BIOL 104 5.1
When many users are accessing the resource (such as water), it can quickly become degraded if they do not work together to manage it—a...
tragedy of the commons
It is this _____ use of resources that will eventually cause linear models of production to fail
unsustainable
cradle-to-cradle management
waste is seen as a resource, which encourages manufacturers to make durable, recyclable, and nonhazardous products and product components.
Robert Costanza and his colleagues evaluated Earth's ecosystem services and quantified their 2011 values to be around $__________ (in 2007 U.S. dollars)
$125 trillion
we have lost $___________ in ecosystem services since 1997 due to ecosystem degradation.
$20 trillion
Environmental economists argue that mainstream economics will fail in the long run...
because it makes some assumptions that are inconsistent with the way nature operates.
intergenerational tyranny
by taking 50% more resources than is sustainable, we are taking resources away from the future
But if the business doesn't pay for the costs or pass those costs on to the consumer, who does pay? Other people, present and future, and other species do. They pay in the form of...
degraded health, ecosystems, and opportunities.
If we only withdraw resources equivalent to (or less than) the natural interest, we will...
leave behind enough natural capital to replace what we took.
Finding ways to consume _______ is also an important green choice.
less
More affluent and technology-dependent populations use ______ resources and generate more waste than do less affluent and technology-dependent populations
more
If we only harvest resources at or below the rate at which they are produced—that is, take only the _________ __________—we will leave behind enough natural capital to replace what we took.
natural interest
Businesses that are environmentally mindful aren't limited to simply trying to minimize their impact on nature; they can actually look to ________ as an economic model from which to learn and model their choices.
nature
By using _________ as a model, businesses can lessen their impact on the environment and still make choices that support a viable industrial economy.
nature
the price of a good or service that is only based on internal costs is often incomplete because there can also be...
negative external costs
When the price of a product does not reflect the social and environmental external costs, those costs are paid by _________, rather than being passed on to the consumer. Internalizing these external costs better reflects the true cost of a product.
others
if the more than 7 billion people who populate the planet all lived like the average person in the United States, we would need the landmass of......... to sustain everyone.
almost five Earths
The current world footprint would require about _____Earths to maintain, but obviously we just have one to work with.
1.5
Interface's ReEntry 2.0 program has diverted about _________metric tons of material from landfills.
100,000
Approximately _____% of the carpet disposed of globally every year has historically been reused or recycled.
5%
Starting in 1994, Interface made major changes in the pursuit of its new goals. By 2015, the company had cut the amount of energy it derived from fossil fuels by ____% and reduced its total energy use by ___%.
84%, 45%
service economy
A business model whose focus is on leasing and caring for a product in the customer's possession rather than on selling the product itself (that is, selling the service that the product provides
fair trade
A certification program whose products are made in ways that are environmentally sustainable and socially beneficial (e.g., fair wages, good working conditions).
external costs
A cost associated with a product or service that is not taken into account when a price is assigned to that product or service but rather is passed on to a third party who does not benefit from the transaction. (nature also provides some ecosystem services that might be important to the business, such as nutrient cycles that support tree growth or the water cycle that provides water for the trees)
internal costs
A cost—such as for raw materials, manufacturing costs, labor, taxes, utilities, insurance, or rent—that is accounted for when a product or service is evaluated for pricing.
linear economic system
A production model that is one way: inputs are used to manufacture a product, and waste is discarded
circular economic system
A production system in which the product is returned to the resource stream when consumers are finished with it or is disposed of in such a way that nature can decompose it
IPAT model
An equation (I = P × A × T) that measures human impact (I), based on three factors: population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T) The premise is that as population size increases, so does impact. With the right technology, it becomes I = P x A /T
sustainable
Capable of being continued indefinitely
greenwashing
Claiming environmental benefits about a product when the benefits are actually minor or nonexistent.
take-back programs
Customers return the product to the producer when they are finished with it or when they need an upgrade
green business
Doing business in a way that is good for people and the environment. It can provide a competitive advantage because the consumer is willing to support the company's efforts or because green actions end up saving money.
ecosystem services
Essential ecological processes that make life on Earth possible
environmental economics
New theory of economics that considers the long-term impact of our choices on people and the environment
_______ economic production models use inputs and produce waste without regard to sustainability; _______ systems depend on renewable resources and see waste as a useful input.
Linear, circular
Interface has promised to eliminate any negative impact it has on the environment by 2020, in a plan it calls "______ ________."
Mission Zero
_________ __________represents the amount of readily produced resources that we could use and still leave enough natural capital behind to, in time, replace what we took.
Natural interest
ecolabeling
Providing information about how a product is made and where it comes from. Allows consumers to make more sustainable choices and support sustainable products and the businesses that produce them
share programs
Rather than buying, owning, and then storing the product for a large part of the time, consumers share ownership and use the product only when they need it.
natural interest
Readily produced resources that we could use and still leave enough natural capital behind to replace what we took. (more trees and oxygen, increase in fish population, for example)
cradle-to-cradle
Refers to management of a resource that considers the impact of its use at every stage, from raw material extraction to final disposal or recycling.
triple bottom line
The combination of the environmental, social, and economic impacts of our choices.
ecological footprint
The land area needed to provide the resources for, and assimilate the waste of, a person or population.
economics
The social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; the social science that deals with how we allocate scarce resources
true cost
The sum of both external and internal costs of a good or service
natural capital
The wealth of resources on Earth (oxygen, trees, and fish, as well as the natural systems—forests, wetlands, and oceans—that produce these resources)
______ in how a business operates will allow consumers to make better choices and level the playing field for businesses that are trying to operate more sustainably.
Transparency
To determine how much to charge for its goods or services (in its quest to earn a profit), a business, such as a company that produces paper, must account for...
all its expenses
one of the complaints against mainstream economics is that it ........ For instance, a carpet tile might require a certain amount of material that has a particular monetary cost; but what about the environmental costs associated with drilling enough oil to make that material in the first place, or the costs associated with cleaning up the pollution it creates?
doesn't take into account all potential costs when trying to maximize value.
Human impact can be measured in terms of our _______ ___________—the amount of land needed to support our lifestyle
ecological footprint
The _________ ___________ is a value that businesses, individuals, and populations use to quantify their impact on the environment.
ecological footprint
Life on Earth depends on ________ __________provided by nature. Recognizing the value of these services may motivate us to protect them
ecosystem services
The inadequate valuation of a product could eventually lead to the...
exploitation or overuse of resources needed to produce it—an example of market failure.
By ignoring the ______ costs, economies create a false idea of the true and complete costs of particular choices
external
Another problem with mainstream economics is that it discounts ______ value: It tends to give more weight to short-term benefits and costs than it does long-term ones.
future
Mainstream economics also assumes that economic growth will...
go on forever.
The United States, for instance, has a particularly high per capita (per person) footprint, in that it requires much more land area to support each person than it actually possesses. The country is forced to....
import resources from other countries and even to export some waste.
One inaccurate assumption of mainstream economics is that natural and human resources are either...
infinite or that substitutes can be found if needed
negative external costs
problems that result from doing business that are not accounted for in an internal cost assessment, such as the health costs associated with the waste produced by making a product or the environmental damage caused by pollution generated by the company
if businesses are forced to internalize external costs, it then becomes...
profitable for them to take steps to lower those costs—for example, by installing pollution prevention technologies—a benefit that could lower the environmental and societal costs overall.
The impact of a population generally increases as its .......... increase. However, the right technology can reduce resource use and pollution generation, thus helping to decrease impact.
size, affluence, and use of technology
When ecosystems are intact, they are naturally ___________: They rely on renewable resources and also provide services that help replenish and recycle these resources
sustainable
__________ allows us to build more things, dig deeper, and fly higher, all of which drain the environment
technology
maximize value
that is, achieving the greatest benefit at the lowest cost
