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Modern civilization is based upon the acquiring of the more . Man is everlastingly asking for more and man is everlastingly striving for more . Everlasting struggle and everlasting discontent are his lot in life .

In looking to satisfy his endless wants , man is a menace to this planet ; armed with the means to do so , he spells disaster . What this course has done is to bring home the part that conscience - driven choice must play in this cycle of craving .

" Think : perspective ! " , Anne and Peter would say . The frame of reference cannot just be I , me , myself , mine . It must extend to the giant and intricate wheel of action and reaction in which even an iota of change in one part has ripple effects throughout all parts of the whole . In which to have the power to satisfy the hankering for more must come with the responsibility to use that power conscientiously and compassionately .

The imperative to conserve the environment is a big problem . And big problems need big solutions , like the successor to the Kyoto protocol which must be hammered out by 2012 . But small efforts at the individual level can help quicker , and snowball into larger efforts .

I read about this 27 - year old who adores his Mitsubishi Outlander sports utility vehicle . It looks a beauty , and rides like a dream ; and really goes with the image he'd like to project . It's cool and his friends love it . But it's a monster of a gas guzzler . So he only uses it on weekends . The rest of the week he takes a car pool to work . Turning down the air-conditioner may do more to immediately curb emissions than attempts to reduce business travel or cut emissions per airline passenger . Recent studies have thrown up some shocking revelations . Residential buildings spew out almost ten per cent of greenhouse gases while air travel is responsible for two per cent . The computer industry , in fact , produces as much greenhouse gases as the airline industry . [ MSIG Balance , December 2008 ] The issue is not about denial ; it is about choosing responsibly . To come back to food , which is where it all began , to be a carnivore is not to be a cad . [ After all , even vegetarianism is not devoid of violence . " Living takes life " , to quote Deanna Wolfe in Prodigal Summer . ]  But to cultivate cruelly for profit is .

An old Buddhist word Mottainai sums up what it's all about . Mottainai fundamentally means " what a waste " or " it's too valuable to waste " . Its overtone of respect and reverence for nature is what must imbue the choices we make . Deeply impressed by the notion of Mottainai , the Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize activist Wangari Maathai is of the belief that this one word and its connotations summarize the soul of the movement to conserve the environment - reduce , re-use , recycle , and respect the earth's finite resources .