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It is the implicit value system that distinguishes the common sense of environment from its scientific meaning in ecology or biology. To a scientist, for example, a pipe dumping raw sewage into a river is the environment for any organisms that manage to thrive in it; whereas in the common sense that same pipe would be considered damage to the environment. The same distinction can be made between the common use of nature (above) and its use in science (a synonym of material world).
It is the common sense of environment that underlies environmentalism — a broad political, social, and philosophical movement which advocates various actions and policies that are viewed as good for "nature". Typical environmentalist goals include reducing pollution and the consumption of non-renewable fuels such as petroleum and coal, develoment of renewable energy sources, conservation and sustainable useSustainable use is the use of resources at a rate which will meet the needs of the present without impairing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The concept was generally put forth by the Brundtland Commission in 1987. of scarce resources such as waterDrinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes water from a scientific and technical perspective. Water is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many forms, such as sea, rain, and, landLand is sometimes used synonymously with country. Land can also be for "a land of a people", particularly in the absence of a state or government, which is rather implicated by the near-synonym country. The land is the part of the Earth that is not covere, and fishAtlantic herring, Clupea harengus one of the most abundant species in the world Photo A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling vertebrate with gills. There are over 27,000 species of fish, making them the most diverse group of vertebrates., protection of pristine habitatA habitat (from the Latin for "it inhabits") is the place where a particular organism usually lives or grows. A biotope is the smallest possible geographic region of a habitat. A biome is the set of flora and fauna which live in a habitat and occupy a cers, saving endangered speciesAn endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. Many countries have laws offering special protection to these species (forbidding hunting, banning their habitats from development, etc. to prevent t from extinction, establishment of nature preserve s, etc..