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Lecture Outlines
Chapter 24
Environment:
The Science behind the
Stories
4th Edition
Withgott/Brennan
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
This lecture will help you understand:
• University efforts to promote
sustainability
• The concept of sustainable
development
• How environmental
protection promotes
economic well-being
• Approaches to designing
sustainable solutions
• How time is limited but
human potential to solve
problems is tremendous
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Central Case: De Anza College strives for a
sustainable campus • De Anza College (California)
is one of the greenest
community colleges
• Colleges and universities are
microcosms of society
- They consume resources,
pollute, recycle, conserve,
etc.
• It has the nation’s first LEED-
Platinum sustainable building
- That teaches about
sustainability
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Sustainability on campus
• Sustainability = living in a way that can be lived far into
the future
- Conserving resources, protecting ecological processes
- Eliminating waste and pollution
• Sustainable solution = results in renewable resource use
- Natural capital is replenished so resources aren’t
depleted while ecosystem services are preserved
- Is carbon neutral and emits no toxins
• Satisfies the three pillars of sustainability: environmental
quality, economic well-being, and social justice
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Why strive for campus sustainability?
• Campuses are centers of high resource consumption
- Their ecological footprint is large
• Colleges are traditional, with bureaucratic inertia
• Students are often the ones to initiate change
• It make students aware of environmental problems
• Students who engage in sustainability efforts serve as
models for their peers
- They also learn and grow
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Campus efforts may begin with an audit
• An audit of the institution provides baseline information
and helps set priorities and goals
- Includes energy use, emissions, waste, transportation
• Audits identify appliances to replace
• Once changes are made,
progress is monitored
A “Kill-A-Watt” meter
measures energy use
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Recycling, waste reduction, and composting
• The most common campus
efforts
- Easy to start and maintain
• In RecycleMania, schools
compete to see who recycles
the most
• Composting turns waste wood
or food into fertilizer for
plants
• Students collect and donate
unwanted items to charity
Trash audits show how
much trash can be
recycled
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Green building design is a key
• Campus “green” buildings are constructed from
sustainable, energy efficient building materials
• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) standards guide the design and certification of
construction and renovation of buildings
• The movement of “green buildings” continues to grow
- The University of Florida has started construction on
18 green buildings since 2003
• Landscaping uses native plants and reclaims irrigation
water
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De Anza College’s Kirsch Center for
Environmental Studies
• Has a platinum LEED ranking
- Is energy- and water-
efficient
- Built with recycled,
nontoxic, and renewable
materials
- Is solar-powered
- Has outdoor labs
- Materials are made from
recycled steel, plastic, fly
ash
The center will save
energy, water, and
money in the long run
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Many campuses are going green
• The Adam Joseph Lewis Center at Oberlin College in
Ohio used recycled or reused building materials
- Energy-efficient lighting, heating, appliances
- Solar energy from PV panels and passive solar heating
• Bren Hall at the University of Santa Barbara in California
uses solar panels, white roofing, recycled materials
- It has few toxic substances and conserves water
• Many universities have LEED-certified buildings
• Landscaping uses drought-tolerant plants and restored
wetlands
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Two well-known green campus buildings
The Adam Joseph Lewis
Center for Environmental
Studies at Oberlin College
Bren Hall at UC Santa
Barbara
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Water conservation is important
• Rainwater can be used to
water plants and recharge
aquifers
• Indoor water is conserved
- Low-flow toilets,
faucets, and
showerheads
- Fill water bottles with
tap water
• Universities save millions
of dollars and drastically
reduce water use
Conserving water is a key
element of sustainable
campuses
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Energy efficiency is easy to improve
• Eco-reps in dorms give advice on saving energy
- One college saved $100,000 in utility costs and cut
emissions by 10% in 4 months
• Students saved one school $86,000/year by turning down
hot water temperatures 5 degrees
• Powering down empty buildings saves energy, money,
and greenhouse gas emissions
• Compact fluorescent bulbs save thousands of dollars
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Challenge people to conserve energy
• The “Do It in the Dark” competition pitted dorms against
one another to reduce energy consumption
- This produced a 13% cut in energy consumption
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Students are promoting renewable energy
• Campuses reduce energy use and emissions by altering
their energy source
- Switching from fuel oil to carbon-neutral wood chips
• Campuses use solar and wind power
- PV systems and wind turbines provide emission-free
electricity
• Institutions buy “green tags”
or carbon offsets that
subsidize renewable energies
• Students vote to increase
their fees (they “tax”
themselves) to buy
renewable energy
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The Solar Decathlon
In 2009, 20 college teams from around the U.S. competed in
Washington, D.C., building solar houses of the student’s own designs
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Carbon neutrality is a major goal
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel
combustion is a top priority for campus sustainability
• Some universities are complying with the Kyoto Protocol
- It costs just $10/student/year to comply
• Students present administrators with proposals to
eliminate carbon emissions
• Student pressure has nudged reluctant administrators to
set targets to reduce greenhouse emissions
• Focus the Nation is a national “teach-in” on solutions to
climate change, America’s energy future, etc.
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Dining services promote sustainable food • Food services cut down on
wasted food
- Compost food scraps
- Go trayless
- Buy organic, locally grown
food
- Purchase in bulk with less
packaging
• Some campuses have gardens
- Students can grow food used
in dining halls
- Students volunteer at
community gardens
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Purchasing decisions wield influence
• Campuses can support green initiatives by purchasing:
- Recycled paper
- Certified sustainable wood
- Energy-efficient appliances
- Goods with less packaging
- Ecolabeled products
• Campuses can also switch to nontoxic cleaning supplies
and save up to $10,000 a year
• Students can work with ground staff to eliminate the use
of herbicides and pesticides
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Transportation alternatives are many
• Many campuses struggle with:
- Traffic congestion, parking
shortages, commuting delays,
- Pollution
• Solutions include:
- Expanding bus and shuttle
systems
- Encouraging bicycling,
walking, and carpooling
- Introducing alternative
vehicles to university fleets
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Campuses use sustainable transportation
Students borrow bicycles
from a fleet
Campus buses can run on
alternative fuels
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Campuses are restoring native habitats
• Universities have been making an effort to:
- Remove invasive species
- Restore native plants and communities
- Improve habitat for wildlife
- Enhance soil and
water quality
- Create healthier,
more attractive
surroundings
- Restore wetlands
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Sustainability efforts include curricular
changes
• Schools are transforming their curricula and courses
- But curriculum offerings did not rise between 2001
and 2008
• The percent of schools requiring at least one
environmental course dropped from 8% (2001) to 4%
(2008)
- Fewer than half of students take even one course on
Earth’s natural systems or sustainability
- Students are less likely to be environmentally literate
• Students in environmental classes will be better qualified
for green-collar jobs
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Organizations assist campus efforts
• Many organizations support campus sustainability
- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in
Higher Education
- National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology
program
• They provide information on sustainability efforts
- The NWF program recognizes the most successful
campus sustainability initiatives
• It is easier than ever to start sustainability efforts on your
own campus
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Sustainability and sustainable development
• Sustainability efforts on campus parallel efforts in the rest
of the world
• More people are beginning to appreciate Earth’s limited
capacity
- They are voicing concerns about our current behaviors
• What do people mean by sustainability?
- To sustain human institutions and ecological systems
in a healthy and functional state
• The contributions of biodiversity and ecosystem goods
and services to human welfare are priceless
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Sustainable development aims for a triple
bottom line
• Sustainability does not mean just protecting the
environment from humans
• Triple bottom line = the new goal for sustainability
- Finding ways to promote
social justice, economic
well-being, and
environmental quality at
the same time
• This goal is the primary
challenge for this century
and our species
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The UN’s Millennium Development Goals
• The Millennium Project and the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment determined that:
- Environment degradation is a major barrier to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals
- Investing in environmental assets and management is
vital to relieving poverty, hunger, and disease
- Reaching environmental goals requires progress in
eradicating poverty
• Actions by many people and institutions are showing that
sustainability is possible
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Environmental protection enhances
opportunity
• Environmental protection and economic well-being do
not conflict
• Reducing consumption and waste saves money
• New jobs arise as old ones decline
• Environmental protection helps the economy
- It leads to increased
values of property
and homes
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Conservation maximizes economic value
• When external costs
and benefits are
factored in, the
economic value of
sustainably managed
ecosystems exceeds the
value of harvested
ecosystems
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We are part of our environment
• Economic development has clearly diminished
biodiversity and decreased habitat
- Along with degrading ecological systems
• Many believe command-and-control environmental
policy poses excessive costs for industry
- While restricting the rights of private citizens
• It is easy to feel disconnected from nature
• When we consider where our things come from, it
becomes easier to see how we are part of the environment
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A banana split in Tulsa, Denver
• Contains ingredients from around the world
- Which impacts the environment of many far-away
places
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Strategies for sustainability
• Sustainable solutions to environmental problems are
numerous
• But challenges confront us:
- Being imaginative enough to think of solutions we
haven’t tried
- Being shrewd and dogged enough to overcome
political and economic obstacles
- Being able to measure the effect of a change to see if it
is truly sustainable
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We can rethink our assumptions about
growth
• Economists and policymakers talk of economic growth as
an ultimate goal
- Growth is a tool to attain the real goal of maximizing
human happiness
• We will not have long-term happiness by endlessly
expanding our economy
- We must incorporate external costs into market prices
of goods and services
- Green taxes and phasing out harmful substances could
encourage sustainability
• But political obstacles are considerable
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Quality of life does not need intensive
consumption
• Economic growth is driven by consumption
• We believe that more, bigger, and faster is better
- The U.S., with 5% of the world’s population, uses
30% of energy and 40% of all resources
• Consumption of limited
resources cannot continue
• Affluenza = affluent people
often do not find happiness
in material wealth
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Money does not buy happiness
• To enhance our quality of life:
- Improve technology and efficiency in industry
- Develop a sustainable manufacturing system
- Modify our behavior,
attitudes, and
lifestyles to minimize
consumption
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• Continued human population growth is not sustainable
• Technology has expanded the Earth’s carrying capacity
• Sooner or later, growth will end, but how?
- Through wars, plagues, famine
- Or through voluntary means as a result of wealth and
education
• The demographic transition may help developing
countries, as it helped developed countries
Population growth must cease
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Technology can help us
• Technology has spurred population increase
- The agricultural and industrial revolutions
- Advances in medicine and health
• Technology magnifies our impact on Earth
- The I = PAT equation
• Shortsighted uses of technology have created a mess
- But wiser use of green technology can help us get out
• Developed countries have exported technologies to
developing countries
- Intensifying environmental impacts there, too
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Green technology: the catalytic converter
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Industry can mimic natural systems
• Environmental systems operate in cycles
- They have feedback loops and circular material flows
- Output is recycled into input
• Human systems are linear
- Raw materials are processed, which generates waste
- Linear pathways can be transformed into circular ones
through recycling
• Virtually all products can be recycled, given the right
technology
- The ultimate vision is to generate no waste
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Self-sufficiency vs. globalization
• Local self-sufficiency builds
sustainable societies
• Large multinational corporations
are obtaining power over global
trade
- Promoting consumption
- Not environmental protection
• But globalization brings
communication and learning
- It may foster sustainability
through entrepreneurship and
creativity
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We hold our future in our hands
• “Survival is not negotiable.”
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Citizens exert political influence
• Democracies offer a compelling route for pursuing
sustainability: the power of the vote
- We can guide our political leaders to enact policies
for sustainability
• A person can exercise power by:
- Voting, attending public hearings, donating to
advocacy groups
- Writing letters and making phone calls
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s
the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Mead)
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Consumers vote with their wallets
• We wield influence in the choices we make as
consumers
• Consumers can buy ecolabeled products to increase
sales
- Recycled paper, “dolphin-safe” tuna, etc.
• Consumers can also promote “green” purchasing at
work and school
- Buy certified sustainable wood, organic food,
energy-efficient appliances, etc.
• Employees can voice their preferences in purchasing
decisions
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We can think in the long term
• We must base our decisions on long-term thinking
• The best long-term solution is not the best short-term one
- This is why we are currently not sustainable
• Policymakers act for the short-term good
- They want quick results that help them get reelected
• But environmental problems are cumulative
- They worsen gradually and need long periods to be
solved
• Costs of solving problems are short term
- But benefits are long term
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Promoting research and education is vital
• We can magnify our influence by educating others and
serving as role models through our actions
• Environmental science provides information that people
can use to make wise decisions about issues
• Scientific research and education can help us find
sustainable solutions
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Precious time
• The natural systems we depend on are changing rapidly
• Human impacts are intensifying
- Deforestation, overfishing, wetland loss, resource
extraction, and climate change
• Our window of opportunity to turn these trends around is
short
• We need to find time to implement solutions before we
do irreparable harm
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We need to reach again for the moon
• President Kennedy created NASA in response to the
prospect of “losing” the space race to the moon
• Humanity faces a challenge more important than any
previous one
- Achieving sustainability
• It is larger and more complex than going to the moon
- Government, industry, and citizens can contribute
• Human ingenuity is capable – we simply need to rally
public resolve and engage governments
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We must think of Earth as an island
• Earth is, indeed, an island
- Islands can be paradise, or they can be destroyed
• Some people speak out for conservation and finding ways
to live sustainably amid dwindling resources
- Others ignore those calls and continue environmental
destruction
• It would be a tragic folly to let the planet be destroyed
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The Earth is an island
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Conclusion
• In any society facing dwindling resources and
environmental degradation:
- There will be those who raise alarms
- There will be those who ignore them
• We are gaining detailed knowledge and understanding of
our dynamic planet
- What it offers us and what it can bear
• The challenge for our society today is to support that
science
- So we may judge false alarms from real problems and
distinguish legitimate concerns from thoughtless denial
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QUESTION: Review
Which of the following is NOT a reason to make your
campus sustainable?
a) Reducing the ecological footprint of a campus can
really make a difference.
b) Campus sustainability efforts make students aware of
the need to address environmental problems.
c) Campus sustainability efforts are required for
graduation in many colleges.
d) Students who engage in sustainability efforts learn and
grow as a result.
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QUESTION: Review
Which of the following ways is NOT helpful towards
reaching sustainability?
a) Use water efficiently
b) Conserve energy
c) Promote renewable energy
d) Use fossil fuels
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QUESTION: Review
How can campuses become more sustainable?
a) Recycle paper
b) Buy goods with less packaging
c) Grow some of the food used in dining halls
d) All of the above
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QUESTION: Review
Which of the following is NOT a major approach to
sustainability?
a) Reduce unnecessary consumption.
b) Limit population growth.
c) Listen to politicians and policymakers – they have
our best interests at heart.
d) Think in the long term.
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QUESTION: Review
Which of the following is NOT part of the triple bottom
line – the new goal for sustainability?
a) Promote social justice
b) Ensure economic well-being
c) Protect environmental quality
d) These are all part of the triple bottom line of
sustainability.
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QUESTION: Review
To achieve sustainability, human systems should:
a) Mimic linear ecological systems
b) Use only positive feedback loops
c) Use raw materials that flow into landfills
d) Use circular material flows that mimic environmental
systems
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a) They are much happier
than others.
b) They are happier, but not
as much as one would
think.
c) They are less happy than
others.
d) Happiness and income
are not related.
QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data
Which is the best interpretation of this graph about
Americans in higher income brackets?
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QUESTION: Weighing the Issues
What would you like your university to do regarding
sustainability?
a) As much as it can, even if it means increasing my
tuition a bit.
b) As much as it can, as long as it does not raise my
tuition.
c) A bit more than it does now, but not much more.
d) Nothing else; my university already does a lot.
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