Example Of Article Review On The Birth Of Sustainability

As urban centers have grown and more members of society has become less involved in agricultural practices, the connection that people have had to the environment has also become more distant than in previous generations. During the last couple of hundred years, fewer people than ever are more aware of how important it is to protect the earth on which we live and the natural resources that it has to offer. This has become even more evident during the 20th and 21st centuries, expedentially each decade.
Most people in industrialized nations, before sustainability efforts came into the forefront during the past few decades, paid attention to how their actions impacted the environment. Convenience was frequently the main component that people made regarding their decisions and connection to the environment. Little thought was given in households about how everyday practices impacted the world. Less thought of the same kind was paid by corporations. After all businesses are in the business of making profits. There was no need to worry about environmental impacts caused by the actions of the corporations.
The Birth of Sustainability discusses some of the actions by a few people that called attention to the need for both people in their own lives as well as corporations in their actions needed to pay attention to how their decisions impacted the world. The reading begins with authors of the 19th and 20th centuries and their writings expressing the importance of nature. It continues with some of the initial people who called to attention how and why peoples’ behaviors needed to change to save the environment from the desperate path it was taking under current practices. Lastly, the paper sums up some of the most recent calls to action that have been made and the worldwide attention that is now being paid to the manner in which peoples’ actions are so important to protect every ones’ natural resources.
Emerson and Thoreau were ahead of their time in understanding the relationship between people, the environment, and how peoples’ actions affect the environment. Their main focus, however, was on how the environment was a teacher of people. It was their writings, and a great appreciation of their messages, that influenced authors such as Muir a couple of generations later. Muir was one of the initial authors who had the initiative of trying to encourage people to protect the natural resources of the environment.
Muir’s writings went beyond words and became actions that influenced and benefitted the entire nation. Muir had an instrumental part in helping to create the national park system that is enjoyed today annually by millions of people. He had a direct influence in the creation of Yosemite National Park and was also a key person in the development of “Sequoia, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon national parks.” Muir and some of his colleagues were the original founders of the Sierra Club, which even today has a significant impact on environmental issues throughout not only the United States, but the world.
The actions of these writers put into the minds of many for the first time how people and their actions affect and influence not only their environment, but the environment of others as well as the environment for the generations which come after themselves. The concept of protecting land in the current day so that it is available in a more true and natural state for generations after was a new concept. People were called on how their actions not only affect themselves but also those around them both in the present and the future.
The realization that ones’ decisions impacts more than oneself was new. The message was deemed important, and the sustainability movement gained momentum. More writers, such as Rachel Carson in the 1960s further awakened peoples’ sense of duty to protect the environment for themselves and others. Legislatures finally heard the message as well. The concept of Earth Day was formed, set into motion, and was catapulted into action beyond what anyone thought it might ever be. People were rightfully concerned. The legislature responded with laws such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Regulatory agencies were founded, including the Environmental Protection Agency. In the United States, laws were now in affect to ensure some measures were being followed, especially by corporations.
Worldwide attention was growing as well in the need for the environment to be protected. There were summits attended by close two 200 nations. An understanding of how the actions of one country could affect other nations was put into print and international understanding and policies were implemented. The Three Es were implemented to ensure worldwide cooperation on this international issue. Ecology/environment and their roles were addressed. The ecosystem’s importance as well as short and long-term goals were established under this principle. A healthy environment and how it plays in the world-wide economy was addressed with the second E, economy/employment. The third E, equity/equality helps to protect the overall welfare of less developed and financially secure nations. A separate realization and its importance, the need for education, has also been addressed through these international summits.
The reading has not necessarily altered any of my views of urban planning, but it did reinforcement my belief that in an urban setting environmental issues need to be studied, scrutinized, and kept being frequently reviewed as a standard practice. As a citizen, it was in the 1990s that I became aware of my personal impact of my decisions on the environment. Initially, when recycling was an option, it was a decision I made to embrace. Now it is mandatory. Commercial businesses encourage consumers to reduce their waste through using reusable bags. Corporations try to produce products that can be packaged in materials that are recyclable and use less packaging if possible. As I become more involved in urban decision making, green practices need to be something that I encourage, and if possible, implement into law to help and change the minds of citizens that have not yet decided to reflect on how their own actions impact others.
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