According to a survey by yearbook staff, over 45 percent of surveyed students don’t know when Earth Day is. 31 percent of surveyed students reported that they didn’t pay attention to environmental issues.
In response to this staggering data, concerns about environmental awareness are rising. “I believe many of my peers lack the urgency needed to fight the battle of climate change,” junior Lin Lindstrom said. “I have seen people on the internet my age dismiss the extinction of critical species and the destruction of entire ecosystems as nothing because it doesn’t affect them directly.”
Growing up in the 21st century, today’s youth has been faced with the realities of climate change and environmental depletion for their entire lives. “Gen Z has grown up around environmental issues and with the effects of things like climate change being harder and harder to ignore,” AP Environmental Science teacher Nathan Bonham said.
Despite ever-growing environmental pressures, many teens find it easier to feign ignorance. “The concern I have is less of education and more of apathy, when faced with the monumental problems that threaten the survival of our very way of life it is more comfortable to turn a blind eye rather than deal with reality,” Bonham said.
While the future of the environment can be daunting, getting educated and taking action is possible.
“We do have the ability to change things,” Bonham said. Making steps in the right direction is the most important, and often hardest, part.”
Education in combination with other choices is key in taking action for Lindstrom.
“While shopping, I buy products from small companies and farms who do not contribute to mass production. I try to make my clothes last, rescue products I have finished using to avoid waste, and encourage my family and friends to recycle and dispose of waste responsibly,” Lindstrom said.
With education and activism, Gen Z can minimize their environmental impact.
“Any information I can give to someone to help them understand matters significantly,” Lindstrom said.
