Environmental Awareness

INTRODUCTION
This module will help you gain knowledge and understanding about environmental education,
information and awareness. The environment means everything for us. Despite of our many scientific and
technological advances that we have now a days, it provides us all our basic needs for living that makes us so
much dependent on the environment like the fresh air, clean water, food, shelter, energy, and everything else.
And with this, we can’t deny that we are part of, and not apart from the rest of the nature. This complex web
of relationships that connect us with one another and with the world we live in. Moreover, in this module you
will learn and understand on how we can make the society more environmentally sustainable through
economic development dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone without degrading the
earth’s life support systems.
After completing the module, you should be able to answer, what is the current environmental
situation of your community and what are your means and ways in helping solve these environmental
problems.

LESSON 1. Introduction on the Principles of Environmental Awareness

Environmental awareness is the process of being aware of our natural environment and making
choices that an individual can do that benefit the earth rather than to harm it. This determines a lot
aspects such as the complex inter-relationship of human and his total human impact on the
environment; achievement of knowledge and skills related in solving environmental problems and
sensitivity towards the environmental problems and the willingness of human to get involved in the national
and international policies to solve these problems.
Why is this so important? This is because most of the environmental issues are the outcomes
of an individuals’ way of living such as improper waste management that leads to pollution, population
explosion that can lead to industrialization and urbanization.
Through the advancement of our science and technology it has a great effect on the culture and society,
its effect on the environment can be either positive or negative. Since the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution and the the rapid growth of population in the whole world, the impact on the environment
has also grown.
However, there are lot of ways to practice environmental awareness for a sustainable living and the
most common is practicing the 3Rs which is reduce, reuse and recycle. The most critical part for the waste
management is the first R which means reduce. We should practice using our natural resources wisely
in order for us to reduce the generation of waste. The second R stands for re-use which can be
defined as using again a waste product for the same purpose most especially to our solid wastes such
as bottles, plastic bags, old clothes and other things that it can be used again. Reusing these products
can produced less solid waste. The third R also means recycle, this is very common to all of us. Remember
when you were in your elementary and high school days you were asked to make Christmas decors
made up of plastics or any indigenous materials? That is recycling, reprocessing used materials to
make a new product. Recycling our solid waste products have a great impact not only on the people’s
health but also to our environment.
Practicing this 3Rs in waste management will save the lives of all living organisms here on earth.
Through this we can prevent air, land and water pollution and most especially the deterioration of
the natural environment which includes global loss of biodiversity, depletion of natural resources,
natural disasters and many others.

The Ecological Footprints

Many people in developing or poor countries struggle to survive and most of them are from
Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Their individual use of resources and the resulting environmental impact is
low and is devoted mostly to meeting their basic needs (see Figure 1). In contrast, many individuals in more
wealthy/ rich nations consume large amounts of resources way beyond their basic needs because of their
so many possessions in life and may be because of the influence of this modern world (see Figure 2)
 From the very beginning human society is dependent on nature in order to live and survive. With
every breath we take we depend on the quality of the air, the purity of the water and the richness of the
biodiversity around us. Nature and its resources are an integral part of our social and economic systems, and
many research increasingly shows nature’s vital importance to our health, well-being, food and security.
The welfare of human society is highly dependent on these resources. And in order for us to quantify the
size of our dependence in nature we tend to compute/accounts our ecological footprints. The Ecological
Footprint tells us how much nature we use; the bio-capacity indicates how much nature we have both are
measured in terms of biologically productive areas and expressed in global hectares (gha), i.e., world
average biologically productive hectares.
In addition, bio-capacity is the ability of ecosystems to renew themselves; biologically productive
areas of Earth provide this service. While the Ecological Footprint measures the amount of biologically
productive land and sea area required to produce all the resources that a population consumes and to
absorb its waste, taking every year’s technological advances into account. Competing demands for
nature include food, fibre, timber, accommodation of roads and d buildings, and sequestration of carbon
dioxide from fossil fuel burning.
In this modern world, many people deals with over consumption of resources to deal with their
personal possessions and not only to attain their basic needs in life. This results waste and pollution that
follows a larger environmental impact. We can think of it as an ecological footprint; the amount of
biologically productive land and water needed to supply the people in a particular country or area with
resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution produced by such resource use. The per
capita ecological footprint is the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given country or area.
If a country’s, or the world’s, total ecological footprint is larger than its biological capacity to replenish its
renewable resources and absorb the resulting waste products and pollution, it is said to have an ecological
deficit. This is unsustainable we are depleting natural ecosystems at a faster rate than what can be
renewed.
In 2019, the EU Overshoot Day falls on May 10, based on the latest data produced by Global Footprint
Network. The date of the EU (Europian Union; is a group of 28 countries that operates as a cohesive economic
and political block).The EU’s impact on the planet’s resources is inequitable: the EU uses almost 20% of the
Earth’s bio-capacity although it comprises only 7% of the world population. In other words, 2.8 planets would
be needed if everyone consumed at the rate of the average EU resident. This is well above the world average
which is approximately 1.7 planets. Whether at the regional or global level, human demand on nature is way
beyond what is sustainable for our planet.

LESSON 2. Scientific Principles of Sustainability

How can we attain environmental sustainability? According to environmental researchers/

scientists, we should study how life on the earth has survived and adapted to major changes in
environmental conditions for billions of years. We could make the transition to more sustainable societies
by applying these lessons from nature to our lifestyles and economies (see figure below).

• Reliance on Solar Energy. The sun (solar capital) warms the planet and supports
photosynthesis used by plants to provide food for themselves and for us and most other
animals.
• Biodiversity/ Biological diversity. The astounding variety of different organisms, the
genes they contain, the ecosystems in which they exist, and the natural services they provide
have yielded countless ways for life to adapt to changing environmental conditions throughout
the earth’s history.
• Population Control. Competition for limited resources among different species places
a limit on how much their populations can grow.
• Nutrient Cycling. Natural processes recycle chemicals that plants and animals need to
stay alive and reproduce. There is little or no waste in natural systems.
 Using the four scientific principles of sustainability to guide our lifestyles and economies could
somehow help us bring about an environmental or sustainability revolution during your lifetime and to
improve it more for the future generation.
On the other hand, figure 4 lists some of the shifts involved in bringing about this new cultural
change by learning how to live more sustainable. Choose three of these shifts that do you think the most
important and explain why.

LESSON 3. Environmental Problems

An environment comprises both living and non-living components. Human actions and industrial
revolution or globalization are the major lawbreaker of the continued change in our global environment
nowadays. Various processes and human activities are said to contribute to the global environmental
problems which includes the following:

a. Environmental pollution
This is the introduction of any harmful substances or any form of energy into the environment
which is called pollutants. Pollutants can be natural or caused by human activities. They can
damage the quality of air, land and water.
Three major types of pollution:
1. Air pollution
2. Land pollution
3. Water pollution

Effects of Air Pollution on Human health

The World Health Organization considers air pollution as the major threat to human health.
Scientific studies also shows that air pollution linked to variety of human health problems such as
respiratory and cardiovascular diseases; decrease lung function; increased susceptibility to
respiratory infections and there are also effects on the nervous system; it may also cause cancer
and premature death
b. Acid rain
Pure rainfall is usually slightly acidic because the water reacts with the atmospheric carbon
dioxide. When the water reacts with a higher than the normal amounts of nitric and sulphuric acid
in the atmosphere, its pH level will become lower than the normal which is referred to as
acid raid. This can be formed from both natural sources, such as volcanoes and decaying
vegetation and man-made sources, emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
 Acid rain is one of the serious environmental problems that we have. It can damage our aquatic
ecosystem, such as lakes, ponds and streams, and terrestrial ecosystem, such as our forest, and most
especially it also affects our plants and animals.

c. Population growth
Our population increases by 1.13% per year, thus, it results in a number of issues. Due to
over population, our fresh water ecosystem or any other type of ecosystem are usually
destroyed and converted into something that they can build their houses. This will farther results
to habitat loss for wild life animals and overuse of our natural resources and even species
extinction.

d. Deforestation
This is the permanent removal or cutting of trees in the forest. Our forest consist of
thousands of plant species and it provides shelter to our wildlife animals. These trees also
absorb carbon dioxide, mitigating greenhouse gas emission produced by human activities.
When these trees are cut or permanently remove it will not only affect the animals living
in the forest, it also affects humans and the community as a whole such as flood, soil
erosion, extinction of plant and animal species.

e. Loss of Biodiversity
Because of human activities and expansion of land uses it leads to loss of biodiversity.
Scientific studies show that loss of biodiversity has an impact in climate change and pollution
on ecosystem.

f. Climate Change
This is primarily cause by burning of fossils fuels which emits greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere, most specially the carbon dioxide. Human activities such as deforestation
agricultural activities also contribute to the increase production of greenhouse gases that
causes climate change.

How to Solve Environmental Problems?

We are currently facing a number of environmental issues. Our climate, our lives and the future of the
human civilization are all at risk if we do don’t do something with all these issues. If we make simple steps
and adjustments in our daily routine we can still restore, help and maintain our environment. We can
still save and prepare the future of our next generation.
There are lot of things we can do within our home. We can practice the 3Rs in waste management. We
can replace using disposable items with the reusable ones. Conserving water and electricity could be a big
help already.
Moreover, it is very important for us to participate or volunteer ourselves in tree planting and
clean up dry activities. Educating the people in the community, no matter what their age is, about the
importance of making small steps on their daily routines within their respective house and their
community as well.
Major Environmental Laws

1. Republic Act 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000)

This law ensures the proper segregation, collection, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste
through the formulation and adaptation of best eco-waste products.

2. Republic Act 9275 (Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004)

This law aims to protect the country’s water bodies from pollution from industries and commercial
establishments, agriculture and community activities. It also provides comprehensive and integrated strategy
to prevent and minimize pollution through a multi-sectoral and participatory approach involving all
stakeholders.

3. Republic Act 8749 (Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999)

This law aims to achieve and maintain clean air that meets the National Quality guideline values for
criteria pollutants, throughout the country, while minimizing the possible associated impacts to the economy.

4. Republic Act 6969 (Toxic Substances, Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of
1990)
This law aims to regulate or prohibit the importation, manufacture, processing, sale, distribution, use
and disposal of chemical substances and mixtures the present unreasonable risk to human health. It likewise
prohibits the entry, even in transit, of hazardous and nuclear wastes and their disposal into the Philippine
territorial limits for whatever purpose; and to provide advancement and facilitate research and studies on
toxic chemicals.

5. Presidential Decree 1586 (Environmental impact Statements (EIS) Statement of 1978

This is a planning and management tool that helps the government, decision makers, the proponents
and the affected community addresses the negative consequences or risks on the environment.