A+ Tutorial: Sustainability Lectures/Readings/Videos
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– Answered Q1, Q2 & Q5
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Part III Sustainability Lectures/Readings/Videos
ANSWER ANY THREE (3) OF THE FOLLOWING FIVE (5) QUESTIONS (30 points)
1. The financial cost of a product only reflects the economic value we give a product and may not reflect the ecological footprint of the product. Subsidies and externalized costs hide the environmental “cost” of the product. Life Cycle Analysis also know as cradle-to-grave analysis, attempts of assess the environmental impacts of a product from creation to disposal or a service during its existence.
(Question 1.continued)
- List and describe at least one positive externality of beekeeping (assume free-ranging bees). Be sure to explain why it is positive.
- List and describe at least three negative externalities of driving an automobile (assume Brian’s 2003 Chevy 4×4 pickup truck).
2. Four principles of sustainability derived from observing how nature works:
- Most ecosystems use renewable solar energy as their primary source of energy.
- The output or waste of one system is the input for another all materials are recycled.
- Biodiversity helps maintain the sustainability and ecological functioning of ecosystems and serves as a source of adaptations to changing environmental conditions.
- In nature there are always limits to population growth. The population size and growth rate of species is limited by the carrying capacity of their environment
Based on these four principles, answer the following;
a. List at least two ways in which everyday human activities are unsustainable by these four
principles (give an example and explain how they do not fit the above principles).
b. Discuss at least two activities that you do that are not sustainable by the above
principles. Which of the four principles does each activity violate? How could you
modify your lifestyle to make it more sustainable? How would this change impact
your quality of life (positive, negative or both)?
3. One cause of environmental degradation is the overuse of common-property (also called free-access) resources. Such resources are owned by no one (or jointly by everyone in a country or area) but are available to all users at little or no charge.
Examples of common-property include (1) clean air, (2) the open ocean and its fish, (3) migratory birds, (4) wildlife species, (5) publicly owned lands (such as national forests, national parks, and wildlife refuges), (6) gases of the lower atmosphere, and (7) space.
In 1968, biologist Garrett Hardin called the degradation of renewable free-access resources the tragedy of the commons. It happens because each user reasons, “If I do not use this resource, someone else will. The little bit I use or pollute is not enough to matter, and such resources are renewable.” With only a few users, this logic works. However, the cumulative effect of many people trying to exploit a free-access resource eventually exhausts or ruins it. Then no one can benefit from it, and therein lies the tragedy.
Based on this background, answer the following;
a. Give at least three examples of how you cause environmental degradation as a result of the
tragedy of the commons.
b. Explain how government regulations might reduce the tragedy of the commons.
c. Bonus sub-question: Describe a government policy that encourages the overuse of publicly owned common-property (up to 2 bonus points).
4. According to Hunter Lovins, at the start of the industrial revolution “profit maximizing” capitalists economized on the scarce resources of the time-skilled workers.
- What did she suggest is the scarce resource now?
(Question 4.continued)
- What did Hunter recommend businesses do to save money in these challenging economic times instead of laying off workers?
Hunter Lovins called carbon the new currency. Currency is defined loosely as a unit of exchange, however we equate money with wealth, cost, or value.
c. How does a carbon-currency reflect value or cost differently than money?
5. Annie Leonard, in the “Story of Stuff,” describes ecological changes as the result of resource extraction that lead to social changes. Indigenous peoples are displaced because the natural resources that they subsisted on were no longer able to sustain them. These displaced peoples often move to urban areas in order to find employment. Describe at least one other situation where resource extraction causes social problems (does not need to be from the video).
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