From Environmental Culture to Eco-Friendly Culture

    Eco-friendly culture is a culture, in which people’s living, dwelling, production, law, art, politics, religion, and all spheres of vital activity comply with concepts like environmental soundness, sustainability laws, the conservation of biodiversity and the health of the, environment, and other environmental concepts that have received scientific and public recognition.
    Over the recent decade, the term "ecological culture" has not only been firmly rooted in the minds of professionals but has also been widely applied by journalists, teachers, civil servants, and the public.
    The adjective ‘environmental’ implies a relation to certain spheres of life sustenance, including nature use, protection of the environment, and sustainable development; we say, for example: environmental monitoring, environmental forum, or environmental movement. Using the notion "environmental culture", we denote and confine the sphere of life sustenance this notion refers to. By using the adjective ‘eco-friendly’ we depart from our “narrow departmentalism” and define a certain quality or a certain criterion of any human activity, we characterize this activity in terms of its compliance with environmental laws and requirements. Compare: "environmental policy" is a policy in the area of nature use and environmental protection, while "eco-friendly policy" characterizes a policy in terms of environmental compliance. This applies equally well to an eco-friendly individual, eco-friendly production facilities, eco-friendly transport, eco-friendly education, etc.

    V.A. Yasvin
    Russian State University for the Humanities