Micro-Sustainability
Encyclopedia
Micro-sustainability focuses on the small environmental actions that when calculated collectively result in a large environmental impact. Micro-sustainability centers on individual efforts, behavior modification
and creating attitudinal changes, which result in an environmentally conscious individual or community. Micro-sustainability encourages sustainable changes through change agents, which are individuals that are encouraged; and therefore, foster positive environmental action inside their own sphere of influence
. Examples of micro-sustainability include recycling
, turning off lights when not in use, programming thermostats for efficient use of energy, reducing water usage through conservation, changing driving habits or patterns in order to use less gasoline or modifying buying habits or behaviors in order to reduce waste and consumption.
Advocates talk about taking on the small stuff involving individual, rather than organizational practices. These narrow, small ticket, community level actions have immediate local benefits. If widely imitated, they will have a cumulative, broader impact.
The remaining large-scale plans for sustainability
, categorized under the term macro-sustainability, are in most cases addressed by governments, multi-national corporations or companies. They combat global issues including climate change
, and reliance upon petroleum-based energy sources. Businesses primarily focus on the business case and return on investment of changes such as their source of energy or the way they transport or manufacture products. Governments confront these larger issues through increased regulation, subsidies, and investment in new technologies and energy sources.
Behavior modification
Behavior modification is the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniques to increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the reduction of...
and creating attitudinal changes, which result in an environmentally conscious individual or community. Micro-sustainability encourages sustainable changes through change agents, which are individuals that are encouraged; and therefore, foster positive environmental action inside their own sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
. Examples of micro-sustainability include recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
, turning off lights when not in use, programming thermostats for efficient use of energy, reducing water usage through conservation, changing driving habits or patterns in order to use less gasoline or modifying buying habits or behaviors in order to reduce waste and consumption.
Advocates talk about taking on the small stuff involving individual, rather than organizational practices. These narrow, small ticket, community level actions have immediate local benefits. If widely imitated, they will have a cumulative, broader impact.
The remaining large-scale plans for sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
, categorized under the term macro-sustainability, are in most cases addressed by governments, multi-national corporations or companies. They combat global issues including climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, and reliance upon petroleum-based energy sources. Businesses primarily focus on the business case and return on investment of changes such as their source of energy or the way they transport or manufacture products. Governments confront these larger issues through increased regulation, subsidies, and investment in new technologies and energy sources.