Links between Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors

By Johnny W. Lee

As I read Chapter 3 in Communicating Nature, I noticed that Corbett mentions in that “a variety of environmental professionals and resource managers referred to the ‘e–words’ (environmentalist, environmentalism, environmental) as ‘dirty words’ and admitted that they avoided using them.” I found it interesting that these e–words can harbor these feeling of being “dirty words” due to being influence through beliefs, values, attitudes, and opinions. Corbett mentions in Communicating Nature that “according to the New Oxford English Dictionary, an environmentalist is ‘a person who is concerned about or seeks to protect the environment, especially from pollution’.” 

This definition seems to fit with the notion of behavior rather than attitude. I find it fascinating the how opinion of a statement such as “humans are severely abusing the environment,” from Communicating Nature, can vary from person to person. As Corbett mentions, “your response may represent what you see and experience around you every day, or may instead be based on environment in a far larger sense.” In a way, our own interpretation of the environment can vary based on a wide range of things. The different definition of environmental concern also shows how the public opinion on a word can be different for each person.

One thing that stood out, however, was that the demographic of age is “most strongly associated with environmental concern, with younger adults more concerned than their counterparts,” according to Corbett in Communicating Nature. It makes sense that younger adults are less aware since they are less involved into the existing social order thus as a result do not view the environment in the bigger picture. Furthermore there are different of types of pro-environmental behavior. According to Corbett they can be broken down into “environmental activism, nonactivist behavior in the public sphere, private sphere environmentalism, and actions within organizations.” While most people would not engage into these different types, Corbett mentions that “it’s possible that under the right circumstances, she might engage in nonactivist behavior in the public sphere.” 

Links between Environmental and People

In his essay, The Making of a Marginal Farm, Berry mentions, “A great deal of work is still left to do, and some of it—the rebuilding of fertility in the depleted hillsides—will take longer than we will live. But in doing these things we have begun a restoration and healing in ourselves.” He sees working the land manually as restoration of the land, but also mentions in healing of his body and mind. He could have mentioned that he simply “worked” the land, but goes on to make the connection to his own mental state. 

The same links between the environments is found in Huckleberries where Thoreau states, “thus we behave like oxen in a flower garden. The true fruit of Nature can only be plucked with a fluttering heart and a delicate hand, not bribed by any earthly reward. No hired man can help us to gather that crop.” The descriptive words of Thoreau makes it seem like the real fruit of Nature can only be obtain by a person who is truly connected. The way he mentions fluttering heart and a delicate hand evokes a strong image. While Thoreau could have make a short statement and direct statement, he instead choose to present his opinion by being descriptive as possible. Perhaps to it was to invoke an image of people who have a drive for profit by over using the land. 

In his book, The End of Nature, author Bill McKibben writes, “Now that we have changed the most basic forces around us, the noise of that chain saw will always be in the woods. We have changed the atmosphere, and that will change the weather.” He sees that our basic forces around us has change by giving us an image of a chain saw. The chain saw is reoccurring theme that invokes an image of a society driven by profit at the cost of the forest. McKibben makes such a statement because he hears a noises in the forest that doesn’t fit, a manmade noise. 

This lack of connection with nature is seen in the documentary, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, where Carson’s notice that the over use of DDT, a pesticide, is harming the wildlife. While DDT had saved millions of lives in World War II, the use of this pesticide had harmed many birds. The documentary focuses on the story of Carson’s and the events that influences her to write her book. 

In the documentary, A Fierce Green Fire, the narrator spoke of the story of Love Canal where Lois Gibbs, just like Carson, took action on the toxic waste in her town. The Gibbs’ story focused on her injustice from the toxic chemicals that harmed many families in love canal. She choose to take action by organizing the neighborhood to protest. By holding in government officials she was able to persuade the government to act. 

Producing more grain with lower environmental costs

In a recent Nature Letters article published in 2014 titled, “Producing more grain with lower environmental costs,” Yunji Zhu mentions “A set of integrated soil–crop system management practices based on a modern understanding of crop ecophysiology and soil biogeochemistry increases average yields for rice, wheat and maize without any increase in nitrogen fertilizer.” This is interesting since it shows that the production of rice, wheat, and maize can increased with better methods without any increase in the amount of fertilizer. Zhu delivered the solution by first presenting the problem, he states, “Global agriculture is facing unprecedented challenges andrisks. Rates of yield growth have slowed since the 1980s, and even stagnated.” In the end the article, however, Zhu mentions, “These benefits are achievable if we invest in agronomic research that incorporates an ecosystem-perspective.” It seems while the results are positive, it may be awhile before it can be employed for everyone.