Robert Redford said ‘’I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?’’ It is a sad reality that our environment has deteriorated in the last two centuries and it has affected almost the entire planet in different ways, factors such as urbanization, population and economic growth increase the environmental deterioration. Also, this deterioration affects not only our planet but also people, plants, animals, and other kind of organisms, even microorganisms. As mentioned, the root cause of the deterioration are the actions taken by human beings, for that reason young people should be educated on the subject, hence they would be able to help solving this issue. Nowadays, there are different ways to educate the young population in regards to our environment protection, techniques such as: greenhouse environments, educational system and foundations or organizations.
First, the main education starts at home, not at school, hence parents should educate their children on how to care for the environment. According to Ramchandra Acharya in her article Role of Youth for a Cleaner and Greener Environment: ‘’Applying the greening knowledge at home, can help to market city, a greener city.’’ Which, its true by parents teaching their children how to start a greenhouse environment, they will learn this lifestyle and they will apply it for the rest of their lives, in every place they visit. Also, Ramchandra Acharya mentioned: ‘’ Giving away unwanted or unusable materials to free service organizations is a better way to start going green.’’ There are key steps such as recycling and reusing, by doing this, children will learn that almost every object will have another objective, and not finishing in the trash. Consequently, from early ages, children will be educated on environmental saving, even before going to school.
Second, another important line of education for young people its school, it is a place where they spend an important amount of their time, and schools can also educate on green activities. UNESCO, pointed out a program specifically used in kindergartens, where concluded: ‘’ Outdoor activities among preschoolers are usually a great success’’. Also, on the same program, they found out that: ‘’ The quality of the surrounding environment represents a partnership between the kindergarten, school and the local community to achieve common objectives, such as environmental and social development and the environmental consciousness of citizens for a sustainable society’’ Hence, children are not only learning at school, they are also educating their communities about being green.
Third, organization investments are another main source to educate young people on saving our environment. After an investigation, in 2014 Lawson foundation concluded: ‘’ This triggered an interest in exploring the interdependence of healthy human development and a sustainable environment and led to a decision by the Foundation to support leadership and development opportunities for adolescents and emerging adults within an environmental context’’ After this investigation, they declared: ‘’ Studies also show that youth believe a healthy, sustainable environment should be a top priority for governments. However, this belief does not necessarily translate into action by youth to take leadership roles on environmental issues.’’ Hence, young people with leadership will be able to help the environment with a bigger impact.
Finally, it is safe to conclude that if we start teaching this three main points to our children, it will create consciousness on our environment and that the same requires a lot of care. Probably we will not be able to save the environment today, but little by little we can educate our youngest generations, protect the environment, and save it.
Sources
Acharya, R. (2013, June 25). Role of Youth for A Cleaner and Greener Environment. Retrieved October 6, 2020, from https://ypard.net/2013-june-25/role-youth-cleaner-and-greener-environment
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