Actively Caring for Mother Earth

Abstract

Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. – Henry David Thoreau This chapter addresses the human dynamics of environmental protection and ecological sustainability. An ecologically sustainable future depends on a large-scale increase in environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) and a global decrease in environmentally harmful behavior (EHB). Some behaviors degrade the environment, while others protect our Mother Earth. Indeed, the sustainability of our planet is inextricably linked to human behavior. Consider the issues that confront and challenge environmental resources: overpopulation; climate change; loss of biodiversity; inadequate access to water; ocean acidification; pollution; ozone layer depletion; the extinction of many fish species; and deforestation. Applied behavioral science (ABS) can play a crucial role in addressing our environmental crises. Almost three decades ago, B. F. Skinner defined this crisis elegantly and succinctly: Most thoughtful people agree that the world is in serious trouble … fossil fuels will not last forever, and many other critical resources are nearing exhaustion; the earth grows steadily less habitable; and all this is exacerbated by a burgeoning population that resists control. The timetable may not be clear, but the threat is real. That many people have begun to find a recital of these dangers tiresome is perhaps an even greater threat. Some claim our environmental crisis has reached proportions beyond salvation; others maintain a relentless optimism regarding planetary concerns. A “business as usual” stance has been adopted in some quarters (as if environmental problems will correct themselves naturally); others believe high-technology engineering, physics, biology, and chemistry will rescue us. Today, organizations and individuals routinely incorporate “green” or pro-environment ideas into their language, but the rhetoric has not resulted in large-scale actively caring behaviors on behalf of Mother Earth. Or noticeably positive results. We have a problem of environmental sustainability and a problem of human denial, helplessness, and apathy. Current theories and intervention approaches need to be considered (which are reviewed in this chapter) if the three main sources of the earth's environmental threats are to be effectively addressed – human overpopulation, over consumption, and under conservation.