This document is a self-reflection essay written by Taoning Zhang for an environmental studies course. In the essay, Zhang reflects on what they have learned about themselves through their writing and critical thinking over the course of the semester. Zhang discusses how their writing and thinking has evolved, the readings and discussions that inspired them the most, and the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainability. Zhang asserts that as humans, we have a responsibility to properly manage the environment and consider future generations in our policies and practices.

1. 2/9/2021 Essay 4: Self Reflection
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Essay 4: Self Reflection
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This is going to get personal.
Directions:
Review your papers and critical reading responses. It might help
to print out these documents so you
can read them with some slight detachment. Read them slowly,
and feel free to annotate them,
revise them, or just comment on them as you would another’s
writing.
How has your writing evolved? How has your thinking
evolved? How have you changed?
Which readings or videos inspired you and why?
If you had to choose just three paragraphs from everything that
you have written this semester to put
in a personal time capsule to open in 20 years, which ones

2. would you choose and why?
Your last essay is a self-reflection.
Prompt:
What have you learned about yourself in this course? Feel free
to focus on your writing, critical
thinking, or thinking about the environmental crisis and
revolution.
Requirements:
Compose an essay of at least five paragraphs (1000 words or
more), using all of the elements of the
academic essay that we have been practicing. Your thesis will
assert what you know, think, or feel
inspired by and why. Your body paragraphs will demonstrate
and develop this thesis using concrete
examples for your own writing and experience, and perhaps also
from the works you have read or
watched. Your conclusion paragraph will convey the
significance or upshot of this experience, so
save the best for last.
There is no draft submission for this paper, but you are
welcome to work with classmates on your
drafts. I will let you decide about that.
Since this is a personal paper, feel free to use the personal
pronoun. It only makes sense here.
Taoning Zhang

3. Dr.Walter
2021/1/30
Stewards of the Earth: A Role for Humankind
“The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with
faithful stewardship. We
cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for
use by future generations.” These
are the words of John Paul II. The majority of us can hardly
imagine that the Catholic Pope
would one day enlighten scientists on how to do their work, and
it seems that we have arrived
exactly to this point. The efforts put across so far to settle the
debate on the diverse disasters
befalling on us and those that we have engineered have been
futile (Holbrook 62). For how many
years have we been trying to come up with an argument to avoid
the climate change disaster? We
are currently encountering the utter failure of a way of
reasoning that we sometimes refer to as
"positivism," a term that has its origin in the 19th century
supported by philosophers like Comte,
Saint Simon, and Condorcet, among others. During that period,
it seemed to be an excellent idea

4. to apply reason and science to settle questions, maybe a good
idea, but in practice, it does not
work. Despite this, we are familiar with what exactly is
happening and why; it is all about
scientific logic and method, yet the message does not pass. In
the process, we keep destroying
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everything, including ourselves. Human beings have a
responsibility of coming up with proper
strategies of conserving the environment by focusing on ethical
issues affecting the ecosystem
like environmental justice and sustainability, anthropocentric
and ethical biocentrism principles.
Sustainability is important in improving our ability to achieve
environmental justice. Pure
reason does not tell us that we should do something to keep
other species that share the earth
with us alive. Rather, it has led us to such absurdity as
believing that individual egoism is the
most effective means of handling the earth's commons. It has
turned the ecosystem into a
gigantic food store where one does not need to pay for what

5. they get. This is why environmental
justice has emerged as a vital matter of concern in
environmental ethics. According to the US
Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is the
expressive participation and
reasonable treatment of all persons irrespective of their
backgrounds, income levels, national
origin, color, or race in line with the implementation,
development, and enforcement of
environmental policies, regulations, and laws (Hettinger 15).
Environmental ethicists have raised
several worldwide issues concerning justice and the
environment. This is because it has been
challenging to temporally or geographically contain
environmental hazards. The environmental
settings of individuals not yet born are majorly affected by our
present policies, lifestyle, and
practices. This has made it necessary for environmental ethicists
to determine what we owe to
individuals who are far away from us across time and space,
especially those who are not yet
born. Therefore, the vital area of ethical research concerning the
issue of environmental justice
and sustainability is the debate revolving around sustainable

6. development, which focuses on
attaining the wants of the current generation without
compromising the ability of the
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forthcoming generations to meet their own needs by trying to
bind together concerns about
equality, economics, and environment.
Anthropocentric approaches are linked to environmental
challenges and thus a sensitive
issue in environmental ethics. Linn White Jr, the author of a
highly influential paper titled "The
Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis," upheld the fact that
humans were both superior to and
separate from nature and was the root source of environmental
catastrophe (Carter 62). This
means that only humans are perceived to have intrinsic value
meaning that things other than
human beings can only be considered valuable as a means of our
ends, which is usually known
as strong anthropocentrism. It can also mean that only humans
possess value in their own right,
considering that everything else must get its value from some

7. relations. To balance this
reasoning, some people who may consider themselves non-
anthropocentric about the moral
status may maintain that at least some nonhuman things like the
ecosystem, animals, populations,
living organisms, and species also have interest ought to be
considered in human moral decision-
making.
The ethical biocentrism notion claims that all living things
have a moral status. The idea
of reverence for life instigated by Schweitzer in the book The
Philosophy of Civilization is
considered an early form of ethical biocentrism. His work
outlined the philosophy for a
civilization that included the ethical foundations, the connection
between nature and humans, as
well as the limitations human population and its exploitation of
natural resources (Cochrane 5).
The majority of biocentric ethicists maintain that all living
things can be harmed or benefited.
This thus means that they have a good of their own or interests
or a good of their own and that all
human beings should respect this good. However, there are
some objections to biocentrism. For

8. ZHANG 3
example, it is usually argued that biocentric advocacy cannot be
put into practice totally
considering that human cannot shy away from constantly
causing harm to living things and that
it is totally insane to think that we must consider the welfare of
bacteria, especially if we are to
consider them as of equal importance to cognitively complex
animals. On the other hand,
inegalitarian biocentrism avoids this reasoning. This is because
being alive need not be the only
standard for moral worth. A Streptococcus pneumoniae and a
lion are both alive, and they may
be both alive, meanings that this is morally relevant. However,
it is important to note that that the
lion has a brain. This means that an individual who maintains
that it is worse to kill a lion than a
Streptococcus pneumoniae is misguided. Therefore, even though
biocentric ethicists may cling to
egalitarianism in principle, they seem to support practical
methods that are in conflict with the
egalitarianism principles that prioritize some organisms over

9. others, resulting in an alteration of
inconsistency.
Moreover, conservation of wild animals and areas should be
prioritized due to changes in
the climate and increase in human demands for land, freshwater
and sea. The two significant
methods of nature and wildlife management are the preservation
and the wise use of nature
(Singer 199). These two methods oppose the extermination of
wildlife and the unthinking
marginalization. However, in terms of the actual management of
nature and wildlife, the two
tactics vary (Singer 199). The wise use approach purposes of
accommodating humanity's
continuous use of wild nature as a resource for raw material,
timber, and recreation. Therefore, it
means that the idea of wise use appeals to our individual
interest or to the interest of humankind
over time that includes the forthcoming generation (Singer 199).
Thus, the main purpose of
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management should be in line with enhancing and maintaining

10. nature's yield as a valuable
resource for human beings.
To conclude, when it comes to the issue of environmental
conservation, we need to take a
totally different view. This is because it is crucial for us as the
stewards of the earth to understand
that every individual has the right to live in an ecologically
sound and adequate environment for
our well-being, dignity, culture, and fulfillment because it is
our role as humans to conserve our
environment. Our view should not direct us to think that we are
the owners of the planet, but on
the contrary, it should make us understand that we are the
stewards of the earth. It is thus
important to note that we do not need to be religious or
scientists to take up stewardship; we just
have to have at least a feeling that there is something out there
that goes beyond the mere
satisfaction of individual desires. It is never a question of
survival, but it is a question of
humanity and dignity.
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11. Work Cited Page
Carter, Alan. "Inegalitarian biocentric consequentialism, the
minimax implication and
multidimensional value theory: a brief proposal for a new
direction in environmental
ethics." Utilitas 17.1 (2017): 62.
Holbrook, Daniel. "The consequentialistic side of environmental
ethics." Environmental
Values (2018): 87-96.
Singer, Peter. "All animals are equal." Other books by the same
author 1.5 (1989): 199.
Hettinger, Ned, and Bill Throop. "Refocusing ecocentrism."
Environmental Ethics 21.1 (2015):
3-21.
Cochrane, Alasdair. Animal rights without liberation: Applied
ethics and human obligations.
Columbia University Press, 2015.
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Stewards of the Earth: A Role for Humankind
Taoning Zhang

12. Dr.Walter
2021/2/8
Why environmental sustainability?
Climate change is one of the most significant aspects affecting
human life. This situation
is associated with the adverse effects of the change in the
different parts of the world. Aspects
such as global warming have led to the development of climatic
catastrophes across the globe.
Every day and often in the dailies and global news, we hear
about tragic events associated with
natural calamities such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, and
even drought and famine, where
people die in large numbers the various climatic changes. Such
events are experienced due to the
lifestyles maintained in the different regions of the world.
Images captured in different media
sources show that the world is doomed and the environment is
destroyed. Scientists argue that
human activities are the leading cause of climate change. Is
nature tired of human ignorance
associated with the lifestyles they maintain, which cause
environmental pollution? Is nature

13. turning against humans to revenge for the destruction that
humans have caused it? What are we
doing to manage the impacts of climate change? Humans are the
most intelligent creatures on
earth. Since they are considered the leading cause of climate
change, they can also solve the
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climatic problems affecting the universe. Despite the knowledge
about the climatic situation and
the possible scientific solutions to the problem, are humans
ready to change their lifestyles to
save the planet?
Naturally, the environmental forces are considered to be in a
state of sustainability. In a
presentation made in the Ted show by Jackson Carpenter about
the different steps to cut the
carbon footprint by 60%, he argues that the universe has a
natural way of containing its carbon
dioxide through processes like the carbon cycle, which involves
a complete cycle of carbon
dioxide between plants, animals and the atmosphere. The carbon
cycle is considered to influence
life on earth. Still, the lack of balance between the carbon

14. dioxide released in the atmosphere and
the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere through the carbon
cycle is associated with the
greenhouse effect. Climate change is associated with an
increase in the volume of carbon gases
in the atmosphere. According to Carpenter, imbalance in the
atmosphere's carbon dioxide is
associated with the extinction of different animal species in the
late Jurassic period due to the
increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leading to
the development of carbon seas
leading to the development of minerals such as coal. Such
events are likely to happen in the
current world If the level of carbon dioxide is not checked to
lead to the development of global
warming. Due to this reason, different principles of
sustainability need to be applied to ensure
that the condition is mitigated before it worsens.
According to scientific research, fossil fuels are the leading
cause of global warming and
climate change. This situation is associated with using such
fuels in running engines, which are
used for different purposes in human life. Taking transportation,
for example, the increased

15. number of automobiles and flights which use fossil fuels to run
their engine make the most
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significant contribution of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In
an argument made by Steve
Westlake in 2019, 10% of the earth's population, which
comprises the wealthiest individuals on
earth, is responsible for almost half of the world's total carbon
dioxide emissions. This level is
associated with the increased use of fossil fuels, which are used
in transport activities that entail
both airplanes and vehicles in their daily endeavors. This
situation shows how individuals can
have a significant impact on their environment.
On the other hand, Carpenter argues that everyday individuals
channel volumes of carbon
gases in the atmosphere, putting the risk of running out of
oxygen in the atmosphere, leading to
significant impacts. The continuous channeling of greenhouse
gasses in the atmosphere is
associated with the increasing impacts of climatic changes
experienced in the universe. Due to
this reason, individuals should be responsible for the actions

16. they undertake as they play a
significant role in the environment they live
in.
Different measures have been developed to create awareness of
the situation and
influence people to implement the proposed measures To reduce
climate change impacts in the
universe. This process includes the utilization of sustainability
principles such as conservation of
the ecology, conservation of biodiversity, development of
human resources, and public
promotion enhancement. Enhancement of sustainability is the
key to solving most of the
environmental problems that are experienced today. Different
researchers argue that the situation
is not yet out of hand and can rectify the situation and make the
world better again through the
implementation of conservation measures. Carpenter argues that
he has researched the impacts of
climate change and its causes over the past ten years. Through
his research, he was able to
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identify several steps that can be used to solve the situation. In

17. his speech, he argues that sources
such as atomic energy, ocean tides, gravity, and sunlight can
offer clean and alternative energy
sources for a sustainable world. Over the years, such measures
are communicated through
different media and various policies implemented. However,
there is still overdependence on
fossil fuels as the world is yet to adjust to clean energy due to
the lack of adequate resources,
which means that the emission of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere is still high.
The situation is getting worse, and more is yet to be done to
ensure that the world is safe
from climate change. Will we continue to sit down and watch
nature consume us as it did to the
animal species in the late Jurassic period? Do we still have to
wait for the government to
implement the different measures to conserve the environment?
More needs to be done to hasten
the transition process or to reduce the consumption of fossil
fuels. It is the responsibility of every
individual to take part in the process as the climatic change
affects all humanity at the same
magnitude. People should take the matter into their hands and
become the agents of influence if

18. they want the situation to be rectified at ease. Carpenter argues
that everyone has a responsibility
and a role to play to push for a safe world. He argues that
individuals have the power to choose
other sources of energy such as electricity and heat apart from
the use of fossil fuels, and this
situation can cut 60% of the carbon emitted in the atmosphere
every single day. On the other
hand, Westlake argues that individual activities such as reduced
use of transport means such as
flights can significantly reduce carbon emissions into the
atmosphere. This aspect means that
both individuals and groups have a role to play in preventing
climate change.
From the different arguments mentioned, it is evident that
human activities play the most
significant role in developing climatic change and global
warming. It is also evident that every
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individual has experienced the impact of climate change in one
way or the other. Studies have
also demystified the myth that climatic change is
uncontrollable, and this information can be

19. used to bring hope to those who had given up their hopes in the
process. Therefore, it is high
time that every individual should develop a sustainable
environment for future generations to
come. Let everyone be an environmental ambassador and spread
the message of environmental
conservation to friends and relatives to ensure that every
individual participates in the mitigation
process by changing our lifestyles. Through collective efforts,
individuals can make great things
happen as our actions are very significant. Let’s change our
perception of life and our attitudes
towards what we can accomplish as individuals and embrace
sustainability in our daily lives.
Together, we can make the world a better place.
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20. Works cited
Carpenter, Jackson. "Three Steps To Cut Your Carbon Footprint
60% Today". Youtube, 2017,
https://youtu.be/63hAHbkzJG4. Accessed 9 Feb 2021.
Westlake, Steve. "Climate Change: Yes, Your Individual Action
Does Make A Difference". The
Conversation, 2019, https://theconversation.com/climate-
change-yes-your-individual- action-
does-make-a-difference-115169.
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https://youtu.be/63hAHbkzJG4.%20Accessed%209%20Feb%202
021
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-yes-your-
individual-%09action-does-make-a-difference-115169
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-yes-your-
individual-%09action-does-make-a-difference-115169
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-yes-your-
individual-%09action-does-make-a-difference-115169Why
environmental sustainability?
1
Zhang

21. Taoning Zhang
Professor Walter
English 1C
January 26th, 2021
How can think like a mountain solve the environmental
problems we face in 2020?
What is destroying Earth? Why is the environment we live in
deteriorating every day? Most of us may already have an
answer. We as humans continue to destroy the environment,
endanger other species, and destroy our home. All living things,
including human, depend on Earth. We rely on the water, soil,
air, and food provided by Earth. However, we have been
creating environmental problems such as global warming,
deforestation, acid rains, floods, and distinction of animals
continuously. Several of the most urgent environmental
problems include climate change, pollution, deforestation, w ater
scarcity, loss of biodiversity, as well as soil erosion (Marks,
2018). If humans continue to destroy the environment we are
living in, we would also cease to exist one day because we
could not live without clean water, fresh air, land, or food. The
environmental problems we currently face are detrimental to our
survival. Therefore, it is important to “think like a mountain” as
suggested by Leopard when it comes to environmental
conservation.
Humans should put ourselves in the shoes of the wild life and
think like them because we are all interdependent. We rely on
each other. Humans could not live without the wilderness or the
natural world. Our ecosystem is a complete cycle where we all
depend on each other. If humans only think about ourselves and
ignore the environment, environmental conservation would not
be realized. Humans would seek “machines, votes, and dollars”,
which are all material gains. In the long term, this would cause
trouble for the environment we rely on. If the environment is
damaged, humans would not be able to survive either. As

22. Leopard suggests, “In wilderness is the salvation of the world”.
Only if we think like a mountain and realize the importance of
wild life and the natural world, we would be saved. It is a
poetic expression of good advice on the relationship between
man and nature. Thus, from the point of view of protecting the
nature, thinking like a mountain would help us to better
understand the importance of environmental conservation.
Moreover, thinking like a mountain help us to face the
environmental problems and find solutions. Humans are not the
master or conqueror of the natural world. When we think like a
mountain, we see ourselves as part of the natural world. We see
the wolves, deer, and other living beings. We start to understand
the meaning of the “howl of the wolf” (Leopard). When humans
are too focused on ourselves or our economy, we tend to
overlook the wellbeing of wild animals and the environment
they live in. We have to think like a mountain because it allows
us to understand the harms we are causing to the environment
and the negative impacts we have brought to the animals and
creatures living in the same environment. Governments lack the
motivation to solve the environmental issues as they are more
focused on the economy and human welfare. However,
government policies spend largely on public support (Kulin and
Seva, 2019). If the public feels that environmental conservation
is important, the government would be more likely to increase
government spending on environmental protection and carry out
effective policies to solve environmental problems (Kulin and
Seva, 2019). When we think like a mountain and feel the pain of
the creatures, we would start to imagine our own future if we
continue to destroy the environment and ignore the
environmental problems we face today. Only then, we would
realize the necessity to preserve the environment and start to
act. With collective effort, people would also be able to push
the government to make positive changes to protect the natural
world.
On the other hand, thinking like a mountain is not enough to
solve all of our environmental problems. Humans have done

23. many irreversible harms to the environment. For instance,
global warming has led to melting of glaciers (Marks, 2018).
Soil degradation has caused loss of usable land and polluted
water (Marks, 2018). Thinking like a mountain is only the first
step to solve the environmental issues and save our
environment. It helps humans to recognize the voice of the
wilderness and the natural world. After thinking like a
mountain, we still need to take more actions, come up with
effective policies, and carry out these policies to resolve
previous environmental issues, reduce further environmental
damages and save the natural world we are living in.
In conclusion, thinking like a mountain enables us to listen to
the voice and needs of the wilderness and recognize that humans
are also part of the natural world. We would not be able to live
without the wild life. When we think like a mountain, we would
be able to feel what other creatures feel and realize the
importance of clean water, air, and land. When we think like a
mountain, we will truly be part of the wilderness and mother
nature. We will stop focusing on material gains such as money,
politics, and the economy. We will look from a long-term
perspective and strive for environmental conservation and
sustainable development. Therefore, thinking like a mountain is
the first, and a critical step for us to solve the environmental
problems we face in 2020.
Works Cited
Kulin, Joakim, and Ingemar Seva. “The Role of Government in
Protecting the Environment: Quality of Government and the
Translation of Normative Views about Government
Responsibility into Spending Preferences.” International Journal
of Sociology, vol. 49, no. 2, 2019, pp. 110–129.,
doi:10.1080/00207659.2019.1582964.
Leopard, Aldo. “Thinking Like a Mountain.” A Sand County
Almanac, Oxford University Press, 1949.

24. Marks, Joshua. “The 6 Most Pressing Environmental Issues-and
What You Can Do to Help Solve Them.” Inhabitat Green Design
Innovation Architecture Green Building, Inhabitat, 1 Apr. 2018,
inhabitat.com/top-6-environmental-issues-for-earth-day-and-
what-you-can-do-to-solve-them/.