A concept introduced to me during this class that I found very interesting was how environmental beliefs are introduced and formatted in different ways. Julia B. Corbett, the author of The Formation of Environmental Beliefs, writes a lot about how the introduction to environmental sustainability, or the lack thereof, has a large impact in how one may view the world of sustainability when they are older. Corbett states, “Your belief system is both an individual and a cultural product” (Corbett 13). When we are younger, a lot of values and traditions are put in place by our parents, guardians, and just people we are around at that young age. If someone has people around them telling them recycling is not important and sees their parents litter, they will most likely do the same and continue to do so as they get older. If someone is raised on separating their trash and recyclables, composting, and using less energy in the home, they will also continue to do so as they get older.
Corbett also goes into detail regarding the idea of a “sense of place”. How someone views the place in which they are and the relationship they have with such a place, has a very strong connection with how they will treat that place. This trend continues as one looks at the bigger picture, for example, if someone loves the place they are from, they will treat it with respect, and therefore want to treat other places with respect as well. “Our relation to a physical place helps us make sense of the world and know how to act within it. In other words, ‘Places inform who we are and therefore how we are to behave; in short, to be somewhere is to be someone. . . [P]laces are also imbued with socially constructed (and often politically defined) expectations of appropriate behavior.’” (Corbett 18). As Corbett writes, the relationship between where someone is from and who they are is immense. This correlation, to me, is one that is almost obvious, however that could be me speaking from my own experiences.
I grew up in a small town in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio where my house was a three minute walk from Lake Erie. I had parents that knew how important sustainability is and were knowledgeable on the positive consequences of recycling. Having these two qualities, my hometown and my parents beliefs, I have grown up to care greatly for the environment.
As someone who grew up with parents that cared for the environment and then passed that onto my siblings and me, I now have strong opinions and act towards helping with sustainability. In high school, I was president of our Environmental Club which helped with the recycling in my school, we held fundraisers, and we visited the Oberlin College’s sustainability center. I can guarantee that I would not have had that much pride and passion for being kind to the environment if my parents had not taught me so. This directly lines up with what Corbett was saying in her article.
Regarding my hometown, this, again, relates to Corbett’s writing on someone’s place. Growing up near the lake and the river that led into the lake, being conscientious of how I treated the world around me was huge. We were even taught in school to not throw things into the lake or river, to be careful on boats, and to respect the wildlife. Having these experiences on the lake as a young child definitely molded me to have more care for the nature around me and the nature in all other places.