Curbing Overconsumption : Challenge For Ethically Responsible Engineering Essay

Since the early 20th century the environmentalism movement has migrated from the struggles of consumers versus producers, or saving the planet as a whole as shown by Donald Worster in Nature’s Economy to a more socio-economic view based on urban growth and industrial health. Robert Gottlieb’s book Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement argues that as society goes so too does the environmental movement. As the emphasis on working environments and commercial goods we buy including food changes so too does the environmental movements. It did not matter whether it was large politically prominent environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club or the Audubon Societies or any other numbers of local grassroots

“Waste” is a short essay in which Wendell Berry critically analyzes the growing epidemic of trash that is polluting the nation’s land, waterways, and the air. Berry explains to the readers how the remnants of floods and litter that leave farmlands scattered with trash, makes more work for the farmers who have to rid their land of the trash before they can use it. Along with the floods, roads and highways also lead to a barrage of garbage from people who are too lazy or ignorant to take proper care of their garbage, which Berry claims leads to “. . . a constant precipitation of cans, bottles, the plastic-ware containers of fast food joints, soiled plastic diapers, and sometimes whole bags of garbage,” (Waste 1) along the edges of their fields. The garbage of the country continues to be a burden for everyone, whether it impacts them directly or not. Although it would be impossible to eliminate garbage completely from the country, the waste could be greatly reduced. Most of today’s trash is a consequence of the laziness of American society.

Today I think people, especially teens, are on their phone way too much. When I walk down the street, all I see is the top of people’s heads. The things that really stand out to me are how we overuse our technology to the point where people are being distracted when they drive and how people are becoming lazy and passive learners. While some might say we should not limit how much we use our cell phones, I think we would be better off limiting our time and usage on our phones.

The bizarre economy that we live in has affected us in many ways than our simple mind can fathom. After World War II there was massive push in innovation. Human were gifted with inventions like the Airplane, color T.V., polyvinyl cups, and precooked dinners. Nevertheless, these “gifts” came at an enormous cost. That cost was pushed onto the environment and people living in that environment. “The Market Economy” by Marge Piercy illustrates the movement in American aimed at bring attention to a global problem as well as an effort to save the planet along with the people living on it.

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.

As The World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Stay In Denial, by Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan, is a graphic novel about the state of our environment. They use cartoons and abundant sarcasm to convey the message that the attempts people are making to save the environment are not enough to do any real good. Their message challenges both those of Edward O. Wilson and the University of Connecticut in that Jensen and McMillan’s ideas are much more radical and suggest that the ideas posed by Wilson and UConn, such as the importance of recycling and sustainability efforts, are ineffective at saving the environment. We must resolve the challenges posed by Jensen and McMillan so that all of the ideas put forth in the sources may work together rather than against each other. In order to do this we must accept that some of the ideas given by Jensen and McMillan may be too extreme to do any real good and that the ideas suggested by Wilson and UConn, though slightly ineffective, are nonetheless important steps in saving the environment. Taken alone, none of their ideas will save the environment; instead it is necessary to combine the ideas of Wilson, UConn, and Jensen and McMillan in order to create a more realistic plan to save the planet.

Mckibben once again articulates his repetitive view that, “it’s a moral question, finally, if you think we owe any debt to the future.” (748). In many circumstances it is believed that if it had been done to us, we would dislike the generation that did it, just as how we will one day be disliked. The solution given in the essay on how to handle these environmental issues is to start a moral campaign. In other words, “… turn it into a political issue, just as bus boycotts began to make public the issue of race, forcing the system to respond. “ (748). As a part of the overall populist causing these issues, Mckibben understands that the hardest part about starting this moral campaign is identifying a villain to overcome. Briefly

While environmental questions are frequently channeled through practical and economic prisms, it is also appropriate to consider our econolgy as a function of morality. The ethical dilemmas which contribute to our policies and our behaviors regarding the use of fossil fuels and our attention to global climate change are frequently overshadowed by more immediate concerns of survival or mere comfort.

According to the author of “Taking the Lead” Felice Silverman, “the introduction of LEED v4 represents the next step in the evolution of sustainable design, but it’s interesting to note that as we learn more about creating green spaces, new concerns continue appear”. The example she gives deals with encouraging people as designers to see products earn third-party certifications, and designers should remember to look at more than just the single-attribute benefits of products. Designers need to be able to arm themselves with the best information on sustainability there is, and continue to review process, systems and products that could potentially cause harm to the environment and the people

Efficiency is not always the answer. David Owen explains that society is headed in the wrong direction, believing that to be greener we need to make our everyday lives more efficient when in reality we need to change our behavior. We as consumers want to be sustainable and take care of the Earth we live on while ironically expanding our collection of trinkets. Everything we believe in being efficient and green is misrepresented and to save the Earth the truth needs to be heard.

The summary of Consumed Identity and Anxiety in The Age of Plenty talks about how our consumerism has affected our society. Instead of using our voice to tell people what we think or showing what our personalities are, we use goods to illustrate who we are. In the film, it says that the people in this generation are living in the golden age, but we have strange addictions which are becoming noticeable in our society. We all direct our attention towards our materialistic wants and don’t worry about the earth that we are destroying with our pollution. If we keep using these materials, our resources will run out. People haven’t noticed that our Earth doesn’t have unlimited resources. As a species, we put all of our needs and wants ahead of our Earth. As Dr, Warren Hern said “We are the cancer of the Earth and cancer kills”. This implies that we are the reason the Earth is starting to become destroyed. We all need to come together and find a way to stop this illness of wants and needs which is causing all of this pollution. If we work together we can create a better place for the generations to come.

“In Waste Not, Want Not” author Bill McKibben, makes several arguments about how wasteful Americans are. Throughout the essay McKibben provides facts that show the degree of how much waste is built up daily. The author emphasizes waste throughout the essay by giving the reader an idea of much plastic, aluminum, paper, lithium, and food are wasted daily. If humans do not come together to help reduce the amount of waste, eventually planet earth will not be able to provide a stable environment to sustain life. Life as we know it is slowly coming closer and closer to the end, and without a joint effort to protect the environment and limit waste the end of life will come sooner than expected.

Throughout world history, people have come up with brilliant new ideas to make life easier, and as time goes on, research, making food, and getting news, has all become instantaneous. It now only takes the push of a button to cook a thanksgiving meal or the click of a remote to find out what’s happening across the world. These things are often taken for granted, and rarely does someone stop and say: “I wonder what turning on this extra lamp does to the environment?” This statement sounds insignificant when there are people starving in other countries and people are training for the army. Yet, being concerned about the environment is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, the environment should be one of the biggest concerns among people, as

In China, hazardous rivers flow in-between cities to which if one were to reach and touch the water, his skin would inflame due to the chemicals. We need to address this land pyramid ethic because China and the United States are not the only countries in the world that has hazardous waste issues. Leopard’s argument is not suggesting that we stop our industrialization, but rather having efficiency and organization in the process. We can keep producing hazardous technology, but we must clean up after ourselves and not let Mother Nature face the music. We just need to monitor our production rates and how much of it is actually hurting the environment. We have the capabilities to make use of it, so instead of letting Mother Nature take the heat, we can find ways of making that waste into reusable

In a slightly facetious fashion, scientist Edward O. Wilson points out to the general public both sides of the coin in regards to environmentalism and conservation of natural resources. He appeals to the emotional, logical and ethical sides of readers by pointing out the harsh effect that the desires and actions of both “radical environmentalism” and “anti- environmentalists” can have on the economy and working class citizens. These passages both comically show the overwhelming consequences that the extreme of any one standpoint can bring.