From the top of my head, I feel like my opinion on the environmental status is similar to

a least a significant enough portion of the student body that it also represents a significant portion
of the general world population. While there are those who are environmental conscious and
even some who influence others to do the same; theres an overall sense of apathy when it comes
to changing our habits to be more environment-friendly. Apathy of our global ecosystem is
rooted in the values that we are raised into within each family or society. My family born into a
U.S. society doesnt litter because of the law however also doesnt recycle because my city
doesnt pick up recycling. And because it is more effort to drive to a recycling drop-off point
rather than to just compile everything in the garbage can, we add to the environmental deficit
(Macionis 534). When people look only as far as their own lifetime they feel that anything they
do to harm the environment will have no major impact on their own life and thus their
selfishness is multiplied exponentially through the human population creating an exponentially
increasing environmental deficit. The main reason for this apathy is the technological advances
that make life more convenient or comfortable at the expense of the natural environment. A
compounded example of this would be using fossil fuel as a popular source of energy. Not only
are we extracted a non-renewable source of energy, its also releasing pollutants into the
atmosphere (534). Trash filling landfills is another compounded issue as it doesnt allow
recyclable waste to be repurposed and it also has the ability to leak into the ground water
polluting our water supply, which is already limited enough as it is (537). Limits to growth are
necessary to keep a sustainable global ecosystem as the logic of growth is too optimistic in
advancements of technology (535-536). Just because there has been a trend of explosive
technological advances doesnt determine the future as evolution doesnt occur in one big step.
Yes we gained major advancements from the Industrial Revolution however that didnt happen
for millennia after first recorded history. Sooner or later, well run out of sources and if we
havent found an alternative, there will be major stalling in human society as power sources are
what keep the global society alive and active.
Macionis, John J. Society: The Basics. 13th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2015.Print.