THE HIGH COST OF CARING

Abstract

Protests and mandatory government requirements are manifestations of current public environmental awareness. The fulfilment of each requirement takes time, effort and money and the total cost of these must be added to the consumer price of the final product, thus increasing general trends to inflation.

Conservation and environmental awareness are seen to be short term processes under the benign influence of affluent democratic governments. Emergent or developing nations rarely can afford the luxury of conservation, being more concerned with upgrading the standard and quality of life of their populace.

The growth and development ethic which triggers our way of life is inherent in all living things, either individually, collectively, or racially, and so cannot be interpreted by current value judgements as being good or bad.

Future needs and challenges are seen to be the central involvement of environmental awareness in community planning and life style. Such planning will, of necessity, accept the intrinsic right to life of all other life forms.