Chapter 5

If everyone lived like the average person in the United States, how many Earths would it take to sustain everyone?

5

What is true of the IPAT equation?

As a population size increases, so does the environmental impact.

What is an example of how you can be more sustainable in your consumption of goods and services?

Buying a high-quality product that may cost more but will last longer than another one.

What happens if we take 50% more natural resources than what is sustainable?

Future generations may not be able to meet their needs.

Which of these is a position taken by environmental economists that is generally NOT seen as necessary by mainstream economists?

Human economic models should operate as closed-loop systems, not linear ones.

What is true of the cradle-to-cradle approach?

It can lead to less toxic and more sustainable material choices for a product.

Robert Costanza was the first to offer estimates of the monetary value of ecosystem services. What was the impact of this effort?

It revealed that even though it might be hard to accurately estimate the exact value of ecosystem services, we can see that they are valuable and worth protecting.

Changing the way that businesses are run and the way they produce goods gives the consumer the ability to choose sustainably produced goods and services. What is a challenge to this?

Startup or upgrade costs can be substantial to businesses, and they may not have the funds.

Interface Carpet changed some technologies to improve efficiency and decrease waste in an effort to reduce its ecological footprint. In doing this, which part of the IPAT equation did it change?

T

Which of the following is true of the ecological footprint of developed nations?

The footprint is higher than those of developing nations.

Water would be an example of _____, whereas the water cycle would be an example of _____.

a resource; an ecosystem service

As you and your friend are walking around the city, you see a bike rack. Your friend explains that you can rent the bike and ride it, then return it to another of the bike racks around the city. This is an example of:

a share program.

You are shopping for a newer-model smartphone. At the store, the salesperson tells you if you trade in your old phone, you can receive a discount on the newer model. This is an example of:

a take-back program.

The true cost for a good or service includes which of the following?

both external and internal costs

Who has an impact on encouraging society to become more sustainable?

businesses, consumers, and the government

What product did Ray Anderson's company make?

carpet tiles

The management of a resource that considers the impact of its use from the raw materials needed to the final disposal or recycling is known as:

cradle-to-cradle

Interface Carpet made changes in pursuit of the goal to become more sustainable. What did the company focus on to accomplish this?

cutting the amount of energy used from fossil fuels

When mainstream economics gives more weight to short-term benefits than to long-term benefits, it is called

discounting the future.

Which of these is considered a tactic for achieving sustainability?

ecolabeling so that consumers can make more sustainable choices

What is the social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services?

economics

What is NOT a way that businesses can become more sustainable?

engaging in greenwashing

How can we measure our human impact on the environment?

examining our ecological footprint

Female sea turtles each lay hundreds of eggs each year, but many of these hatchlings die in their first few days of life. People from some native cultures still collect sea turtle eggs as a food source but traditionally only take about 10% of what is in any given nest. This allows enough baby turtles to survive to keep the sea turtle population fairly steady. This sea turtle egg harvesting strategy is an example of

harvesting only natural interest.

What are fair trade items?

items made in environmentally sustainable and socially beneficial ways

An ecological footprint is measured in terms of

land area

What is an example of natural interest?

oxygen produced from trees in a forest

Which of the following is an ecosystem service?

pollination of flowers and fruit

Which three factors is the IPAT model based on?

population, affluence, technology

One way that governments can encourage sustainability is to:

provide incentives for businesses to account for true costs.

The triple bottom line should include not only the economic cost of a good or service but also what other two costs?

social and environmental

Which of the following technologies would decrease the environmental impact of a population?

solar panels to produce energy

What does the IPAT model seek to measure?

the environmental impact exerted by a given population

If we include external costs into the cost of a good or service, then we would expect

the price to go up as the users become responsible for paying all the costs.

Which of the following is an example of an internal cost?

wages paid to workers in a company