An Environmental Upbringing

How do we know what we know about the environment?

Everyone's personal understanding and meaning of the environment will differ from one person to the next. This is because — like anything else — we all have different life experiences that shape our understanding of the things we engage with throughout our lives. For some the natural environment means more to them than others, which is completely dependent on their personal experiences. Those who enjoy outdoor activities, and have participated in such events have a greater chance to place more importance on the natural environment than those who dislike the outdoors, or who have not experienced such endeavors. The people that have a 'natural' inclination to the natural environment are most likely to be motivated to engage in environmentally friendly activities to help sustain the planet. Now that we are in the midst of an era where "climate change" or "global warming" is a pressing political and social issue, we all learn about the environment through mediums like news channels, opposed to just our own personal experiences. In the information society that we live in, knowledge is being passed along to people about the natural environment at a rate like we have never seen before. The goal of this mass spreading of environmental messages is to promote an environmentally friendly society that we can eventually convert to in the future.

Communicating our way to a sustainable society

As mentioned above, the spreading of information that will persuade those who are currently indifferent to climate change is the key to converting to a sustainable society in the future. This notion of communicating our way to a greener future is echoed by the readings from this week. Eliza Griswold's New York Times Magazine article explains how Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was the ammunition needed to start the environmental movement (2012). Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring in 1962, which examined the dangers of pesticide use to the ecosystem. Griswold discusses how Silent Spring was the first piece of literature that caused society to critically reflect upon human activity that could potentially alter the natural environment. It was of course the threat that harming the natural environment could in turn harm humans that truly caught the interest of society, but nonetheless, this is the earliest example of environmental communication proving its effectiveness. Similarly, Marla Cone's article, "Marla Cone on Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and a Question for our Times: How Safe do we Want to Be?" expresses the major impact Silent Spring had on society's understanding of the environment. Cone's work is very interesting because she does not over exaggerate the dangers of climate change, and the use of chemicals. She explains the issue as something that will not immediately and noticeable affect us, but it will rather be a toll that is felt over a long period of time. Cone raises the question of, "How safe do we want to be?" to end the article (2005). She is suggest to the audience that they should approach this issue as choice that has the option of weighing out the positive versus negative of either side of the decision.

My decision would certainly be to push for as environmentally safe of a society as we could possibly have. As I discussed in the opening sentiments, everyone's understanding of the natural environment is shaped through their personal experiences. I personally love the outdoors, and the unique activities that each of the four seasons provides us Canadians. Reflecting on my past experiences with the environment, I hope that we can one day shift to a fully sustainable society so that we do not continue to increase global temperatures. With increased temperatures, we will no longer be able to consistently enjoy winter activities that are a staple to Canadian culture such as, outdoor ice skating, skiing, tobogganing, and so on!

Above is an image of me enjoying a big blast of winter 1998, my experiences growing up have shaped my stance on climate change. I believe that we need to do everything we can to avoid the rapid increase in global temperatures.

Bibliography

Cone, M. (2005). The Unbroken Chain. Marla Cone on Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and a Question for our Times: How Safe do we Want to Be? Columbia Journalism Review, July/August.

Griswold, E. (2012). How ‘Silent Spring’ ignited the environmental movement. New York Times Magazine, September 21.