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298Cairns: Eco-Ethics and Sustainability Ethicsindividual component investigations on what kind of plants could survive the initial planting in thelandfill soil and would hold the soil together and keep it from eroding. The lesson from this projectwas two-fold: students were appalled by the amount of the waste produced by a ‘throwaway society’and were encouraged by the fact that they could do something to restore the ecosystem, ifonly partially, that had been removed to create the landfill.Younger people are understandably apprehensive about their futures and enthusiastic wheneverthey have an opportunity to do something likely to improve their future quality of life. Although theymay not know the term ‘sustainable use of the planet,’ they are well aware that humankind as awhole is living unsustainably, either by having large ecological footprints or large families or, insome cases, both. Educational systems can teach these young people about ecology and sustainableuse of the planet. Ecological restoration, especially of a nearby damaged ecosystem, requiresno highly technical equipment, although occasionally some regrading or redistribution of soil mightbe necessary. There are, in fact, no major obstacles to reestablishing an intimate relationship withnatural systems at all levels in the educational system and, eventually, in all parts of society. Thecosts are minimal, except in personal time and energy. Achieving sustainable use of the planet willrequire a level of ecological literacy in every individual far greater than what now exists (Orr 1992),and universities and other institutions of higher learning need to practice what they teach, particularlywith regard to concepts of ethics and social behavior (Filho and Wright 2002).ECO-ETHICAL MOTIVATIONAlthough some students are highly motivated to restore damaged ecosystems, most are not; thislack of motivation is a serious barrier to achieving sustainable use of the planet. Navratil (2002)reports on a study to determine what it would take to get youth, aged 18–24, to vote in an Americannational election. The incentives offered in the study were: free beer, a few good speeches, alottery ticket for a red Corvette (a sporty automobile), or another Vietnam war (which provokedmajor student resistance in its era). The red American classic automobile lottery ticket won. Onestudent appears to have identified the problem—many issues do not affect you when you are18–24. Caring about sustainable use of the planet is in the same category as voting. Clearly, theeducational system has failed to instill the importance of long-term issues.Of course, all age groups must be involved in the quest for sustainability. Lack of motivation isnot a unique attribute of 18–24 year olds. Rather, it is a ubiquitous attribute. All age groups must bemotivated toward sustainability, but it is essential that younger people be highly motivated becausethey have most of their lives ahead of them.JUSTIFICATION FOR BOTH CONCERN AND OPTIMISMUndertakings such as sustainable power, sustainable transportation, sustainable agriculture,sustainable cities, sustainable range management, and sustainable fisheries are all homocentric—they focus on human ‘needs’. However, sustainable use of the planet requires an ecocentric perspective.At the present rate of ecological damage, many, possibly all, self-regulating ecosystemswill be lost. The sort of subsidy that would be needed to assist enormous ecosystems, such as theoceans, boggles the mind. Even if enlightened subsidies were available, self regulation might notbe restored in a time frame of interest to humans. Furthermore, the natural capital and ecosystemservices might well diminish appreciably during this period.The outlook for terrestrial systems is also not encouraging, but there are some grounds for optimism.More information is available on the restoration of terrestrial ecosystems, but not much
Article 35299evidence is available on what self-regulating ecosystems look like. Information is not available foreach ecosystem in each ecoregion; consequently, development of both theory and practice willrequire much time and energy on local, national, and global levels.This massive undertaking (sustainable use of the planet) can only be successful if humankind’sdependence on ecological life-support systems is widely recognized. Once the dependence ofhumankind on these ecological life-support systems is accepted, they should be treated as inviolate(i.e. sacred). The personnel and resources would then be dedicated to protect those ecosystemsdeemed self regulating and those requiring subsidies, including ecological restoration. Giventhe momentum of the present economic/technological system that preserves neither natural capitalnor ecosystem services, it seems probable that some major catastrophic event will be necessaryto initiate any change in attitude toward natural systems.CONCLUSIONSHumankind is dependent on both natural systems and the ecological services they provide forachieving sustainable use of the planet. The ecological services of natural systems have been freeand constant, regardless of the encroachments and damage inflicted upon them by humans. However,a number of ecological thresholds and breakpoints, when crossed, often result in a nonlinearresponse that may occur with breath taking rapidity. Even though some systems have sufficientecological resiliency to allow crossing some thresholds reversible, human social systems and theirresponse times may not be adequate to this end. One of the basics for ensuring the continual availabilityof natural capital and ecosystem services is to protect self-regulating ecosystems whereverthey exist. In addition, subsidies that will enable the accumulation of natural capital and theprovision of ecosystem services for those ecosystems that are not now self regulating must bedetermined. Even if ecological restoration cannot produce a self regulating system for a variety ofreasons, restoration should significantly reduce the subsidy requirements. Humankind is currentlyunprepared for this responsibility. Success in this endeavor will depend heavily on the developmentand practice of eco-ethics and on achieving a higher level of environmental literacy than now existsin human society, particularly in the case of its leaders. The planet’s natural systems can handleonly so much pressure, and time is growing short.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI am indebted to Eva Call for transcribing the handwritten and dictated portions of the first draft of thismanuscript and to Darla Donald for editorial assistance with subsequent drafts and preparation for publicationin this journal. The Cairns Foundation paid for processing costs for this manuscript.REFERENCESAlexander WM. Humans sharing the bounty of the Earth: hopeful lessons from Kerala. A paper prepared forthe International Congress on Kerala Studies in Thiruvanathapurum, Kerala. In: Wackernagel M and ReesW. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Gabriola Island, British Columbia,Canada: New Society Publishers; 1996:23Berry W. The futility of global thinking. Harper’s Magazine, 1989;SeptBrown L, Flavin C. and Postel S. State of the World. New York: WW Norton; 1990:173–81Cairns J, Jr. Can human society exist without ecological restoration? In: Halbert JE and Chang CL (eds),Proceedings from the 1998 Appalachian Ecological Integrity Conference. Elkins, WV: Heartwood; 1999:20–31Cairns J, Jr. Environmental monitoring for the preservation of global biodiversity: the role in sustainable useof the planet. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 2002;9:135–50Christensen NL, Bartuska AM, Brown JH, Carpenter C, D’Antonio C, Francis R, Frankin JF, MacMahon JA,
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