Why we should go green People have talked about the going green for a while now. The Earth is our home and we need to protect it and keep it clean so it will not fall apart and destroy everything we love. The earth is not going to be around forever, so we need to make it last as long as it possibly can. We are now experiencing signs that we are not doing a good job of taking care of the earth. For example; global warming, ozone layer depletion, and even the weather is affected by what we are doing.
Fundamental human needs such as the availability and quality of air, water, food and shelter are also the ecological foundations for sustainable development; addressing public health risk through investments in ecosystem services can be a powerful and transformative force for sustainable development which, in this sense, extends to all species. Environmental sustainability concerns the natural environment and how it endures and remains diverse and productive. Since natural resources are derived from the environment, the state of air, water, and the climate are of particular concern. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report outlines current knowledge about scientific, technical and socio-economic information concerning climate change, and lists options for adaptation and mitigation. Environmental sustainability requires society to design activities to meet human needs while preserving the life support systems of the planet.
population explosion, health and hygiene, environmental pollution, wildlife & forests and concern for the conservation of environment. Individuals must have some cognitive knowledge of the environment to develop an intelligent concern for their natural surroundings. Education is a powerful medium for changing our behavior. Thus, this is a crucial time to realize that environmental sensitivity and environmental friendly behavior should be cultivated among masses particularly among adolescents through education. For the awareness of the society about the environment, it is essential to work at grass root level so that the whole society can work to save the environment.
In order to create an environmental friendly community in our present community, we need to take some action for our generation on the importance of the environment and the causes of not taking a good care of it. If we and the future generation did not take a good care of the environment, slowly the world will be destroyed by our egocentrism. The first thing we need to do in order to create an environmental friendly community is to educate our community. We need to educate them since in the primary school so that
A well informed public would not only demand that other citizens practice sustainability, but the public and private sectors as well, as these practices and decisions made affect future generation’s needs (UN Millennium Project, 2005). However, community awareness is dependent on societal culture and education. Environmental education, a term first coined at the UN conference in Stockholm in 1972, was later adopted and acknowledged in Agenda 21 in 1992. It is defined as a “cross curriculum topic promoting awareness, sustainable living and active citizenship” at all levels of society (Talero, 2004). It is imperative that this learning takes place within formal settings such as school and at home and in informal settings such as church, youth groups and community organizations to ensure its comprehensive approach (Smyth, 1995 cited in Talero, 2004).
It is well realized that it is education alone that can bring about a change in individuals perceptions, knowledge and understanding, attitudes and values to act for the environment and become environmentally responsible citizens. Environmental education is widely seen as one important strategy for achieving environmental improvement. Environmental Education mainly aims to make people in the society to be aware, knowledgeable and inculcate positive attitudes toward protection of environment and make them skilled to solve environmental problems so as to enable them to participate in the activities undertaken for the protection of environment. It should convert younger generation into the powerful weapons to fight against the environmental problems. NATIONAL DISCUSSIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION Recognizing the importance of Environmental Education,
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking actions that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life. It is an important topic at the present time, as people are realizing the full impact that businesses and individuals can have on the environment. For many people, the basic idea of sustainability focuses greatly on depletion of resources. Others consider that sustainability covers also (irreversible) pollution, conservation of nature and other environmental and ecological aspects. Some include the aspects of quality of human life and the human wellbeing.
The policy also seeks to stimulate partnerships of different stakeholders, i.e. public agencies, local communities, academic and scientific institutions, the investment community, and international development partners, in harnessing their respective resources and strengths for environmental management. The dominant theme of this policy is that while conservation of environmental resources is necessary to secure livelihoods and well-being of all, the most secure basis for conservation is to ensure that people dependent on particular resources obtain better livelihoods from the fact of conservation, than from degradation of the
The results of globalization have been closely noticed in every passing day. So it is crucial to enlighten people about the environmental problems and to bring up with environmental consciousness through environmental education. It is important to make the pupils conscious in such an educational environment. But besides the educational institutions, non-governmental organizations should also fulfill their obligations about this subject all over the world. The purpose is to develop greater sensory awareness and to begin to make conscious the link between ourselves and the environment.
This persistence of aware citizens will promote more rational, equitable and environmentally sustainable practices. Efforts must be made at the school and university level to educate the people about the long-term health and economic well-being of themselves, their families and fellow citizens. This effort must be country specific and nationally generated. To have considerable changes in environment we must educate the public about the effects of pollution and benefits of clean environment as an informed public always be one of the most effective ways to move diligently toward environment sustainability. Environment sustainability has remained subtle because of limited public awareness and knowledge.