By Gorazd Andrejc

Majority of us are hesitant to become aggressive environmental activists. We have our own occupations and activities that consume most of our time. At the same time, environmental ethical considerations (especially those linked to global warming) can not be ignored anymore. How should an ordinary person like you and me (assuming we are ones) incorporate eco-friendly thinking and habits into her/his own lifestyle and decision-making?

There are lots of advice and messages on what to do and especially on what not to do to become more eco-friendly or to go green. With lots of imperatives one can become confused, suspicious or even downright hostile to the environmental gospel. Assuming you want to avoid this attitude but at the same time you are not willing to go lay down naked on the glacier in protest or block the airports with demonstrations etc. there are some important issues you need to think about.

In ethical decision-making we are prioritizing our values within our value systems. Some concerns are more important to us that other ones. For most of us, for example, the immediate survival of our families is more important than glacier melting. Majority feels that one needs to survive with skills and opportunities one has at present, be ethical, yes, but thinking about environment usually comes only after other ethical concerns. If environmental imperatives (such as, “do not use a car if not necessary”) are directly in conflict with other imperatives we act upon (such as driving your children to specific school at the right time) and those imperatives are more important to us, then environmental concerns simply can not make it to our decision-making process that easily. We all have to face such dilemmas and there are no prescribed solutions.

Few thoughts are helpful though. We can (we need to?) see the human race as a family that collectively struggles for survival and quality of life. Several authors including Martha Nussbaum argue for global ethics and world citizenship – as world citizens we have ethical obligations to humanity as a whole. Assuming that such obligations exist, it is still true that local and immediate (family-wise, ethnic, patriotic etc.) imperatives are more concrete and easily felt than global ones. We need some ways to connect with the awareness of global human family in order to give the environmental ethical concerns – which are a part of global ethics – any higher priority (I don’t mean higher priority than family concerns but higher than zero or higher than we are used to).

Letting environmental activists to make us feel guilty all the time is not a very constructive ground for making changes in becoming more eco-friendly either. It is wise to make a slow but steady progress, to gradually incorporate changes into your lifestyle. Recycling and buying saving light bulbs does not, for example, cost much sacrifice and can be easily realized. Further down the road one might think about using public transport or a bike instead of a car at times, and switching off lights and other devices in your home and in your office when actually not using them. Majority of us though, are not at the stage where we would choose more expensive and several days long train and ship travel instead of a flight on a plane (although plane emissions are by far greater than those of any other form of travel). I assume that for considering such options seriously the negative consequences of air travel would have to be much more clearly present and also directly felt by us individual travelers.

We need to be realistic and good to ourselves and at the same time gradually incorporate the eco-friendly thinking into our everyday life. The extreme positions tend not to last long. In the case of extreme environmentalist activism (like cutting the tyres of the big cars or pouring paint on them) it can do much harm and put off many people from actually taking appropriate action.

About the Author: Gorazd Andrejc is a free-lance writer and thinker based in the UK. His two blogs are the

Eco friendly lifestyle blog

and the

Embodying Theology blog

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By Adriana Noton

There are many individuals who may be interested in working in the health care field but do not find the idea of working as a doctor or nurse appealing. These individuals may want to consider some of the many different pharmacist jobs that are available. They can involve working in a variety of health care settings from retail stores to hospitals and clinics. Some pharmacists will even work in drug research and development.

In order to qualify for these positions it is important to have the right education. At a bare minimum, a person should have a degree in pharmacology from a college or university. Individual positions, especially those that involve supervision or administration may require a higher level of education and research positions may be easier to get if someone has degrees in other scientific fields.

Some individuals are employed in a retail setting. They work with customers and fill the prescriptions that doctors have prescribed. They may also offer advice to customers on which over the counter products are most appropriate for a given condition. These individuals also need to know which medications will interact badly with one another and be prepared to advise customers of these issues, offering advice on how to correct the situation.

Certain individuals may also work in a hospital setting. There, they will work with doctors and nurses in order to help treat patients. They may work to develop a therapeutic drug regiment and may advise doctors on new medications and therapies that will work well to treat a particular patient. Again, they need a wide knowledge of different medications that are available and know which will work well together. They also need to know about any potential negative drug interactions.

If someone likes the idea of helping to treat patients in their home they may want to seek employment as a home care professional. There are some individuals who need to speak with a professional about their medications but be unable to get to a drug store. They may also need certain medications mixed on site and a home care professional will also perform this service for them.

Some professionals may also work in clinics and specialize in their area of expertise. They may focus on treating cancer using appropriate radioactive drugs or may work in a psychiatric clinic and focus on the treatment of various psychiatric disorders using the appropriate medications. Again, like a hospital pharmacist, they do not work directly with the patients. Instead, they work with doctors and nurses and may compound medications, mix complicated formulas and provide advice on potential drug interactions.

A final area where these individuals are employed is in drug research. They may work with major pharmaceutical companies and test new medications in order to develop more effective formulas that have fewer negative side effects. This is a lengthy process but one which can be a very rewarding one as well. These individuals will generally not work with patients or health care providers directly.

There are a number of different positions that fall under the banner of pharmacology. Their compensation levels may vary from position to position but all pharmacology positions are generally compensated very well. If you are considering one of these jobs it can pay to do your research in order to find out any special certification or additional education that may be required.

About the Author: As the nation’s most respected, most well connected home for pharmacist career, we have more jobs in more settings that anyone else.

Source: isnare.com

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