Ask Dr. Green: Why Should We Care?

I was recently asked a very good question by Tebben Lopez of Shetland Connecticut: "Why should we care about what’s going on in the environment? AND How can kids get involved?" Not gonna lie, that's a tough one. And there are a lot of different answers out there, depending on who you ask. So here's mine.

I think that we should care about the environment for a very practical and fatalistic reason: because we will have to live with our mistakes for the rest of our lives, not to mention pass them on to future generations. I think that the idea of living in a flooded tropical world is extremely frightening; the most effective part of "An Inconvenient Truth," for me, was the simulated effects of the rising water level on major cities like San Francisco and New York--our homes, our business, our landmarks. I think that we should care because it's good sense, and because I don't want to believe that it's too late. I think if we don't care about our environment, then we are basically writing off the fate of the planet as of maybe 40-50 years from now. That's just my opinion though, I'm hoping our readers will have things to add in the comments.

As for ways for kids to get involved, I think that a good place to start is educating yourself. When people know what's going on and what's at stake, they're much more likely to make better decisions and to try harder to change the course of the future. There are literally hundreds of great sites, like this one, that are built to inform and influence--scroll down to the list on the sidebar for some ideas. Joining a local environmental organization like Earthteam is also a great idea, and there are tons of them all around the country, so they're not too hard to find. Also, there are many community efforts going on, like the Do the Green Thing campaign that require very little effort and are often actually fun. Of course, there are also the cliché things that people tell you to do every day, like recycle, walk or take public transportation to spare the air, etc, that are easy and quite beneficial when added all together.

I hope that answers your question, Tebben.