Stewardship

TheworldviewthatIhavegrowntobecomeisthatofstewardship,whichisthebelief
thathumansareanupperformofintelligence,andourdutyethicallyandmorallyistoreserve
andpreservethenatureandresourcesoftheearth.Overall,itstheideathathumanshavea
responsibilitytomaintainthequalityoftheenvironment,aswellasensureasustainablefuture.
Throughoutmylife,thisbeliefhaslargelyimpactedthewayIinteractwiththe
environment.Instancesofmychangingbehaviorhavebeenconservingwaterwheneverpossible,
aswellasmaintainingthestandpointofthehabitatsurroundingme.Thisenvironmental
worldviewinfluencesthewayIuseresourcesbyusingwhatitnecessarysparingly.Also,it
placesmeasahumanaboveotherlife,howeverincontrolofhowthatlifeismaintained.
Earthsspeciesandorganismsshouldbetreatedintermsofsurvivalaswellas
abundance.Suchashuntingforacertainspeciesifthisspeciesisendangeredforextinction,
humanshavetheresponsibilitytomaintainandconservethatorganism.Threatenedand
endangeredspeciesareviewedwithhavingalargeamountofimportanceduetobeingavaluable
resource.Preservinghabitatsisalsocrucialisconservingorganismsbasedonpotentialresources
usedforhumanconsumption.Bioticlifeisperceivedashavingutmostimportancebecauseit
allowsforthehumanpopulationtoflourish,andpeoplehavetocontroltheseresourcesinorder
tofulfillasustainablefuture.Overall,organismsshouldbeutilizedforthegoodofhumans
althoughthoseresourcesshouldntbedepleted.
Stewardshipisaviewthatfocusesonthefuturegenerations,andhowhumanactionsare
affectingthesurvivaloflifeonEarth.Theresponsibilityforstewardsistosustaintheresources
oftheEarthinordertobeusefulforothergenerations,anddeterminewhichresourcesshouldbe

usedmorefrequentlyandlessfrequently.Itnotonlyisconcernedwiththepresentsurvivalof
people,thoughtheoverallextentofhumanstoexistfornumerousgenerations.Sincethereisa
finiteamountofresources,ithastobedeterminedtheextentofextractionthatcanoccurwith
theseparticularproducts.Asanindividual,Iviewmyresponsibilityasusingonlytheminimal
amountofresourcesneededforsurvival,aswellasadvocatingthismindset.Thiswillenable
futuregenerationstoflourishaswell.
Forthedurationoftheyear,myoriginalworldviewwasdeepecology,whichholdsall
lifeashavingthatsameintrinsicvalue,andplacesanequalstandpointfororganisms.AsI
continuedtolearnhowhumansinteractwiththeenvironment,andthegreateramountof
advantagesthathumanshaveoveranimals,Irealizedthatpeopleshouldhavetheresponsibility
ofmaintainingtheenvironment.Thereismoreselfconsciousnesswithhumans,thereforepeople
arefullyawareofactionstakentowardstheenvironment.Sincehumanshavethisadvantage,its
inevitablethattherewillbeinterferenceregardingbioticindependenceanddiversity.
Consequently,itsthedutyofthepeopletocontrolthehabitatsextractedfromaswellasprotect
theorganismsandresourcesutilized.
Largely,afocusthroughoutthisclasshasbeenhowhumansinteractandchangethe
environment.Majorconceptsthatrelatetothisworldviewarelanduse,typesofenergy,water,
air,andwastepollution,freshwater,andvariousothers.Theseconnecttohowthesystemsand
circulationofresourceshavealteredwithhumanactivities.Amainexampleisthefreshwater
unit,andtheabundanceoffreshwaterleftontheplanet,andhowitsbecomingdepletedby
humanactivityreshapingthewatercycle.Anotherfocuswashowthesechangesweregoingto
impactfuturegenerationsofpeople,andhowifchangeswerentbeingmade,resourceswould

continuetodecline.Stewardshipdevelopstheideathathumanshavetheobligationtomaintain
theworldthatprovidesresourcesforsurvival.