive processes, the environmental problems and the ways and means to preserve the environment was one of the General Objectives of Education as per National Curriculum. Framework 2000.”