“I DON’T CARE” ATTITUDE

FROM ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS TO ENVIRONMENTAL CARE

Abstract

This work examines the necessity of environmental care in today’s society, where the “I don’t care” attitude toward the environment has become a significant barrier to sustainability and ecological preservation. While traditional environmental ethic frameworks, such as anthropocentrism, biocentrism, animal rights/liberation, ecocentrism and ecofeminism, provide moral justifications for protecting the environment, this work offers a relational and empathetic approach, emphasizing the interconnectedness between humans and the environment. By shifting from indifference to responsibility, the work calls for care for the environment amidst the challenges of pollution, waste disposal, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, ocean acidification, water pollution, public health issues, plastic waste disposal, poor waste management, etc. This work argues that protecting our environment is a moral responsibility, as failure to do so is a way of preparing for hazardous effects. It is the view of the work that caring for the environment must involve conscious efforts at individual, community, and global levels to promote ecological balance, as environmental problems do not respect national boundaries. The work holds that overcoming environmental indifference requires a change in attitude and ethical transformation, where care-based responsibility can replace passive neglect.