Chapter 26
Environmental
Worldviews, Ethics, and
Sustainability
Chapter Overview Questions
 What
philosophies and religions can help us
decide how to value life and distinguish
between right and wrong environmental
behavior?
 What human-centered environmental
worldviews guide most industrial societies?
 What are some life-centered and earthcentered environmental worldviews?
 How can we live more sustainably?
Updates Online
The latest references for topics covered in this section can be found at
the book companion website. Log in to the book’s e-resources page at
www.thomsonedu.com to access InfoTrac articles.






InfoTrac: The ethical dilemma of genetically modified food. Valeria
Jefferson. Journal of Environmental Health, July-August 2006 v69
i1 p33(2).
InfoTrac: Putting a Price Tag on the Planet. Lila Guterman. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, April 7, 2006 v52 i31.
InfoTrac: THE GREEN MACHINE. Marc Gunther. Fortune, August
7, 2006 v154 i3 p42 .
Scientific American: Soccer Goes Green
The Earth Charter Initiative
Common Vision
Core Case Study:
Biosphere 2 - A Lesson in Humility

Biosphere 2, was designed to be self sustaining lifesupporting system for eight people sealed in the
facility in 1991. The experiment failed because of a
breakdown in its nutrient cycling systems.
Figure 26-1
ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS
AND VALUES
 Your



environmental worldview encompasses:
How you think the world works.
What you believe your environmental role in the
world should be.
What you believe is right and wrong
environmental behavior.
ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS
AND VALUES
 Environmental
worldviews lie on a continuum.
Figure 26-2
More holistic
More atomistic
Biosphere- or Earth-centered
Ecosystem-centered
Biocentric (life-centered)
Anthropocentric
(human-centered)
Planetary
management
Self-centered
Instrumental
values play
bigger role
Intrinsic
values play
bigger role
Stewardship
Environmental
wisdom
Fig. 26-2, p. 616
HUMAN-CENTERED AND LIFECENTERED ENVIRONMENTAL
WORLDVIEWS
 The
major difference among environmental
worldviews is the emphasis they put on the
role of humans dealing with environmental
problems.

Some view that humans are the planet’s most
important species and should become managers
or stewards of the earth.
Environmental Worldviews
Planetary Management
Stewardship
Environmental Wisdom
• We are apart from the rest of
nature and can manage nature to
meet our increasing needs and
wants.
• We have an ethical
responsibility to be caring
managers, or stewards,
of the earth.
• We are a part of and totally
dependent on nature and nature
exists for all species.
• Because of our ingenuity and
technology we will not run out of
resources.
• We will probably not run out of
resources, but they should not be
wasted.
• The potential for economic
growth is essentially unlimited.
• We should encourage
environmentally beneficial forms
of economic growth & discourage
environmentally harmful forms.
• Our success depends on how
well we manage the earth's life
support systems mostly for our
benefit.
• Our success depends on how
well we manage the earth's life
support systems for our benefit
and for the rest of nature.
• Resources are limited, should
not be wasted, and are not all
for us.
• We should encourage earth
sustaining forms of economic
growth & 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.
Fig. 26-3, p. 617
Environmental Worldviews: An
Overview
 Some
analysts doubt that we can effectively
manage the earth because we do not have
enough knowledge to do so.
 Life-centered and earth-centered
environmental worldviews believe that we
have an ethical responsibility to prevent
degradation of the earth’s ecosystems,
biodiversity, and biosphere.
Environmental Worldviews
 Deep
ecology calls for us to think more
deeply about our obligations toward both
human and nonhuman life.
 Ecofeminist environmental worldview
believes that women should be given the
same rights that men have in our joint quest
to develop more environmentally sustainable
and socially just societies.
Shifts in Environmental Values and
Worldviews:
Some Encouraging Trends
 Global
and national polls reveal a shift
towards the stewardship, environmental
wisdom, and deep ecology worldviews.
How Would You Vote?
To conduct an instant in-class survey using a classroom response
system, access “JoinIn Clicker Content” from the PowerLecture main
menu for Living in the Environment.

Which one of the following comes closest to your
environmental worldview: planetary management,
stewardship, environmental wisdom, deep ecology,
ecofeminist?
 a. Planetary management
 b. Stewartship
 c. Environmental wisdom
 d. Deep ecology
 e. Ecofeminist
 f. Other
Which Worldview Is More Likely to
Prove Correct?
 Using
images of economic or ecological
collapse can deter us from preventing or
slowing environmental degradation.
How Would You Vote?
To conduct an instant in-class survey using a classroom response
system, access “JoinIn Clicker Content” from the PowerLecture main
menu for Living in the Environment.
 Do
you believe there are physical and
biological limits to human economic growth?



a. No. I have faith in human ingenuity and
creativity.
b. Depends. Some (but not all) aspects of
economic growth are limited.
c. Yes. Ecological economists are generally
correct.
LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY
 Environmental
literate citizens and leaders
are needed to build more environmentally
sustainable and socially just societies.
 In addition to formal learning, we need to
learn by experiencing nature directly.
LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY
 Some
affluent people are voluntarily adopting
lifestyles in which they enjoy life more by
consuming less.
Figure 26-7
Biosphere and
Ecosystems
Species and Cultures
Individual
Responsibility
Help sustain the
earth’s natural capital
and biodiversity
Avoid premature
extinction of any
species mostly by
protecting and
restoring its habitat
Do not inflict
unnecessary suffering
or pain on any animal
Do the least possible
environmental harm
when altering nature
Avoid premature
extinction of any
human culture
Use no more of the
earth’s resources
than you need
Fig. 26-7, p. 623
Solutions
Developing Environmentally
Sustainable Societies
Guidelines
Learn from & copy nature
Do not degrade or deplete the earth's
natural capital, and live off the natural
income it provides
Strategies
Sustain biodiversity
Eliminate poverty
Develop eco-economies
Build sustainable communities
Take no more than we need
Do not reduce biodiversity
Do not use renewable resources faster
than nature can replace them
Use sustainable agriculture
Try not to harm life, air, water, soil
Do not change the world's climate
Depend more on locally available renewable
energy from the sun, wind, flowing water, and
sustainable biomass
Do not overshoot the earth's
carrying capacity
Emphasize pollution prevention and waste
reduction
Help maintain the earth's capacity
for self-repair
Repair past ecological damage
Leave the world in as good a shape
as—or better than—we found it
Do not waste matter and energy resources
Recycle, reuse, and compost 60–80% of
matter resources
Maintain a human population size such that
needs are met without threatening life
support systems
Emphasize ecological restoration
Fig. 26-6, p. 622
LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY
 We
can help make the world a better place
by not falling into mental traps that lead to
denial and inaction and by keeping our
empowering feelings of hope ahead of any
immobilizing feeling of despair.
Living More Lightly on the Earth:
The Sustainable Dozen
 Agriculture




Reduce you meat consumption.
Buy locally grown and produced food.
Buy more organic food and grow your own.
Don’t use pesticides.
 Transportation



Drive an energy-efficient vehicle.
Walk, bike, carpool, or take mass transit.
Work at home or live near work.
Living More Lightly on the Earth:
The Sustainable Dozen
 Home


Energy Use
Caulk leaks, add insulation, use energy efficient
appliances.
Try to use solar, wind, flowing water, biomass for
home energy.
 Water

Use water-saving showers and toilets, use drip
irrigation, landscape yard with natural plants that
do not require excess water.
Living More Lightly on the Earth:
The Sustainable Dozen
 Resource

Consumption
Reduce your consumption and waste of stuff by
at least 10%: Refuse and Reuse.
Figure 26-5
LIVING MORE SUSTAINABLY
 The
Earth Charter calls for us to respect and
care for life and biodiversity and to build more
sustainable, just, democratic, and peaceful
societies for present and future generations.
 We need hope, a positive vision of the future,
and commitment to making the world a better
place to live.