Environmental Consciousness as Part of Social Responsibility
9 March 1999
Humans are precipitating a current wave of mass extinctions. Approximately "27,000 species a year, which boils down to three species an hour, are lost forever" (Eldredge 44). Short-term thinking, overpopulation, overexploitation, habitat destruction, and our failure to recognize the connections between ecosystems brought about this staggering level of destruction. In order to move toward conservation, emphasizing the role of individuals in a community must be the first target. Education, the development of environmental consciousness, and social responsibility must become a priority.
Solutions to environmental problems cannot be discussed unless people possess some understanding of ecology. Education, such as a biology, or a physiological ecology class enhances a person's understanding of how organisms interact with their environment by exposing the details and functions of various aspects of the environment. However, it is easy to get bogged down in "piles of facts" to the point where laboratory biology helps with understanding, but often doesn't seem to enhance an appreciation for the environment. Aldo Leopold agrees saying, "Education, I fear, is learning to see one thing by going blind to another" (Leopold 158). Students tend to get wrapped up in the memorization of details without allowing themselves time to say "wow!" However, this "blindness" can be avoided by encouraging students to uphold a sense of awe and their basic fascination with the land. When you let yourself be amazed, learning the details can only intensify that feeling.
While education is essential, it is useless if environmental consciousness is not developed as well. Aldo Leopold emphasizes that we should be striving for harmony with the land and admitting at the outset that the thing we need must grow from within (Leopold 210). Therefore, environmental consciousness is something that lies at the heart of humanity--it must develop almost as a matter of instinct. A simple effort should be made on an individual level to identify connections between humanity and the environment. Environmental consciousness involves developing a feel of the land, and paying attention to overlooked aspects of plants, animals, the natural routine, and the human impact. Observing nature does not have to be spectacular, it could simply involve a sand farm, or an appreciation for what is in "your own backyard." Yet, before any type of conservation is undertaken, this basic curiosity and desire to understand the land and relations of organisms to each other must be established.
With the promotion of curiosity, ignorance is uncovered. There is a commonly held belief that everything exists solely for human beings: "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect" (Leopold viii.). Belonging to a community implies a sense of social responsibility. Therefore, to be a contributing member of any community, each individual has a responsibility to develop their environmental consciousness. In the context of environmental conservation, this can be as basic as "think globally, act locally." An important aspect of social responsibility is to be aware of your impact. The conservation attitude can begin by someone taking the time to pick up garbage in his yard or by observing songbirds out of the kitchen window.
Humans tend to wait for destruction before any action is taken. A new way of feeling about the world needs to be promoted--one that encompasses a preventative attitude. However, this will only evolve with the development of education and emphasis on environmental consciousness as part of social responsibility. Once humanity looks at organisms as individuals, having intrinsic value in and of themselves, we are more likely to show them respect. Therefore, although we do not know enough to know what each specie's role is, we must still show it respect. We have no authority to bring about their extinction.Eldredge, Niles. "Life in the Balance." Natural History June 1998: 42-55.
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1949.