Annie Leonard, a sustainability advocate, once said, “There is no such thing as “away”. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.” In other words, the waste that is disposed of within every household has to go somewhere. Although this quote appears to be insignificant, it showcases how my mindset on environmental sustainability within my life professionally and personally has changed after taking this course. The readings and lectures presented by Professor Birkenholtz, Lucero, McCall, Siva, and Viswanathan have allowed me to have a holistic way of thinking relating to how my actions affect the wellbeing of the environment. This new way of thinking will allow me to foster a green transformation towards sustainability by making an impact with my decisions throughout my career and personal endeavours. In other words, my vision personally and professionally in regard to sustainability is to make an impact where I can, and bring awareness to the importance of sustainability. Environmental Sustainability is a complex issue, but the importance should not be understated.
Before taking this course, sustainability was something that caught my interest. However, I ignored the idea that an impact could be made on a personal level through my professional and personal experiences and decisions. Professor Siva’s lectures on the exposed me to the validity of the argument for sustainability. The society today takes water for granted because the idea of water being present is
In order for sustainable development to be achieved, humans need to reduce their effect on the environment by consuming less in terms of resources, and living more lightly on the planet. As difficult as this may sound, there are a number of ways in which this is easily achievable. One of the most effective ways to do this is to alter the way in which we function day-to-day, and to begin to change our homes to make them more efficient in terms of resources. In addition, sustainability is not only about ensuring a future in which we can sustain our society without impacting negatively on our environment, but also but ensuring that everyone can have access to this. Therefore we must look at the triple-bottom line approach and align our movement towards sustainable development with this.
Sustainability from a strategic business perspective is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). Business sustainably is often defined as managing the triple bottom line – a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities. These three impacts are sometimes referred to as profits, people and planet. (Business sustainability definition from financial times lexicon, no date). This essay will discuss the idea of sustainability being an important element within a businesses and its core strategies and the importance of it within different businesses. Secondly, this study will look at how different stakeholders are affected and influenced by sustainability as this could be seen as a catalyst to improving the environment as a whole and. Then this study will look at how businesses not focusing
Environmental sustainability is the ability to be able to continue a certain process or use a certain resource indefinitely (Mason). For example, if you’re using a certain resource and you know it’s going to run out one day, that resource is unsustainable. Sustainability is important because a lot of the practices that we do in modern society from agriculture, to energy source, and even development, are completely depleting our resources. This practices were also made to accommodate our fast pace lifestyle, everything is built and made to be fast and cheap, nothing is made to last anymore. Many people are realizing the importance of being sustainable and the world is slowly changing to sustainable practices like Renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, while also changing the fast and easy mind set to a more “reusable” one. Brevard College has boarded the sustainable train of the world by making several additions to the school like solar panels, alternative transportation options, a Fair trade and organic Coffee shop, and several environmental based clubs. Although they are heading in the right direction, many changes still need to be made in order to achieve a well-developed sustainable campus.
Majority of people posse the learning tools to educate themselves on simple effective conservation that maintains our environment. One tool useful while at home is the internet, which contains a huge database to assist in finding innovated ways go ‘green’ with water. Another way people utilize water conservation methods within their home improvements fixing poor plumping or damaged sprinkling systems. In addition, observing your bill to pin point the major use of water and seeking ways to lower any excess usage. Involving friends and family helps with promotion along with assistance to maintain a lifestyle that will persist. To understand this shift in lifestyle author Janet A. Lorenzen states “a green lifestyle is a pattern of living that involves deliberation over the uncertain environmental impacts of everyday practices and a guiding narrative that makes that process personally meaningful” (Lorenzen 95). This shift in living requires individuals to think what their action accomplishes. The challenge for anyone to break a constant habit is by find another healthier method to
Environmental issues have become a norm in today’s society but that does not have to be the case. There are so many situations and relationships that occur between psychology and the preservation of the environment that will be discussed. Environmental issues and problems can be resolved but the willingness must be present. Creating a solution for waste management is just the start of helping resolve environmental problems. There are also economic, political and legal barriers that become present when trying to create a solution for waste management but having a clear understanding of them is vital. Having a resolution and a proposed
One of the most vigorously debated topics is the issue of sustainability. These include climate change, overpopulation, pollution, and ignorance to the damage being done to the environment. The climate that all living things have come to rely upon is changing because of global warming. Today, sustainability has become a focal point and a significant part of life. Sustainability is defined as the ability to meet current environmental, ecological, economics, social and cultural needs without risking the ability of future generations to meet those same needs. What does the Best American Science Wtg. 2014 teach us about sustainability, and what makes the paradigm shift to a sustainable planet? These different authors explain with example how sustainability can be achieved and also the different points of views that exist. “TV as birth control,” by Fred Pearce, “Why the brain prefers paper,” by Ferris Jabrs, “Bringing them back to life,” by Carl Zimmer and “A race to save the orange by altering its DNA”, by Amy Harmon’s – reveals that cultural sustainability involves efforts to preserve the actual and evasive cultural elements of sociality such as heritage, educational opportunities and public policies, in way that promote environmental, economic and social sustainability.
The environment is important to protect considering that people live and breathe in the atmosphere it provides. Investing time in activities that protect the environment hasn’t always been a priority, but as greenhouse gas emissions, the use of energy, and other harmful impacts on the environment increased, individuals began to speak up on what should be done. As the world’s population continues to grow exponentially, the impacts society produces will in turn continue to increase unless something is done about it. Although the idea of an environmentally sustainable community has remained on the minds of the concerned public throughout the past decade, as companies and universities became more invested in the idea, new ways of taking action and implementing policies were developed and pursued.
The concept of “sustainability” is a vital part of our society. Herndl compares sustainability to the concept of freedom “As you might expect, it is not easy to define a concept that
Regardless of what one thinks about American consumerism or our high levels of production, it is a fact that we live in a throw-away society. What that means is that we produce a lot, throw away a lot, and most things are planned to become obsolete within a few years. Recently, there has been an unprecedented effort to correct these negatives habits of our society, seeing as they can’t last forever. This effort, aptly called sustainability, is one of the most grandiose undertakings in American society today. Universities, corporations, households, and everything in-between, are all striving towards sustainability, but what actually is it? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations” (EPA). With such a broad definition, there are plenty of critics and skeptics that say that such a proposition is too idealistic and therefore impossible. In fact, I agree with that faction and acknowledge that with such a loose definition, it will never be truly possible to be sustainable. However, my rebuttal, as it seems natural to say, is that nearly everything we do or strive for in America is, in a way, too idealistic. From that, I assert that we need to make a deliberate effort, as both consumers and producers, to work towards sustainability to move away from our throw-away tendencies.
Since the early nineties Australia’s approach to acknowledge sustainability has equipped people with the information, skills and understanding to reach conclusions around their environmental social implications. Australia has seen many changes since the first Environment Conference in 1970 where the emphasis was on natural ecosystem and how to provide the community with understanding to make necessary decisions on the environment and economic implications. As the years progressed so did the Education for Sustainability which facilitates the changes by creating critical and innovative approaches, fostering new knowledge, building capacity in individuals for transformational change and overseeing social and economic implications. In residential
When I was five years old I began school. In Kindergarden we learned basic things like letters, numbers, and how not to be fully engulfed in flames. For some reason, 2004 was the height of anti-fire education in Missouri and before I knew how to tie my shoes I knew that if I ever was ablaze, to cover my face, fall to my knees, and roll back and fourth. This is what my institution placed serious value upon and because I was a student of that institution I also placed serious value upon it. The same idea must be applied to a university's teaching of environmental sustainability. This is discussed in David Orr's "What is Education For?" Through choosing a curriculum a university chooses what it places value onto, by making the environment a priority it showcases to the future generations that environmental wellness is an important responsibility for them to take ownership.
The living standards in 2015 compared to one hundred years ago have changed immensely, from the size of houses, energy consumption, the necessary access to treated water. Higher standards of living have made way for higher and denser populations. Additionally, the impact on the environment has increased simultaneously with the growth of our wants and needs. This reflective essay will cover themes introduced and focused on throughout the course “Perspectives on Sustainability”, which addresses multiple aspects of how to live sustainably, how to reduce the negative impact on the environment and to create a shift in people 's outlook regarding sustainability. The overall idea promoted in the course was the need for increased
Sustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, “the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014)
This essay will review two significant environmental experiences I have encountered exploring the influences of these my life and how these have altered my view on what is environmental sustainability. An examination into these two experiences will follow into reviewing my perspectives on environmental sustainability and how these two experiences influenced this. To conclude a discussion on my role as a teacher and how this will impact myself when in the classroom.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental sustainability is “to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.” (“Learn About Sustainability”, 2016) Although this is an American agency, the definition fits what the European Union is trying to accomplish which is to meet the demands of the present without sacrificing those needs of future generations. By practicing environmental sustainability, one is preserving the environment for future generations to enjoy and use.