We Conserve: Be the We

This column features the We Conserve program and its work on campus. Learn more at http://www.conserve.wisc.edu.

In a recent conversation with a student on campus, she argued that even though the environment seems to be on everyone’s mind, people’s resolve or even ability to truly care for the planet and to do their part in conservation and waste management is doubtful.

The student, named Hannah, added that some people are too uneducated to know not to litter, or too poor to be able to make an impact, or too rich to forego their comfort and societal status, or too busy with everyday life to pay attention. She further stated that all the messages and slogans about conservation, stats on global warming, and images of wildlife in distress have become just another layer of noise and do not result in people’s behavior change.

Assuming that Hannah is right, one could argue that the efforts of programs like We Conserve to promote awareness and education on environmental stewardship are just ineffective exercises and will have no real impact on society. But there is another way to look at this issue.

Nine percent of the U.S. population attends one of our 4,100 colleges and universities. Most of these students are still in the process of firming up their attitudes, lifestyles, values and habits; and are contemplating their futures. They do not have many firmly established “bad” habits yet that would be hard to change.

Furthermore, the 2.7 million faculty and staff who work in these schools are well-educated and are generally objective and logical people in their decisions and deliberations. They, too, cannot be lumped into Hannah’s “no hope for change” category.

Making environmental literacy a high priority in our schools and embedding it in our academic curriculum and research activities will result in a generation of educated people who not only know how to care for the environment but, more importantly, understand why.

The young people who graduate from our universities are going to be the parents, teachers, leaders of companies and leaders of the United States. If we miss the opportunity to help them appreciate the importance of their role in protecting the environment at this stage of their lives, they will have a hard time making it a high-priority issue later as they will be busy establishing careers, building families, putting kids through college and caring for their elders.

This is a great opportunity and a real responsibility for higher education. Let’s influence the results. For more information about We Conserve, visit http://www.conserve.wisc.edu.