Indian perspective on environment
Reding7-
1- This chapter takes a detailed look into the Indian perspective on the environment. It shows that many people admire the Indian way of life, including non-indians. Many Indians seem to have disrespect for the way some of us treat the environment. They believe that they should give their thanks to Mother Earth and not harm it.
I agree with this worldview. We’ve done way to much harm to the Earth as a society. This Earth is beautiful and deserves to be respected. We can’t keep cutting down forests, killing endangered animals, or polluting the environment. If we keep doing these things, we will lose the beauty of Earth.
2- The environment consists of all living and non-living creatures existing on earth. Every one is responsible of being ethical toward the environment. Joining an environmental movement ought to be the priority of all people. However, the environmental movement should have positive impact on earth. The main purpose of joining such movement is to make the world a better place free of all kinds of pollution and waste.
3- In the reading, the Indians have a better understanding of Mother Earth than we do. I believe this is because they were here decades or centuries before we first arrived. They say that we disrespect the land that they used to live on, and I would have to agree with them on that. We invaded their homes and killed many to get to our way of life today and now, we destroy it, pollute it and use it for our selfish reasons. Using the land for farming and cutting a couple of trees is fine, but wiping out entire forests and using them for ourselves is wrong. Especially littering on the land that was provided for us.
4- What I think Tao seemed more like a state of mind or being. In order to define it, you must be willing to accept that it can not be defined by our standards. The concept of wuwei loosely translates into something that could easily be manipulated- inaction. But it does not necessarily mean not to do action rather more if nature wants it that way then who are we to interfere. Let nature take its’ natural course. I agree with this to an extent. I believe that there are times when humans must intervene for the greater good.
Application 7
1- I read an article on this site about countries such as Sweden and Norway needing more trash because they recycle too much. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Apparently they actually pay other countries for trash because they don’t have enough, and burn the trash to create energy. According to the article, this is less harmful than burning coal.
I just can’t imagine this, living in the United States where we have so much trash. I think we could definitely benefit by exporting some of our trash there. I don’t think that burning trash for energy is the most sustainable way to create energy, but it’s better than a lot of other methods. We should still look to more sources of energy that are pollution free.
2- This article has opened my eyes to many important facts. First, it is presented the ideas of recycling, and how we (taxpayers) are cheated by the industries because we are being responsible for their garbage. Moreover, it presents the idea that recycling is not zero waste.” It is using a lot of energy to manufacture the packaging, ship it around the country to special “recycling” facilities, and to get low grade crap out of it, just to make people feel better, knowing that their purchase is “recyclable.”” I am really convinced by the article. It has presented other different ways to have actual greener life. Those ideas are repair, return, repurpose , rot, and refill. Those ideas basically encourage the alternative use of our materials or the replacing of using bottles and plastics by our own container that can be used over and over. I agree with the alternatives offer in the article, and I do not think that they will require ahigh effort from people.
3- After looking over and reading the R’s in the text, I found that only one making sense. I do not think that reusing bottles by recycling them and then the company washes them and sends them out again is very good for the environment because of the health concerns. I do not care how well you wash out a beer bottle or any other bottle there are still going to be germs on it or in it. Why not just recycle it and then when it gets the the facility melt it down and just make new from it. I do not see the point in washing them and taking the chance of getting some disease if a person has one, that drank from that bottle. I just do not agree with it.
4-After clicking the link I was sent to a site that had several links to different articles. So, I assumed we were supposed to pick and article and review it. The article I chose was about different uses for soda cans. The article discussed different ways to use soda cans for decorations around the house, or even ways to use in order to increase the amount of closet space you have (which I didn’t totally get). I think it is neat how this article makes you think outside the box a little bit and making use of what some people might view as “trash.”
· reading 6—-
1- This section takes a look at a certain types of people and their relation to the environment. It mentions how many navtive tribes have much more respect for the environment than today’s “developed” world. I find this to be true. They rely much less on technology. They also produce much less waste.
Environmentalists find these kinds of people to be of great benefit to society. I think we could all learn a few things by looking at how more “traditional” people live. I think we all need to live a little more simply.
2- I think that environmental science is a very important topic and is a good way for us as humans and creatures of this planet to understand and study what are the problems with the planet and just what we can do to make sure that we leave a health environment for future generations. I think that it is very important for us to take a look at what problems we are causing and what we can do so help solve them. With out this we would continue to harm the planet and it would not be to long before issues such as global warming really become problems that we can no longer fix.
3- When reading the section, I believe that the native people have the right idea. They barely use any electronics or use any mass produced products to continue on their daily lives. They show more respect for mother nature, and the gifts that she provides. People like the native americans, the amish community, and environmentalists respect nature and use the old ways to help protect nature and the animals around them. We pollute our lands with the factories that we have all across the country, and our cars poison the atmosphere. We must show respect for our planet and protect it, or else we won’t have a place to live anymore.
4- Ethics is important to human beings. It creates the human character not only in the aspect of environment but in every aspect of human life ethics plays a vital role. Focussing to environment in this context, environmental ethics help human beings in understanding the life cycle and the relation of ecosytem to human beings and vice versa. This helps us in better living and helping other living organisms live. Al though human beings discover and invent new things…if observed carefully these are all nature involved. It is the gift off nature mother to human beings to lead a comfortable life. But humans are taking advantage of it and misusing the resources there by causing harm to themselves and the earth. At this juncture the environmental ethics are very important to man to understand what wrong he does in order to correct it.
——-apllication 6——
1- I believe one of the main reasons polystyrene is not recycled anymore is because it is simply too difficult. There are not many good materials that the polystyrene can be made into. It is also not economical. This is the largest reason why it hasn’t become widespread. Money again, seems to be the common issue holding back the planet’s sustainability.
I think we need to eliminate our use of polystryene. Using other materials that are biodegradable would be much better for the environment. Because polystryene is still much cheaper than paper, it is still widely used. Hopefully we will see advantages in technology that will lower this cost.
2- From watching the video, in my opinion I think that’s a good idea for use the Styrofoam instead of other material, think the video shows how important to recycle materials and recycling is the only one of the ways you can help reduce waste and to have safe environment. In the video they made a really easy process to recycle EPS. I thought that the recycle the EPS material is too hard to do, but right now I believe that the recycle is really good job and too easy.
3- As far as the recycling process goes, I think it is done in a great way. The workers just throw the pieces of Styrofoam on the belt and they are grinded up on the end. Then the long strands of mashed bits are easily collected on one end. The machine can also be prepped for the different climates or weather which makes it great for not just one area but all over the planet. This ability to adapt to the environment allows for it to retain a future use. With collecting the Styrofoam for recycling, I think that may lead to the biggest issue. Every company involved would need a strict rule with separating the Styrofoam from the rest of the garbage or someone would need to separate it after the fact. Getting a company to comply is easy but getting the actual workers to separate the Styrofoam could prove to be a difficult task, especially if they are used to quickly throwing all the garbage away. The idea itself is great because they are able to quickly dissolve the Styrofoam without all the other garbage attached and then retain around 98% for further use. If they are able to convince companies, more importantly workers, than it could be a very good process.
4- I have mixed feelings about EPS as a packaging material. I like the fact that it is recyclable and can reduce the requirement for raw materials, but it is still non-biodegradable and could still cause problems if not disposed of correctly. As I have said before, I think that any step to reduce pollution is good, but I think that there are better alternatives. I think the use of non-biodegradable products should try to be eliminated and that using natural and reusable packaging products would be the best choice for the future
