Topic 14: Principles Of Sustainable Lifestyles Flashcards
What does it mean to have a sustainable lifestyle?
It refers to thhe ability to have a lifestyle that can be maintained indefinitely
What does global sustainability mean?
On a global scale it relates to to the overall impacts of the entire population
What is the most common definition of sustaina
Brundtland Commission 1987
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs
What are the different approaches to sustainable lifestyles?
Moral- its the right thing to do
Enlightened self interest-protecting the environment is easier than dealing with what would happen if we didnt
What affects the environmental impacts of human activities?
The total population
The individual impacts of each person
Why has an increased global population led to less sustainable activities?
The per capita impact grows as a result
Which is closely related with affluence, which has also grown
Increased affluence makes access to energy easier and more activities available
Why are there activities that have been developed unsustainably?
They are rarely restricted by environmental awareness
Perhaps because of the attractiveness of the activity, or lack of knowledge of impacts
Why might attitudes towards sustainability vary?
Different locations of people,resources and problems
Why would there be variation in beliefs about sustainability between rural and urban communities?
Rural communities tend to believe resources should be exploited sustainably and limited to need
Urban populations dont tend to have the same attitude because resources come from other areas, supply can be switched if previous is over exploited
What view does sustainable lifestyles generally take?
Involves a holistic view of earths ecological support system and an understanding of human activities can be developed to operate by the same principles
Why might one person recycling not be enough to live genuinely sustainably?
To make lifestyles genuinely sustainable, it requires forces larger than individuals; complete societies, international agreement
