Biosphere and Human sphere

"The great book of nature lies ever open before our eyes" (Margulis and Sagan 1997, 39)

Is what our eyes see all of what nature really is?  How can we say that it is if there is so much more that isn't seen by the human eye. We can absorb nature through simply breathing the air, admiring the view of a good rainfall and yes, seeing everything in bloom. I guess nature is what we make of it as there is so much of it. The book and continue to be great and views be grand as long as we do our part in conserving it.  If we don't take care of it what will we be seeing? The view will be gloomy and dark and the book will no longer be great but instead a short story.

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"The demographic bonus" (Brown 2009, 185).

Being able to live in the United States, to me is considered a demographic bonus. Just think of it we have everything that we could want. Clean air, free to roam around the country without worrying about a bomb, trees that we can admire, beaches that we can swim in, and food that we can eat at any time. We are lucky for sure. Can you imagine living in any other country? A country that lacks any of things that I mentioned? Although we aren't fully sustainable we are considered as stable, a bonus for sure. That is why so many people are dying to come to this place, not because they hate where they live but because our country is a bonus in the eyes of many.

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Ecological Footprint

Results from Ecological footprint calculator

I'm in shock as to how I live impacts the Earth. 2.5 Earths leaves me speechless. I mean I have heard that one shouldn't eat meat everyday due to it impacting one's health but this is also saying that it's impacting how my kids and grandkids will be living as well. Eating greens for me has never been an option, I don't like them so I don't eat them but I can see how those are produced much easier than a cow for my meat. No wonder animal farmers are using steroids to keep up with the demand that we as a people are putting on the farmers. They can't keep up if they just use the natural way of raising the animals. I should seriously consider changing my eating habits. I don't travel far but I also don't own a newer vehicle therefore my truck isn't fuel friendly so the fact that I don't travel far doesn't really matter. However, I can't just say I'm getting a new car either. I do use my daughter's car when we do go further or ride with my sisters in effort to not use so much gas. We try to do conserve in some ways. We don't throw away our paper and plastic that gets recycled. We definitely need to improve and we will work on it little by little as every bit helps.




Source: Sustainability Principles and Practice, (Robertson, 2017)