Learning and studying environmental sustainability is a process that requires ongoing reflection. In this course, students
will write a short reflection paper of 3-4 pages, focusing on the material in the first two modules of the course (Weeks 1-
4). The following are guidelines for your personal reflection. Please do not just answer the questions, but use the
questions to help you develop your thoughts to write a critical reflection of where you are coming from, and what
observations/ideas/thoughts the material has stimulated so far.
Reflect on where you are coming from: Describe the perspective from which you are starting the course in terms of
how you view the environment, what environmental sustainability means to you, how your perspective has affected the
way in which you live your life. The revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale (Dunlap et al., 2000) is one of the most widely
used surveys to assess individual environmental values or attitudes, as well as changes in environmental values and
attitudes. Complete the survey as a starting point for discussion on your own worldview (see additional document).
Does your worldview lean toward an ecocentric or anthropogenic worldview? How do you think this shapes the way in
which you view the world and the decisions you make? Prior to taking this course, how did you define the terms
sustainability and sustainable development? What factors or individuals have influenced your current perspective of
environmental or sustainability issues? How have these changed or evolved over time?
Reflect on what you have learned so far: Critically assess the material you have read so far and include your personal
insights/reflections. Please do not summarize the material. You do not need to comment on every aspect of the first two
modules, but think about what has stood out to you and made you think. Some questions you may consider: What are
the implications of Earth as a closed system? How does the complexity of ecosystems affect sustainability decisions?
What makes “sustainable development” so difficult to implement in Canada? In your critical reflection, make
connections with at least two (2) sources outside of the course material (e.g. world events, research findings,
government reports or policies, non-governmental organization initiatives, newspaper articles).
Reflection Paper Specifications
Your reflection paper should adhere to the following specifications. Failure to follow these instructions will result in
mark deductions. Please read carefully!
1. Your reflection paper should be double-spaced with one inch margins and 12-point font (Times New Roman or
Arial are acceptable font styles).
2. Please include a title page with the following information: title of your paper, date, course, name of student,
student number, and your TA’s name.
3. Number every page of the paper except your title page.
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4. Your paper should be approximately 3-4 pages in length (excluding your title page and references). One third of
the paper should focus on your initial perspective (“where you are coming from”), and two thirds should focus
on your critical reflection of the course material (“what you have learned so far”).
5. You are required to use at least two (2) sources outside of the course material in your paper. These can include
journal articles, government reports or policies, news articles, non-governmental organization’s reports or
research findings, etc. These must be credible and reputable sources. Wikipedia is NOT considered an
acceptable source.
6. All references in the paper must be cited appropriately and consistently. Please adhere to one of the following
referencing styles: APA, MLA, Harvard, or CSE. Please avoid the use of footnotes wherever possible. Referencing
guides for the above styles are available through the Brock University Library website:
http://researchguides.library.brocku.ca/styleguides
7. Before submission, please read Brock’s Academic Integrity Policy available here: https://brocku.ca/academicintegrity/.
Your paper will be submitted through Turnitin.com via Sakai. Abuse of Brock’s Academic Integrity
Policy will NOT be tolerated.
Your 3- to 4-page paper is worth 10% of your final grade, and is due on October 27, 2017 by 11:55 p.m. Please submit
your paper using the Assignment tool in Sakai. The course late policy and late penalty will apply to all papers submitted
after the due date and time.
Reference
Dunlap, R. E., Van Liere, K. D., Mertig, A. G., & Jones, R. E. (2000). Measuring endorsement of the new ecological
paradigm: A revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425–442.
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Brock University – Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC)
ENSU 2P01: Introduction to Environmental Sustainability
Reflection Paper Grading Guidelines
Student: ___________________________________________________________
Component Grading Criteria Student Mark Total Possible Marks
Self-Reflection
(25%)
Examines own belief systems and worldview. Explores
significance of personal experiences and how these relate to the
topic. Critically reflects on prior understanding of relevant topics.
Viewpoints and interpretations are insightful and supported with
examples as applicable.
25
Reflection on Course
Content (45%)
Critically and effectively reflects on course content, and links
reflections to outside sources as applicable. Reflection
demonstrates thorough understanding of course material and
makes appropriate connections across content. In-depth
consideration of thoughtfully selected aspects of course material.
45
Communication of
Ideas (20%)
Well-organized; flows logically; thoughts are expressed coherently
and developed with appropriate reasons and examples, as
necessary.
iii) Logic: flow of paper/thought, clarity, use of appropriate
sources to support ideas.
20
Overall Presentation
and Mechanics (10%)
Professionalism of paper, title page (name, student number,
course, seminar #, TA name, instructor name, date); neatness;
compliance with font and page-margin requirements; proper
formatting of in-text citations; use and consistency of referencing
style; spelling, grammar; proper submission of paper via Sakai.
10
TOTAL 100
Comments:

 

 

On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements:

 

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly Disagree				Strongly Agree

 

1. We are approaching the limit of the number of people the earth can support. 3

 

2. Humans have the right to modify the natural environment to suit their needs. 5

 

3. When humans interfere with nature it often produces disastrous consequences. 5

 

4. Human ingenuity will insure that we do NOT make the earth unlivable.2

 

5. Humans are severely abusing the environment.3

 

6. The earth has plenty of natural resources if we just learn how to develop them.5

 

7. Plants and animals have as much right as humans to exist.4

 

8. The balance of nature is strong enough to cope with the impacts of modern industrial nations.3

 

9. Despite our special abilities humans are still subject to the laws of nature.5

 

10. The so–called ‘‘ecological crisis’’ facing humankind has been greatly exaggerated.4

 

11. The earth is like a spaceship with very limited room and resources.6

 

12. Humans were meant to rule over the rest of nature.4

 

13. The balance of nature is very delicate and easily upset.3

 

14. Humans will eventually learn enough about how nature works to be able to control it.3

 

15. If things continue on their present course, we will soon experience a major ecological catastrophe.5 (Dunlap)

 

 

 

 ONE OF THE ANSWERS

 

 

Introduction 

Environment is termed to be everything that surrounds living beings. It consist of biotic and abiotic components which also includes what human beings have built. It comprises of set of social, natural and cultural values that exist in certain place at a particular time. All this influences the life of human beings and the generations to come. Generally environment is a system that comprises of natural and artificial elements which are interrelated and modified by human beings. It can be through the exchange of matte, energy or information (Withgott).

Environmental sustainability

This is the maintenance of the factors and practices which contributes to the best quality of the environment that will enable it to be used for generations to come. In other words it can be said to be the rate at which renewable resources are being harvested, creation of pollution and how non-renewable sources are being depleted over time.  If all this cannot be continued indefinitely, then I can say that they not sustainable.

For the case of renewable sources, the rate at which they are harvested should not exceed the regeneration rate. This to create sustainable yield. Pollution is another effect of environmental sustainability. The rate at which waste materials are being produced from human projects is not supposed to exceed the sustainable waste disposal. Lastly the non-renewable resources depletion should have a comparable development of renewable substitutes for that case.

Environmental sustainability lies on three pillars. When this pillars are strong, then people are living in a system the quality of life is the norm. It means that they are have a satisfactory level of economic well-being, clean health environment and the best level of social fulfilment.

It is estimated that the earth has a carrying capacity of nine to ten billion. There will reach a time when the available resources will reach the maximum stretch at a population of 10 billion, the earth will run out of food (Wilson). At this level the earth’s natural resources cannot be able to sustain the human life.

Then it calls for human beings to modify the natural environment so as to suit their ever-growing needs. This might lead to depletion of the renewable sources of energy leading to creation of pollution.

As they interferes with nature, pollution will be the effect. The effects of pollution can produce more disastrous consequences affecting the life of both biotic and abiotic components of the environment. Through the ingenuity of human beings it will make the earth unlivable for other organisms. With the continuation of the heavy human projects, they are seriously abusing the environment making it unsafe.

Currently the earth has a lot of natural resources that can help human beings if they are used with a lot of care. We are also subjected to the laws of nature. We must use the resource responsibly for both human beings and other living creatures.

Human beings are the most important and intelligent creatures on space (Earth). They have the sole responsibility of making sure that they manage the earth with its available resources for their benefit and the benefit of other living creatures. We are in charge of every happening in the earth be it global warming which is as a result of heavy pollution. This is termed as an excessive abuse of the environment by human beings.

We do believe that there is still a lot of natural resources that can still sustain the human beings for some years to come. But let’s we forget that if these resources are not properly managed for our benefit and the benefit of other creatures then we will perish before we reach the maximum population earths carrying capacity.

As we are meant to rule over the rest of nature, we have a responsibility of ensuring that there is an economic growth that is good and has a potential to increase the global economy. This means that our success only depends on how well we can control, manage and understand the earth’s life-support system for our benefit as human beings and other components of the environment mostly the biotic ones. No mandate of humans to interfere with the environment since the effects will be adverse.

Environmental sustainability is collective responsibility of all human beings. Sustainability describes a holistic approach and an integrated system that is used in addressing the environmental and societal challenges instead of looking at them as single entities. For instance, there is flow of energy throughout the environment. This is evident from the food web. If we destroy the primary sources of energy which is plants, then we have affected the whole flow of energy in the system.

This calls for investing on the environmental sustainability since we human beings depend on the environment for survival, health, and our well-being. Hence whatever we do to the environment will definitely come to haunt us. We are supposed to protect and manage the environment with its existing natural resources so as to base our economic and social development and change the production and consumption patterns that will eradicate poverty.

The United Nations millennium development goal has helped the poorest people in the world to achieve the best environmental sustainability as the best tool to enhance development process. By following this MDGs, environmental sustainability will be a reality and we can achieve development with a lot of ease.

Focus on the environmental sustainability becomes great since we human beings have a relationship with the environment for our well-being. By investing in the environmental sustainability we are also promoting the sustainability in the economic and social spheres.

The earth is closed system since energy enters and leaves but the materials remain. It means that materials do cycle between the earth, hydrosphere, atmospheres and the biosphere. For instance the materials flow between the reservoirs along the fluxes. Take for example the water vapour in the atmosphere, it condenses and falls as rainfall which in turn breaks the rocks. The ocean water also evaporates into the atmosphere. This means that change in any one of the reservoirs leads to a change in the other. There is no place on the earth’s space that operates on isolation. As human beings we don’t feel the ripple effect of change in one of the reservoirs like change in the composition of carbon (IV) oxide (Earth as a Closed System).

Canada is faced with challenge of achieving a sustainable development because it requires that they take steps towards a destination that they cannot imagine. Leaders can envision a prosperous economic future of the country but they have failed to envision one that differs very much from the status quo (Karen Clark).

 

Works Cited

Dunlap, Riley E, and Angela G. Mertig. “Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised Nep Scale.” Journal of Social Issues (2000).

Earth as a Closed System. n.d.

Karen Clark, Jennifer McKay and Anne Mitchell. Sustainable Development In Canada. Toronto, September 2001.

Wilson, Edward O. The Future of Life. London: Abucus, 2005.

Withgott, Jay, and Matthew Laposata. Environment: The Science Behind the Stories. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc., 2017.