What can we do to insure there will be future generations of ecologically minded individuals?

Question

It seems the fight to protect the environment has been going on since at least the industrial revolution. The Indians were some of the first people to recognize and mention the importance of living in harmony with the land.

Without a solid foundation of teaching & carrying on this wisdom to a younger generation, who can in turn teach their children and other youth, what's to stop environmental degradation? At best it will be a stalemate between forces... And at worse things will ever continue to decline till true living will no longer be possible and survival the utmost imperative.

Answer 1

The first thing we need to do is stick to teaching them the truth, not exaggerated lies and propaganda.  Misleading children for political advantage only brings them to mistrust and cynicism when they later learn we weren't honest with them.  Such disillusionment may greatly reduce their motivation to heed or act on later cautions that have actual value.

For example, we put the Native Americans on a pedestal and deify them as environmental gods.  The fact is they were limited by numbers and technology, and were as prone to human error as we are.  The ancestors of Indians were responsible for wiping out numerous species of native animals (horses, camelids, mammoths, glyptodonts, sabre tooth cats, giant sloths, etc.) and may have had an influence in desertification of the southwest.  As late as the 19th century, when conditions allowed they would 'hunt' buffalo by driving herds off a cliff, killing far more than they could butcher and use before the bodies rotted.  The Aztec and Mayan civilizations both brought themselves to ruin by clear-cutting forests and destroying their local ecosystems.  The predecessors of the Inca engaged in clever, but ultimately unsustainable, irrigation technology; the resulting famine forced them to move and fundamentally alter their society.

Strangely enough, the Earth seems to have recovered from even the worst of these errors.  There may be a lesson in that as well.

Answer 2

We have got to stop people from lying to them.  The global warming sham, hole in the ozone, turning food into fuel, and other ridiculous ideas have turned people away.

Answer 3

I really support Widget's approach.  A scientific foundation is key because it seems all to often that the people who "don't get it" simply have no understanding of how the world works beyond themselves... a very basic, primal - me first narrow point of view that is at best destructive to the rest of us.

Then you couple the basics with experience and what... hope for appreciation?  Hmm... this is an odd request... but let me think about this... I'm not sure there is a magic bullet to getting everyone out of the stone age.

It's that eternal quest for universal enlightenment and I think we are really - as a world - as a society in the embryonic stages... we have to move in steps until we get a critical mass of folks believing even basic things like the earth being round, gravity, etc.

Understanding that human beings affect the natural world and that our behaviour over the last couple of centruries hasn't exactly been respectful towards the planet we're stuck on (for now?) - and then the next step - knowing THAT IT DOES MATTER how we treat it... even if the earth can survive us... is important...

This is something I'm not sure we'll reach in our lifetime barring a huge crisis... but maybe... and maybe it won't be to late.  But we have to keep trying anyway - I dunno why really.   Just cuz it's the right thing to do?

Answer 4

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not stray far from it."

Works for all religions, including environmentalism. This is NOT intended as an insult. Religion is an important part of man's psyche. And that is probably the safest, most permanent grounds to put planetary safety on.

Answer 5

what i do is almost easy but pricy.....i buy eco friendly cleaning products (all cleaning products).  buyed a t-shirt that my white t is green meaning i want green.  with my rebate check i will buy more eco friendly stuff for my house.

buy nothing organic and all natural food and drinks.  plan on making my garden organic also grow my own fruits and veggies.

finally when i am not home i turn off my heat and turn off lights and my radio and tv so cut down my rge bill

hopes that is what you looking for

Answer 6

CLICK THIS http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/First-... TO start off one needs to get groups from schools, churches, clubs, etc. get a salvage license to keep what rewards. buy equiptment and safe training to extract the sands of time thats never been touched by man forever. what is found in the sand your salvage license gives you the right to keep it, like treasures, jewels, artifacts etc. and at the same time help the rest of us in deleting global warming for the future of  LIFE SUCH AS PEOPLE.== YOUR CHOICE

Answer 7

Ensure that your kids get a good education involving mathematics, physics, and other hard core sciences.

Take 'em camping in pristine areas.

Teach 'em respect for the land and sea that is based on logic and facts, as opposed to the 'green' c**p that is based on opinion, conjecture, and fear mongering.

Answer 8

the internet will help. there are already international networks, e.g. the permaculture movement and the ecovillage network, where even a decade ago it was isolated groups communicating by magazines, books and word of mouth.