Consumption and Environmental Stewardship Assignment

Question 1

Carbon footprint

Answer 1

The total set of greenhouse gas emissions

Question 2

Ecological footprint

Answer 2

Area required to provide the renewable resources humanity is using and to absorb its waste

Question 3

Ecosystem goods and services

Answer 3

Food, building materials, medicine, enjoyment, recreation, cultural values, enhancement of water resources, etc.

Question 4

Environmental stewardship

Answer 4

Taking care of the environment and putting Earth first

Question 5

Sustainability

Answer 5

Meeting current and future human needs while simultaneously preserving our world’s precious environmental resources

Question 6

What percentage of the Earth’s resources do U.S. Americans consume?

Answer 6

30%

Question 7

If everyone in the world consumed as much as the average American, how many Earth’s would be needed to provide the resources?

Answer 7

3-5 Earths

Question 8

Briefly describe each step of the “materials economy”.

Answer 8

Extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal

Question 9

What are the “hidden costs” (human and environmental) of the items we purchase?

Answer 9

We get toxins into our products and our bodies (like B.F.R.s)
the environmental and economical destruction of the third world countries by countries like the US, which ensures a steady supply of low-income workers, etc.

Question 10

How are American consumption habits a global problem?

Answer 10

We buy and consume so much that it’s depleting the rest of the world’s resources.

Question 11

What is the “better way” that the narrator discusses?

Answer 11

Recycle, don’t throwaway stuff all the time.