Engineering a Sustainable World: What Does It Take to Come Out on Top?
The modern lifestyle, full of one time use items and pollution generating machines, harming our environment is common knowledge, and, without a plan, the death of our planet is certain. Environmentalist and author, Derrick Jensen uses a comparison of possible outcomes to persuade his readers to take action that would help stop climate change; political resistance is his preferred and recommended course of action for his readers. Throughout his essay, “Forget Shorter Showers”, Jensen makes clear his desire to reduce or even reverse the effects industrialization: He suggests an approach where society makes changes to industry and to government over the current methods of
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“Simple living” even at its most extreme would not be enough to save the planet, according to Jensen; “Simple living” is an active choice made by individuals to reduce their carbon footprint through voluntary reduce, reuse, and recycle methods. The author expands on these ideas when he cites Kirkpatrick Sale; “The whole individualist what-you-can-do-to-save-the-Earth guilt trip is a myth. We, as individuals, are not creating the crises, and we can’t solve them” (Jensen , pg. 478). This means that individual effort can only go so far toward rebuilding the global ecosystem. Instead, there needs to be a greater response from the groups that cause the bulk of the issues. Changes in Governmental, corporate and agricultural organizations are imperative. Most importantly, we need to have major technological breakthroughs in these sectors to stop the damage being done to the planet. Current sources of renewable energy are great ideas, but are cost prohibitive and inefficient, making widespread use impossible for most developing countries. Developing countries need new advances in lower cost energy to break their dependencies, of environmentally costly fossil fuels. Additionally, developed countries need to do more to deploy the existing technology and cut back on the wasteful energy expenditures that go along with our creature comforts.
One way
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.
American author and journalist, Michael Pollan, in the article titled, “Why Bother?”, published in The New York Times Magazine, addresses the topic of environmental issues and argues that the phrase, “why bother?”, is what is keeping society from changing the ways citizens use up resources. His main focus of reasoning is supported by his idea that specialization has a significant role in reducing the average consumer’s chance of changing their lifestyle and also highlights that planting your own garden would be a task which in turn would benefit the consumer in many ways, while also decreasing their carbon footprint size. He concludes that these actions taking place could have a chain reaction that would spread these practices across the nation and lead to positive impacts on the environment.
There is an excessive amount of consumer products and energy being wasted, resulting in the need for minimalism. According to Joe McCarthy, in his article “5 Ways to Live Minimally and Save the Environment,” if the world’s population lived as the average US citizen did then four Earths would be needed to create enough resources. He states, “Through minimalism, humans can reduce their eco-footprints and make sure overconsumption doesn’t strip the
The article “Why Bother” written by Michael Pollan explains how bad climate change has become; he uses cheap energy and specialization to slow the phenomenon. He proclaims that people are all waiting around on each other to make the first move but no one is moving. He understands how critical the world has become and suggests people now have to start going green. He says that to modify the way climate change has taken charge, the best ways to slow it down is laws and a massive amount of money. Pollan suggests having a personal garden or even a community garden will help reduce the carbon footprint.
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.
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.
In Michael Pollan's article “Why Bother?” he discusses how climate change is a serious threat to humanity and needs to be addressed immediately. Pollan begins to discuss possible solutions but also realizes that these “solutions” may not be easily achieved. There is no way to eliminate people who make a conscious effort to help the advancement of climate change, but it is still important for others to attempt to make changes to help save the environment.
The essay opens up with McKibben talking about how the political campaign against global warming is flawed because at our current point there is nothing much that can be done to fix it.(Mckibben,1) He then goes to state that humans are the biggest culprit behind global warming and supports this by giving examples such as SUVs and American ignorance.(2,9) He concludes by saying that if ten percent of America were to go green, it still would not save the planet, but ten percent could get the government’s attention to pass laws making everyone go green. (11)
Around the world, humans are aware of the environmental crisis going on, yet, the issue is brushed under the rug and ignored. This issue is ignored due to the fact that some people are unwilling to change their lifestyles, it is expensive to be environmentally friendly, and there is a lack of effort towards change worldwide. Scientific evidence has proven that there is a crisis happening, but people show disinterest in it. Some people feel helpless because there is no way that the individual effort that is made can possibly make a global difference.
The world is being sickened by the needs of man in today's society. People, love to live in luxury without knowing the consequences of their actions. This is because man lives at a pace set by himself, and not one that is naturally set by nature. This is shown excellently in a quote inside of the novel Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. The Quote states, “the rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the impetuous and heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature.” The Earth is experiencing such rapid and disastrous change due to the wants of man. Man demands too much from the earth and not only is this changing the Earth, but it is also depleting many non renewable resources
The Western existence of modernization, especially technological and industrial development, economic growth, material prosperity, urbanization, and democracy, has been built upon a long line of industrial capitalism, an economic system predicated on the accelerating extraction and consumption of fossil fuels for energy (Clark & York, 2005). A major unintended consequence of the use of fossil fuels is an increase in the average temperature of the earth; known as global warming or climate change. Recognizing and responding to climate change, arguably the most challenging social problem of the modern era (Giddens, 2009), thus poses a fundamental critique of continued modernization processes around the world (Freudenburg, 2003). Climate change is a major issue that affects all life across the
The essay titled “Simplicity and Sanity” within the novel A Conservationist Manifesto, by Scott Sanders, describes the author’s everyday life in regard to the simplifications he has made in order to reduce his ecological footprint. Some of these are unattainable for someone in a financial situation such as myself – a college student who does not receive money from their parents every week. I currently live with my fiancé, Isaiah, in San Diego, California, which is known for having an extremely high cost of living. Sanders does touch upon this by addressing his understanding that not everyone has the privilege or ability to make such drastic changes since those with lower income have different options available. However, there are some simplifications I have already made that Sanders has and suggests. On page 178, he explains that he and his wife Ruth adapt to seasonal changes by layering up clothes in the winter and only resorting to using the air-conditioner on the most hottest of days. Isaiah and I rarely use the air-conditioner unless it reaches triple digits, which does occasionally occur in the summer. We have also never had the need to use the heater or anything of the sort
If a writer would like to learn how to negate the positive effect useful information could have on an audience, reading Alex Shoumatoff’s article “An Eco-System of One’s Own” could help learn how to make valid arguments fall on deaf ears. This article was written to draw attention to or inform individuals in modern society that nearly every decision that is made -- from the time a person gets up until the time a person goes to bed -- is destroying the environment. Shoumatoff does this by organizing his essay following the unfolding of an imagined typical day, beginning with the “morning juice,” he continues with conceivable uses of energy and resources that one consumes before one even eats breakfast, the drive to work, lunch decisions, the drive home, and ends with the relaxation that should take place after a day’s work (269-276). The organization of this essay is very effective at showing how much destruction an individual may be doing to the environment in a typical day. However, the negative presentation of the material and barrage of sarcasm undercuts the applicable suggestions made to help resolve these issues.
Modernism represents an optimistic view of human impact on the environment that has been the dominant viewpoint for the last 200 years. The knowledge that mankind holds the ability to control the environment heavily stresses why climate change is not such a problem to worry about. One of the core beliefs of the modernistic perspective is that people have no need to fear future environmental disaster because the next technological advancement that will prevent it is right around the corner. Furthermore, those who share this view do not include themselves in their image of the ecosystem, believing they are detached from it. Lastly, a laissez-faire approach is taken to environmental problems, focusing on progression through technology, stressing that as long as progress is made in this area all problems will be fixed. For a modernist, climate change is nothing to worry about. This may be a real situation, but it will be solved with advancements in technology before one’s way of life is changed. What people should be worrying about is ensuring a laissez faire approach to the market with sponsorship to new technologies. As a result of reusable energy technology already existing, modernists believe that the problem of climate change has been solved and without disrupting free market system these technologies will be further implemented. As long as there are people given the opportunity to innovate, some will focus on and ultimately solve the concern of climate change. The issue of
We have to set an example for others to care as much as we do, start a “chain reaction of behavioral change”. We need to start thinking; get rid of the cheap energy mentality, and start living green; less energy consumption, hybrids when at all possible, less resource waste, garden. Yes garden. Planting a garden provides you an almost free meal and no “carbon footprint”. This incorporates truly cheap energy; good old sunshine, photosynthesis.