Impacts are Cumulative

Many effects on the environment are the cumulative result of individual decisions and actions.

Purchases of food, energy, material goods, automobiles, homes – anything we buy – represent a decision to use something from the environment, directly or indirectly, for our personal use.  Although it may seem that individual decisions cannot have a major environmental impact, the cumulative effect of hundreds or thousands of individuals making a decision (say, to fertilize their lawns) can have an enormous adverse effect on environmental condition and the delivery of ecosystem goods and services.

In sum, decision-making needs to occur in a systems-oriented manner.  In other words, decision-makers need to consider different scales, stakeholder groups, and systems-level effects in their decision process.  Otherwise, the decision process can become quite fragmented.