Individualization: Plant A Bike, Save The World Analysis

In “Curbing Overconsumption: Challenge for Ethically Responsible Engineering,” professor E.J. Woodhouse discusses modern overconsumption, and claims that engineers should be responsible for aiding the environment. At one point, he asks, “if it is technically feasible to arrange consumption far more efficiently, […] does that imply that the engineers who help arrange the wasteful approaches are violating certain ethical standards?” (24). Woodhouse claims that it is the ethical role of engineers to use their positions and resources to decrease the waste production of American overconsumption. Meanwhile, in “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” professor Michael Maniates discusses modern environmentalism, and in particular

Maniates later elaborates on each factor of his formula, and then suggests that it be used for evaluating environmental policy proposals. The IWAC framework is able to provide an effective critique for Woodhouse’s work, indicating where his argument is sufficiently detailed, and where his argument could be expanded upon. Maniates’ views on what he refers to as work are effectively mirrored by Woodhouse’s article. Maniates’ concept of “quality of Work” refers to how individuals inherently care about various aspects of their job, such as “questions about job security, worker satisfaction, downsizing, overtime, and corporate responsibility” (47). He also relates this concept more directly to environmental issues by claiming that when workers feel powerless in their jobs, they prefer to wield their power as consumers instead of attempting to resolve issues in a vocational capacity (48). Woodhouse relates to the first point by discussing the working conditions of engineers. “Engineers work within a web of constraints created by employers,

Although Maniates labels the “A” in IWAC as “meaningful consumption Alternatives,” his thoughts on the matter refer more to the institutional influences on product development. In Woodhouse’s words, “The public’s failure to embrace sustainable technologies has more to do with institutional structures that restrict the aggressive development and wide dissemination of sustainable technologies than with errant consumer choice” (48). Instead of attributing the lack of environmentally friendly products to happenstance, Maniates claims that there are production-side structural aspects which hinder the development of green products. Woodhouse mirrors Maniates in this aspect by recognizing the influences on engineers to overlook environmental concerns. “Neither law nor professional norms make [sustainable] design tasks a required aspect of most engineers’ responsibilities, and most employers place substantial obstacles in the way of engineers taking those design elements farther than law and market competition require” (27). By and large, companies are driven by the desire to maximize profit above all else, and from the perspective of employers, adding in environmental concerns is merely an additional constraint on potential profit margins. If engineering ethics and government regulations are sufficiently detailed on sustainability, then employers