ESA

ESA

ESSAY #1.

I engage in different “Six Impossible Things” during the day. These include taking the rubbish out, buying only the groceries I will need for a week so to prevent them from going bad, walking on short errands instead of driving. Others include reusing plastic products instead of disposing of them, and using carbon paper packaging instead of polythene and switching all lights off during the day to conserve energy.

The activities affect distant lands because it helps to ensure that there is proper disposal of waste. However, it adds to the landfill content. It enables people who recycle products that I use to have more material to work with. I would need to ensure that I reuse some materials instead of disposing them off so to help lessen my impact and promote more social justice and equity in the world. They also affect the ecology of “distant lands” by ensuring that there is the proper utilization of resources (Pinkerton et al., 1032). It also affects people who grow the food I eat as they will not have a situation where the demand is more than the supply because the resources are used well. The activities are also essential in enabling me to conserve energy properly. Through the process, I help to ensure that there is enough energy for everyone else. By avoiding to use vehicles, where possible, I help to minimize my impact on the carbon footprint. The process enables me to ensure that I adhere to the entire concept of environmental justice by avoiding situations in which other people would be shown less consideration.

Essay #2

A human-ecological problem in my community is air pollution as a result of the use of vehicles. Sometimes, the air is not clean enough and smelling of gasoline, especially in the evening when the air is still. The various stakeholders involved in the scenario include people with vehicles and state environmental management authorities. Vehicle users feel that it is difficult for them to limit their use of vehicles as they have to rely on them regularly. Although they are aware that limiting the use of vehicles will be important in protecting the environment, they are less interested in doing so. They are inclined to attain significant levels of convenience generally associated with using their vehicles. In the process, they happen to engage more in the various activities which are harmful to the environment through the release of toxic gases.

The state environmental authorities are keen to advise motorists on the need to adopt better practices which will be essential in maintaining better practices around their use of vehicles. They affirm that motorists must be keen on choosing the right processes which will be appropriate in improving upon the quality of outcomes which will be attained in the society. Therefore, stakeholders need to establish how the best outcomes can be achieved by limiting car usage. For instance, it might be necessary to ensure proper car-sharing. The situation will help show that motorists contribute positively to the concept of social justice. The state health and environment authorities need to teach community members that they need to be inclined to protecting the environment effectively.

ESSAY #3

The model provides insights regarding the relationship that exists between communities and the concept of sustainability. For sustainability, the convergence shows that it is necessary to improve the condition of people who are poor to adequate. It is also necessary to eliminate profligate consumption. Where the two elements meet, the society can attain the levels of sustainability desired. In such a situation, there is the show that sustainability occurs where a number of impoverished people are high (Dyball & Newell 11). In the second scenario, there is the view that sustainability occurs where the number of highly affluent is the majority. In the third scenario, there is the view that sustainability occurs where the poor are uplifted, and the rich reduce their negative spending habits.

The situation depicted in “b” is impossible because it is difficult to make the affluent stop profligate consumption. Part of the diagram showing the highest level of social justice is “c” because there is a balance in terms of uplifting the situation of the poor and limiting the level of consumption of the affluent. In a bid to achieve “c”, it is necessary to invest in more social programs and make the prosperous more aware of the value that lies within proper environmental protection (Dyball & Newell, 2014). The best human-ecological solution entails making all people in the society aware of the role which they need to play to help protect the environment. As a result, they could bear a positive effect on the rest of the society. The affluent in society need to be interested in boosting the situation of the poor. In the process, they will help to contribute positively to the concept of sustainability.

ESSAY # 4.

The paradigm of Unlimited Growth is wrong because it leads to a strain on available resources. As the human population continues to increase in the world, there is a significant level of strain on available resources. The situation contributes to an overuse of resources, thereby creating a negative impact on the concept of sustainability (Schmelzer, 266). Over time, there is a high chance that people might not gain access to the various elements which they need in life. The problem can be handled where there is a limit on the concept of unlimited growth. The situation will also be critical in ensuring that there is a minimization of the aspect of environmental pollution.

Nature has specific limits as to the extent to which it can renew itself. Therefore, it is necessary to provide it with the space and time essential concerning the activities which need to occur to ensure that it operates in a way which manages to maintain its conditions and ensure that it attains significant levels of improvements. Unlimited economic growth is impossible because as the phenomenon occurs, there is a continued level of strain which is put on the environment. The virtue, therefore, lies in ensuring that the necessary levels of balance are attained (Schmelzer, 267). The mechanisms will be essential in showing that the specific balance contributes positively to boost the quality of the environment. It is through the process that people will manage to identify positively with the various mechanisms which will be of significant value on the environment. As people aim to attain economic growth, it is also necessary for them to align with the idea of social justice. People becoming environmental conscious could change this paradigm. They need to be more open to the harms which occur in society.

References

Dyball, Robert, and Barry Newell. Understanding human ecology: A systems approach to sustainability. Routledge, 2014.

Pinkerton, Evelyn, Anne K. Salomon, and Frank Dragon. “Reconciling social justice and ecosystem-based management in the wake of a successful predator reintroduction.” Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 76.6 (2019): 1031-1039.

Schmelzer, Matthias. “The growth paradigm: History, hegemony, and the contested making of economic growthmanship.” Ecological Economics 118 (2015): 262-271.