The Good Life and
Environmentalism
Objectives
1. explain the concept of the good life and human flourishing
2. examine shared concerns that make up the good life including environmental health to come up with innovative
and creative solutions to contemporary issues guided by sustainability and ethical standards
Human flourishing is the ability to live a good
life. Rooted in Aristotelian ethics, it intrinsically
values health- that basically anchors on Quality
life- a pursuit!
Conviviality
the quality of being friendly and lively;
friendliness.
The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth
where life exists—all ecosystems.
One of the simplest principles of distributive
justice is that of strict, or radical, equality.
The economic, political, and social frameworks
that each society has—its laws, institutions,
policies, etc.—result in different distributions of
benefits and burdens across members of the
society.
Happiness defines a good life.
While we focus our
attention on the pursuits
of happiness and
meaning, we have to use
reality as our compass,
specially of our
Environment.
The Quality of Life and the Environment
The relationship between the quality of life and the environment has
become an important subject for study for the last several decades.
The problem of the quality of life is a multidimensional and complex issue.
Life on Earth is a function of Environment
• The environment plays
a significant role to
support life on earth.
Nature has been
painting for us infinite
pictures of beauty
every day.
No Wifi here!
These are the functions of the
environment that support human
life and economic activity. The
first of these functions is the
production of raw materials from
the natural resources of soil,
water, forests, minerals and
marine life (the Earth's 'source'
function).
Quality of life is a function of:
Air Quality
Water Quality
Soil Quality
Ah, Fresh Air!
How bad is the air pollution in Philippines?
• The population of Manila has grown at an alarming rate since
1970, faster than anyother city. It is estimated that the density of
people is roughly 12,600 persquare kilometre. Thousands live in
poor quality housing in the shadow of industrial plants or power
stations.
How bad is the air pollution in Philippines?
• Smog is almost constantly hanging over thecity, exacerbated by
the 2.2 million vehicles that clog the streets on a dailybasis.
According to reports published by the World Health Organisation
(WHO),levels of airborne particles of lead (Pb) are three times
than the acceptablefigure. Concentrations of PM2.5 have also
found to be unacceptably high, too.
I am a water
dwelling animal!
Natural Capital
In a 2021 report, the National Economic and Development
Authority (Neda) said water supply in the country is unevenly
distributed because of rainfall variability, besides the size and
features of each island. Available water supply cannot cope with
rapid population and economic growth.
• Speaking during the sixth Water Philippines Conference and
Exposition in Manila, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the
Philippines is facing a water crisis, with some 11 million families
lacking access to clean water as the dry season approaches, he
said the country must tap modern water management
technologies to address the problem.
The soil is the skin of the
earth, a mantle full of
scars, thousand-year-old
wrinkles and more recent
injuries caused both by
man and nature itself.
• Soil pollution refers to the
contamination of soil with
anomalous concentrations of
toxic substances. It is a serious
environmental concern since it
harbours many health hazards.
• The use of pesticides in Philippine
agriculture continues to increase
despite the adoption and
promotion of the Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) Program.
• Insecticides constitute
approximately 55%, fungicides 22%
and herbicide 16% of the pesticides
used in the country for rice, corn,
vegetables and plantation crops.
• The extensive use of pesticides
and the risks they pose to
human health and the
environment are now the focus
of national concern and interest.
• Environmental problems to be
addressed as a consequence of
pesticide use are: (a) pollution of
ground and surface water: (b)
increased resistance of pest
populations to pesticides; and (c)
impact on non-target organisms;
i.e. reduction of beneficial
insects, soil micro and macro
organisms; biomagnification, and
pesticide residue transmittal
within the food web.
Opinion: Economic
principles colliding
with environmental
realities
Solid Wastes
About 35,580 tons of garbage is generated
every day in the Philippines.
On the average, each person in the country
produces about 0.5 kg and 0.3 kg of garbage
every day in the urban and rural areas,
respectively.
For Metro Manila, it is estimated that 8,636
tons of garbage is generated per day, i.e., 0.7 kg
per person per day due to its more
modernized lifestyle.
The household is the major source of waste in the Philippines at 74%. Moreover, of the
total solid waste generated from households, 95% can still be reused or recycled (43%),
or turned into compost (52%). Only 5% is made up of residuals (4%) and
special/hazardous waste (1%) that are no longer usable or biodegradable.
(JICA Waste Characterization Study, 1997).
The earth’s ecosystems operate in complex cycles and
interconnections between the lithosphere hydrosphere, biosphere
and the atmosphere, with flows and stores of matter enclosed
within defined boundaries.
Human activity is disrupting the flows and stores in
complex ways, requiring holistic thinking about spatial
and temporal connections amongst and between
watersheds, human settlement, natural hazards, soils,
weather patterns, landforms, and about land use,
communities, and regions.
The earth continues to face natural resource depletion
and impacts of environmental degradation with an added
challenge from climate change. Agriculture, settlements,
and urbanization, for example, have heavily modified the
environment, making it difficult for humans to recognize
their dependence on the earth’s ecosystems. .
Although biotechnology has been used to breed crop
varieties that meet the diverse demands of topography,
soil, climate conditions, limited movement of people, crop
rotation requirements and resistance to pests and has
smoothened out the extremes of existence, ultimately the
human species cannot exist without the natural
ecosystems.
Loss of biodiversity affects human welfare through
the collapse of ecosystems and through additional
costs to maintain food production, clean air and water,
and human health. The alteration of the hydrologic
cycle presents impacts on water availability and
quality, compromising the very basis of life.
The UN 2030 Global Agenda to transform the world has identified areas of critical
importance for humanity and the planet and has set 17 goals and 169 targets as Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) in the following domains:
(i) ending poverty and hunger to bring about human dignity, equality and health;
(ii) protecting the planet from degradation through sustainable resources management and
actions on climate change;
(iii) bringing prosperity through harmonious economic, social and technological progress;
(iv) fostering peaceful, just and inclusive societies; and
(v) revitalizing and strengthening global solidarity partnership for sustainable development.
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of
the United Nations
In addition, the UN, through the Sendai Framework of action, has
proposed strategies to enhance collective efforts and to build the
resilience of nations and communities and to reduce losses of lives and
assets from the ever-increasing impact of disasters and their complexity.
Reference:
United Nations Resolution A/RES/70/1 Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Our Contributions:
Participation in the conservation
efforts and sustainable measures
Virtue plays a significant role in the living and attainment of
the good life. It is the constant practice of the good no matter
how difficult the circumstances may be.
Virtue is the excellence of character that empowers one
to do and be good. Such virtue is cultivated with habit
and discipline as it isnot a one-time deed, but a
constant and consistent series ofactions.
The onward environmental quality is also the
movement towards the good life.
Environmentalism allows us to thrive and flourish in life if we so
desire it.
There were ~ 12.2 billion hectares of biologically productive land and water
on Earth in 2019. Dividing by the number of people alive in that year(7.7
Billion, 2019) (8.1 Billion current) gives 1.6 global hectares per person.
This area also needs to accommodate the wild species that compete for the
same biological material and spaces as humans.
"We can think of the Earth's resources as the
currency that supports us."
Ecological overshoot is the phenomenon which
occurs when the demands made on a natural
ecosystem exceed its regenerative capacity.
What happens if the Earth reached Ecological
Overshoot?
• Impacts of ecological
overspending are apparent
already in soil erosion,
desertification, reduced cropland
productivity, overgrazing,
deforestation, rapid species
extinction, fisheries collapse and
increased carbon concentration
in the atmosphere.
Goal 12 is about ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns,
which is key to sustain the livelihoods of current and future generations.
Our planet is running out of resources, but populations are continuing to grow. If
the global population reaches 9.8 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three
planets will be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current
lifestyles.
We need to change our consumption habits, and
shifting our energy supplies to more sustainable ones
are one of the main changes we must make if we are
going to reduce our consumption levels.
Carbon Footprint
The carbon Footprint measures CO2 emissions associated with fossil fuel use.
In Ecological Footprint accounts, these amounts are converted into
biologically productive areas necessary for absorbing this CO2.
Consumption
Use of goods or of services. A consumed good or service embodies all the resources, including
energy, necessary to provide it to the consumer.
In full life-cycle accounting, everything used along the production chain is taken into account,
including any losses along the way.
“Sustainable development is the development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.” - Gro Harlem Brundtland
“There must be a better
way to make the things
we want, a way that
doesn’t spoil the sky, or
the rain or the land.” -
Paul McCartney
The Earth is the Only living
Planet in Our Solar System!
Enjoy and Let’s be responsible
stewards!
Thank you!
