Implications For The Future Paper Essay

Environmental problems exist everywhere in this world today; whether it is in air, the water, traffic, crowding, or noise. Dubois, Pennsylvania which is known for its lumber and coal mining has 7, 794 people living here today. When this land was founded and cleared it was sold as one acre parcels, and each land owner had to determine their own road systems; which is why most of the roads in Dubois are narrow today. Dubois was known as â€Å"The Divided City† back in the very early stages of it growth. There was the Dubois side, and Rumbarger side, and separated by a low beaver damn. As population and business grows the town becomes one and is known as Dubois today. At first way of transportation in Dubois was railroads and then street cars, it was not until 1901 when Dubois got it first car called â€Å"Steamers.† As the area grows highway 219 was introduced through Dubois. This highway also known as Corridor 21 runs from Bluefield, West Virginia thru Dubois, Pennsylvania right down the main part of town to the South of Buffalo, New York. With this highway the traffic congestion through Dubois, Pennsylvania can become very chaotic at times. We have large amounts of trucks, and cars that use this route. As we continue on we will provide two strategies for promoting positive environmental behavior, how positive and negative consequences can increase pro-environmental behavior, describe one positive and one negative example how technology advances have impacted our environment, and talk about the influence of the environmental policies. Two Strategies for Promoting Positive Environmental Behavior One strategy that would help to promote a positive environmental behavior would be Positive Cueing. Cues are elements in the environment that convey important information or trigger an affective reaction. Steg, Van Den Berg, & DeGroot, (2013) stated, â€Å"By using positive cues from the environment such  as bicycling to work the individual will have provided a positive behavior towards the environment.† (p.120) Individuals who ride a bicycle to work, and to get around town will help cut down on the traffic congestion that goes through the town. Other cues such as walking, or if you have to drive finding other routes that are not congested would also help cut down on traffic congestion through the town. Another strategy that can be used to help positive environmental behavior is an individual’s attitude. An individual’s attitude can reflect whether their behavior is going to have a negative or positive outcome. Self-perception theory argues that people’s attitudes are formed from the perceptions of their own previous behavior. (Cornelissen, Pandelaere, Luk, & DeWitte, 2008). For example, if a person recycles in the past then their attitude for recycling in the future will be the same and will show positive environmental behavior. For the town of Dubois attitudes amongst these individuals seem to be divided. There are individuals who drive, one’s who walk, and others who like to ride a bike. Ways of promoting positive cues and better attitudes for a more positive environmental behavior is by educating individuals on how their behavior can affect their environment. Positive and Negative Consequences of Traffic can Increase Pro-environmental Behavior The positive and negative consequences of traffic have the ability of increasing pro-environmental behavior in certain ways. It may seem as if negative consequences of traffic cannot increase pro-environmental behavior but it can. The negative consequences of traffic are delays, the burning of fossil fuels and amount of pollution being into the air by vehicles, and road rage. Steg, Van Den Berg, & DeGroot, (2013) stated, â€Å"High levels of traffic congestion may lead to elevated physiological stress and negative affect.† (p.33) These negative effects not only affect an individual’s health and can cause many numerous respiratory problems, but also can affect our environment as well, by causing not only traffic congestion, but also can cause air pollution, and noise pollution. These kind of negative consequences can lead to positive pro-environmental behavior in regards to raising gas prices, building alternate routes around town, keeping sidewalks clean for individuals to walk on, and putting in bike lanes. By raising gas prices individuals do not travel as much so less traffic congestion and  pollution, adding alternate routes around the town can help break up the flow of traffic, and adding bicycle lanes, and keeping sidewalks clean will help encourage individuals who live in town to ride bicycles, and walk. Positive consequences of traffic is that it encourages motorist to re-time their road trip to when the traffic is not as congested, and also by reducing speeds can cause less road accidents. One Positive and Negative Example how Technology Advances have Impacted Our Environment Technology is making distribution, processing, production, development, and exploration of natural resources and alternative resources more cost effective, and protective in regard to the environment. The Technology that we have today has given humans a way of reducing negative effects on the environment that we have caused; such as the depletion of natural resources, the burning of fossil fuels, and other behaviors which have caused negative environmental effects. One effective way for technology to have a positive impact on our environment is what they call â€Å"Smart Technology† this technology can help ease traffic congestion. This smart technology helps reduce travel delays, provides a more convenient access to transportation alternatives, it can customize routes on real-time traffic conditions, also can reduces the carbon dioxide emissions going into the air, and at the same time save individuals on the cost of fuel. Steg, Van Den Berg, & DeGroot, (2013) stated, â€Å"Despite remarkably improved car technology, the total negative environmental impact of car use has risen over the last 100 years.† (p.244) Because of such advance technology, cars are more fuel efficient so individuals go out to buy larger vehicles, and take longer trips which in the end produces more carbon dioxide emissions, causing more pollution, and with the increase of buying cars causes traffic congestion to get worse. Influence of Environmental Policies Environmental policies are put into effect at all levels in our society from individual, group, large companies, and even municipal. These policies can have a positive outcome, or a negative outcome based on the individuals or group of people. There are policies that taxe things such as fuel, electric bill, water bills, so they can encourage individuals or groups to conserve our natural resources. These policies can also encourage individuals to  change their behavior towards the environment by using energy efficient items such as; light bulbs, televisions, and computers to name a few. Also by having policies we can implement other energy sources such as solar panels, or wind turbines. For these policies to have a positive outcome on our environment the individual or group of people would have to have acceptability of the policy so it would have a strong influence on implementing these policies. Acceptability of any policies outcome is based on the attitude of the individual or group of people about the policy. If an individual does not like the policy that is being implemented, for example recycling then most likely this individual will not recycle. If individuals have a good attitude about the policy for the environment then this can influence change in their behavior towards the environment. Conclusion Traffic congestion is an environmental problem that has existed for many years, and many to come. Not only does it cause delays to where you need to be, but can also cause air pollution, noise pollution, and from that many health issues to the human race as well. Technology has improved traffic congestion by reducing delays, finding alternate routes around, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and lower fuel cost. Though, there have been many positive outcomes with technology and things that benefit our environment technology can have negative impacts on the environment as well. The negative impacts from technology could be things such cars that are more fuel efficient having individuals buying larger vehicles, taking longer trips which will eventually increase traffic congestion and cause more air pollution. With environmental policies in place we can change our behavior towards the environment by using more energy efficient items such as lights, computers, and televisions. These policies that we implement can use more natural resources such as solar or wind energy, and this type of natural resource does not hurt the environment as much as burning fossil fuels. By utilize resources provided in the environment, setting up polices, and having positive attitudes we can change our behavior towards the environment, and make traffic congestion through Dubois, Pennsylvania less stress and less hurtful to the environment. References Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & DeGroot, J. I.M. (2013). Environmental Psychology: In Introduction [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. West Sussex, UK: British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY460 website. Cornelissen, G., Pandelaere, M., Luk, W., & DeWitte, S., (2008, February). Positive Cueing: Promoting Sustainable Consumer Behavior by Cueing Common Environmental Behaviors as Environmental. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 25(1), 46-55. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/science/article/pii/S0167811607000699 Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & DeGroot, J. I.M. (2013). Environmental Psychology: In Introduction [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. West Sussex, UK: British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY460 website. Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & DeGroot, J. I.M. (2013). Environmental Psychology: In Introduction [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. West Sussex, UK: British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY460 website.