Environmental Sociology Quiz 3

Our Chemical Lives

Chemicals are innocent until proven guilty, chemicals are everywhere

Environmental risks to health

people are exposed to risk factors in their homes, workplaces, and communities through; air pollution, inadequate water sanitation, chemicals, radiation, community noise, occupational risks, agricultural practices, built environment, and climate change

Environmental risks to health definition

all the physical, chemical and biological factors external to person, and all related behaviors, but excluding those natural environments that cannot be reasonably modified

• included

  • pollution

  • climate change

  • occupational risks

• excluded

  • alcohol and tobacco consumption

  • diet

  • unemployment

Environmental Mortality and Morbidity

101 diseases have significant links to the environment

• 8.5 million out of 13.7 million deaths caused by the environment are due to noncommunicable diseases

Environmental Disease burden

the highest fraction of deaths and disease that could be tackled through environmental improvements is in low and middle income countries

• highest burden in Africa and Southeast Asia

Ambient air pollution

broad term used to describe air pollution in outdoor environments

• highest number of deaths in wealthy countries

household air pollution

in inefficient combustion of kerosene and solid fuelss from the use of open fires or poorly vented simple stoves for cooking, heating, and lighting

• highest number of deaths in Africa and Southeast Asia

• lowest number in wealthy countries

who is impacted by the environment

children under five and adults between 50 and 75 years old are most affected by the environment

• low and middle income countries bear the greatest share of the disease burden

physical environments

air

• 99% of individuals breath air that exceeds the WHO’s air qualtiy standards

water

• 1 in 4 people lack safe drinking water

soil

• erosion and pollution have led to the loss of one third of the world’s arable land over the past 40 years

soil pollution

presence of toxic chemicals in soil, in high enough concentrations to pose a risk to human health and/ or the ecosystem

some potential sources

• petroleum derived products

• industrial plants

• mining activity

• domestic, livestock, and municipal waste

• natural accumulation

• agricultural activities; pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides

Pesticides and our bodies

pesticides

• any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest

• most pesticides are toxic

• research as linked pesticides to

  • birth defects

  • fertility problems

  • neurological and mental problems

  • cancer

• increased vulnerability among children and pregnant/ nursing women

  • toxins in breast milk

  • pesticides and disrupt body’s development

  • higher caloric consumption among pregnant/ nursing women, increasing level of exposure

organic food

produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations

• animals given no antibiotics or growth hormones

• produced without pesticides

• no fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge

Environmental justice (organic food)

not everyone is buying organic food, including many who would like to

• organic food seen as ‘vanity food’ or positional good

• some people are better able to avoid effects of pesticides in food supply than others

  • wealthy have considerable advantage in avoiding pesticides

measures to reduce disease burden (individual)

• use clean fuels in household to limit household air pollution

• utilize products with no toxic chemicals

• purchase local, chemical-free foods

• protect skin from sun

measures to reduce disease burden (community)

• increase usage of public transportation

• promote safer water storage, hygiene, and sanitation

• increase public health education

• create healthy land use patterns - availability of parks and open spaces

measures to reduce disease burden (Societal)

• regulate consumers’ exposure to chemicals

• industrial emission control

• small farmers need policy support to help bring down the price of organic production (instead of large industrial farms that are much more subsidized)

Hardin “Tragedy of the Commons”

the inherent logic of the commons remorselessly generates tragedy

• each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit in a world that is limited

• result is economic and environmental disaster

  • land erodes, grass gets thin, and sheep perish due to overgrazing

Tragedy of individualism

the inability of individuals to take a view wider than their own narrowly conceived self-interests

Normal environmentalism

environmentalism that lies behind and beneath our daily lives

• walking or riding bicycle to work

• buying sustainably produced food

• using energy efficient appliances

  • we choose these options because they are cheaper, more convenient, and more enjoyable

  • if sustainable means a lot of extra thought then daily decisions are unlikely to be made with the environment in mind

Top down approach

additional financial resources and political influence

• changes from the top down often lead to food dragging on part of those at the bottom

bottom up approach

citizen based action at the grassroots level

• may lack organization and resources to accomplish tasks

democratic participation

goal

• ensure that all voices are heard and are welcome, that communication is open and available to all, and that the agenda is always open to change

  • problems: apathy, gerrymandering, voter ID laws, polling stations

Alexis de Tocqueville

Administrate despotism

• state of governance where the rules eventually hold absolute bureaucratic power resulting from the gradual, but progressive, disengagement of citizens from democracy

regulation

laws protecting individual rights, while ensuring one person’s rights don’t trample another’s

• clean water act: regulates discharge of pollutants and quality standards for surface water

• safe drinking water act: law that focuses on all water actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources

• national park plastic water bottle ban

not just about government, but also organization that pattern our lives: businesses, nonprofits, churches, clubs, households, and more

Green tax

attempt to make the price of goods and services reflect their true costs and to shift the burden of government revenue generation away from regressive taxation schemes like sales taxes and value-added taxes

• Finland: carbon tax

• Britain: landfill tax

presently, powerful interests often get the upper hand in taxation debates

Global treaties

stockholm treaty

• protects human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants

  • POPs: DDT, dioxines, pesticides, hericides

• the Paris Agreement

the Paris Agreement (2016)

goals

• strengthen global response to the threat of climate change by keeping global temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels

• pursue efforts to liit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius

• strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

195 (of 198) parties ratified agreement so far

June 2017: US declares intentions to withdraw

February 2021: US rejoins the Paris Agreement

We are still in

over 2300 companies, 294 mayors, 412 universities, 10 governors

• represents more than 159.5 million Americans

• $9.46 trillion of the US economy

UN goals for sustainable development

commits stakeholders to work together to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection and to benefit all, including women, children, youth, and future generations

green labeling

how customers know that environmental standards or dematerialization practices have been followed

• FDA Organic, GMO, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance

• verified through governments or third party certification (some of which are government backed)

• concern: transferring environmental governance away from government (the people)

economic cultural shift

unite economics and ecology

• canned water

• plant plastic bags

• bee’s wrap vs. plastic wrap

• foldable metal straw

• solar panel recycling facility powered by secondhand solar panels

industrial ecology

regarding pollution as a sign of inefficiency in industry

• waste products are wasted opportunities, not leftovers to be gotten rid of in the cheapest and least conspicuous way possible

smart growth

structuring real estate development so that what gets built uses land efficiently, promotes community, builds tax base, and is beautiful enough that people want to live there

• build houses up not out

• create zones of interaction

• corner shops within walking distance

• diverse housing offerings

• stores, schools, and workplace near home

• public transportation

environmental education

a learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action

knowledge across US

many people across the US do not learn about climate change or global warming and as a result are ignorant about many of the pressing issues occuring

climate confusion among teachers

only a handful of teaches teach about climate change in their classrooms and of the teachers that teach about it only a handful of them correctly provide information to their students about how human interaction directly affect the climate

Diet

eat organic

• no pesticides, herbicides, insecticides

• less chemical exposure → better health of humans, wildlife, and ecosystem

find food locally grown

• reduce food miles

eat heart healthy and environmentally responsible

• more vegetables and less meat

• ideally go vegan

individual changes

diet, consumption, waste

5r’s

refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle

transportation

fly and drive less; walk, bike, and use public transportation more

conscious customers

be critical of where you spend your money

• ex: local farmers, organic, Buycott

Collective agency

educate yourself and others

• kindly converse with others about sustainability and the environment