Andrew Revkin Response

I cannot stand it when people assume that everyone from my generation was “born with a (computer) mouse in their hand.” This is certainly not the case or at least not with me. I like to believe that most of us actually grew up climbing trees and running around outside as children. I’m starting to doubt it though. For me it is always disheartening to hear about and witness everything becoming more mechanized and technological.

Sure, Email and cell phones bring us together. But why do we seem to be becoming increasingly out of touch with what is around us? We so often walk around with our cell phones or our iPod headphones attached to our ears that we hardly notice our surroundings anymore. I try to be optimistic, but I see our ways of receiving information becoming even more hi-tech than they are already, and the same will come to how we receive information about environmental issues.

In this rapidly globalizing world, and with technological advances helping to transmit information, people will be able to learn about the controversy surrounding Three Gorges Dam in China and the rapid and high-polluting industrialization in India. However, will people remember to look into their own backyard? As environmentalists stress the need to “act locally” – buy from local farmers, support local businesses, etc. – I hope people start to communicate information a little more locally as well. It would be nice to see a revival of traditional forms of communication such as word-of-mouth, because I believe that people won’t start really caring about nature and the environment until they are instilled with appreciation for the area around them.