Pollan's Ability To Improve The Environment

Most of the time people get so caught up talking about making a difference, rather than focusing in taking action to solve the problem. In the essay “Why Bother” by Pollan, the writer describes people’s attitudes regarding climate change and he offers possible solutions if people just try to help. The idea of “why bother” refers to people’s expectations when it comes to making a difference, like driving less, but these individuals believe that one person doesn't have such power in solving a problem. However, Pollan then says, “If you do bother you will set an example to other people” pg. 317. With this said, Pollan not only bring out a solution but also hope.

The article “Why Bother” written by Michael Pollan explains how bad climate change has become; he uses cheap energy and specialization to slow the phenomenon. He proclaims that people are all waiting around on each other to make the first move but no one is moving. He understands how critical the world has become and suggests people now have to start going green. He says that to modify the way climate change has taken charge, the best ways to slow it down is laws and a massive amount of money. Pollan suggests having a personal garden or even a community garden will help reduce the carbon footprint.

Environmentalists worry so much about the well-being of the planet for merely the human species’ survival. Things such as natural disasters, which reasons.org say “Part of that response acknowledges that the forces behind these ‘natural disasters’ play a critical role in Earth’s capacity to support life.” If people are so concerned about the planet, then people should realize that these natural disasters actually help the Earth regenerate itself. Without these natural ‘disasters’, the planet would not be how it is today. As Nash continues to criticize humans, he states, “...capitalist-driven culture in its cancer-like tendency to self destruct.” Pollution and destruction of wildlife is a problem, but it is something that can be fixed, or having Earth fix itself. Nash is saying that humans are destroying the planet entirely, which is kind of ridiculous. If people were really destroying the Earth as much as Nash says, Earth itself would have already gotten rid of people through things like natural disasters, disease, or natural selection. The Earth will take care of itself and as Tom Haering says, “Nature plays no favorites: Survival of the fittest.”

In the article,” Why Bother” written by Michael Pollen, he explains how the environment has gotten very bad over time. He talks about sustainability, global warming, and the cheap-energy mind in his article. He tells us that we need to act now before the phenomenon gets worse. Have you paid attention to the environment lately? Have you noticed the rising temperature around the world? Have you noticed the melting of the ice caps? If you haven’t you are about to be in for a surprise. The world has gotten very bad and we need to act now. There are a lot of causes to the environmental problems. The main cause are from farmers all around the world. Farmers are a lot more technologically advanced then what they were 50 years ago compared to now. The problem with the farmers are the overuse of energy, erosion of the soil, and pollution. The answer to all of these problems is sustainable agriculture because it is more efficient and better for the environment.

American author and journalist, Michael Pollan, in the article titled, “Why Bother?”, published in The New York Times Magazine, addresses the topic of environmental issues and argues that the phrase, “why bother?”, is what is keeping society from changing the ways citizens use up resources. His main focus of reasoning is supported by his idea that specialization has a significant role in reducing the average consumer’s chance of changing their lifestyle and also highlights that planting your own garden would be a task which in turn would benefit the consumer in many ways, while also decreasing their carbon footprint size. He concludes that these actions taking place could have a chain reaction that would spread these practices across the nation and lead to positive impacts on the environment.

Michael Pollan has recognized that there is an issue in today’s society, and that issue is climate change. Within the article of,” Why Bother”, by Michael Pollan, he talks about an effect that society itself may have inflicted upon themselves. But looking at the actual reasoning behind why the climate is changing is baffling. In the text of “Why Bother”, Michal Pollen talks about climate change is on us, yet before reading the text, I assumed that maybe climate change was just destiny, and continues to happen because it’s due. Yet now I believe that we as a people, have actually caused climate change to progress quicker than as planned. Pollan explains that we as a people have to be active in the change we want to see. I can say I concur and

While I do agree with Mckibben’s ideas to an extent, I am not convinced that merely getting back to the basics is enough to repair the damage already done to the environment. Individuals can minimize wasteful habits and provide a positive impact, but it will be minimal. Jensen’s thoughts that corporations and industries must reduce waste and pollution to repair the environment is proven through the examples he provides. Individuals should recycle and reduce waste to help, but industries need to do their part as well.

As The World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Stay In Denial, by Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan, is a graphic novel about the state of our environment. They use cartoons and abundant sarcasm to convey the message that the attempts people are making to save the environment are not enough to do any real good. Their message challenges both those of Edward O. Wilson and the University of Connecticut in that Jensen and McMillan’s ideas are much more radical and suggest that the ideas posed by Wilson and UConn, such as the importance of recycling and sustainability efforts, are ineffective at saving the environment. We must resolve the challenges posed by Jensen and McMillan so that all of the ideas put forth in the sources may work together rather than against each other. In order to do this we must accept that some of the ideas given by Jensen and McMillan may be too extreme to do any real good and that the ideas suggested by Wilson and UConn, though slightly ineffective, are nonetheless important steps in saving the environment. Taken alone, none of their ideas will save the environment; instead it is necessary to combine the ideas of Wilson, UConn, and Jensen and McMillan in order to create a more realistic plan to save the planet.

"Save the Planet," "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," "Go Green." Quotes like these have become a commonality in today's age. We all are familiar with the large efforts to help preserve the environment. In "Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments," Thomas E. Hill Jr. sums up his essay by stating, "The point is not to insinuate that all anti-environmentalists are defective, but to see that those who value such traits as humility, gratitude, and sensitivity to others have reason to promote the love of nature" (688; par. 4) This excerpt provides the thesis behind Hill's argument. The author found that

In the article “Why Bother” by Michael Pollan, the author addresses the issue of climate change and what we as individuals can do. Pollan starts by making the primary assertion that it is up to each individual to change their habits of mind to curtail the current climate crisis. He believes that by the simple act of gardening it will severely help the situation at hand. During the course of Pollan’s article he gives many examples of what he believes we are doing wrong and how we can change. Through the use of many different rhetorical strategies he is able to support his case very effectively. Pollan clearly states the situation and purpose of his article, along with minor and major claims to support his ideas.

The environment has always been a necessity for humanity since we first appeared thousands of years ago. Without the emotional support and physical resources nature has provided us, our ancestors would have never lived long enough to reproduce. Despite the importance of nature, humanity has been creating devastating effects on our planet, destroying the most beautiful and valuable object that only exist in our Solar System. Our self-centered decisions has had colossal impact on the Earth. We have polluted the oceans with our waste, removed forests that belonged to nature for man-made structures, and released toxins which depletes the amount of ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere. However, even with the desire of people wanting to save the environment, many questions have been raised to debate on how humanity can protect nature. In order to reach that stage, environmentalist had to consider one question. What does it mean to care about the environment? According to most of dictionaries, environmental care is to protect and improve the conditions of the world’s water, air, land, and organisms. Using this definition, environmentalist developed the concept of “going green,” ideas and methods that would recreate nature through the use of making responsible decisions and healthy lifestyles. Regardless of whether people agree with the concept, does “going green” meet the definition of caring for the environment? From how the public sees it, including myself, they would agree that

We have spent hundreds of years ruining the planet and to be honest most people don’t care. The world that we live in today is more concerned about the best looking car rather than the car that is best for the atmosphere. They don’t take the time to recycle because they don’t care where the materials end up and quite frankly it’s been going on like this for a long time, all the way back to grandparents and great grandparents. If you are raised in a family who doesn’t necessarily care about global warming and what’s happening to the earth then the cycle is going to continue and in the blink of an eye the entire planet will be in shambles. People are losing their farms because of the increase of heat in the northeast. Increased storm surges are affecting the productivity of crops and forests in the southeast region and the list goes on. But even the people who are being affected directly may not be concerned about the bigger issue. One person cannot save an entire planet so even if everyone in our class is blown away by this research and chooses to change their lifestyle in order to help the earth, it still won’t be enough to undo all the damage that has already been

The Earth is a dynamic, constantly changing environment in which the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere all interact. When one changes slightly the change is then felt through out the spheres. Humans need to understand that the change they cause can have a potential for a disastrous affect on the environment. From injecting the atmosphere with greenhouse gas, or deforestation, all the unnatural things done to the environment will have an unnatural affect that will have to be dealt with. We as humans have a moral responsibility to reduce global warming gasses by changing our modes of transportation, to stop deforestation, and increase government funding into research to inhibit global warming for

The environment as we know it, isn't as green and luscious as it should be. There are steel monsters that block out the sun, huffing out dangerous smoke, and leaking out poisonous chemicals into rivers and streams, vehicles pumping out harmful fumes, people disposing of waste in a way that isn't safe/right and all other kinds of sources that ruin the planet. With the current environmental issues that plague the environment and planet, people need to do what they can to help save the Earth.

Environmental issues have been a cause of a lot of debate in the recent past. Governments and nongovernmental organizations have been in constant consultations on how to help protect the environment. Apparently, as a result of man’s many actions, the natural environment is getting torn apart so quickly that the coming generations will not enjoy this kind of environment, unless a