Pavan Premaney__Imprinted

Before we explore the realms of mankind’s impression on the environment, we must first understand the meaning of Ecology. Ecology is the technical and scientific side of ‘environment’. It includes physiology, evolutionary biology and genetics.

What Berry pleads is that mankind’s activities takes an enormous toll on the ecology and most the times, it is not reversible. Mankind’s activities and lifestyle is severely destructive to the ecology and we need to make a change.

Berry sets an agenda to solve this crisis, an agenda which several people around the globe, adhere to.

 The 7-step agenda states,

1.     Start with the bare minimum. Don’t try to influence the world on the global scale.

2.     Correct the common error in thought, which states that industrialization, can be solved by industrialization.

3.     Learn the sources of our economic lives.

4.     We must learn the sources and costs of our own economic lives.

5.     We must learn that we need to clean up our own messes.

6.     Support local produces.

7.     This is a global issue and cannot be performed by any expert or politician alone.

He explains the fundamental steps to conserving our society and how simple it is to start going about it, if we just put in a small effort for the greater good. In this case, the rewards exceed the costs.

While all the steps in the agenda are important, one supersedes the rest. Step number 5, which explains our that we need to do our own work, I feel, is the most important. We need to focus on the fact that this ecological change is not concentrated on a handful of people in the society who are intellectually and financially strong, but instead, it is a societal effort. It will take a behavioural change in the mass of the people to achieve this. As Berry states, “ We must give up the notion that we are too good to do our own work, or clean up our own messes”.

In the end, it boils down to all the steps a regular household can take to make a small difference. And when these seeming small differences are clumped together, it can make a massive ecological impact for the better. 

below are some key points on how to make a small change: -

i)              Switching from incandescent light bulbs to florescent lights is an easy change, and very cost effective, as florescent bulbs require only a small fraction of how much a regular light bulb requires.

ii)             Turning up an Air Conditioner by just 3 degrees can save 1050 pounds of Carbon Dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

iii)           Travelling by just 18 km lesser per week in a car can prevent up to 900 pounds of Carbon Dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Other healthier options include walking or cycling.

iv)           Recycling just half of the aluminium, glass and paper waste of a household in a year can save 2,400 pounds of waste per year.

v)             A slightly more drastic change can be driving a hybrid car. It can save up to 5,600 pounds of Carbon Dioxide per year.

These are some of the most basic ways to make an impact. First, the general populous of the globe needs to adhere to this, then if they can, make more of an effort to making the environment and the ecology as a whole a safer haven for the future generations.

In an effort for extra research, I went looking for videos to better understand, and I stumbled upon this one, which is truly eye opening.

 Citation:

Mankind’s Ecological Imprint. By Wendell Berry. Ukiah Online Blog. 2011. Web. 5 May 2011. <http://ukiahcommunityblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/wendell-berry-on-mankinds-ecological-imprint/>