“Well, I really like sea turtles but our
pollution is killing all of them and there is nothing I can do about it.” –
Conversation with a six year old at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
In
the post “Honoring the Developmental Stages,” Sobel is cited saying that one of
the first steps to protecting the environment is to foster a love of nature in
children. Ways to foster this love are through the development of animal
friends, Imagination and free exploration and play. So what do you do
after you have succeeded in getting people to care about nature? The next
step is to give people options or manageable tasks, or conservation
messaged to complete.
These
conservation messages are so important because without them, museum guests are
in danger of suffering from ecophobia. The media tends to lean towards
the doom and gloom approach when trying to probe people into environmental
action. This can cause adverse reactions, especially in children who have
grown to love nature. People are often left feeling like the problem is
too big for them to have any effect, just like the six-year-old at Disney’s
Animal Kingdom.
Disney’s
Animal Programs has 7 Guidelines to Wildlife Conservation Action that their
educators go to when having conversations with guests out in the park just for
this reason. These manageable tasks allow people of all ages, especially
children, to feel like they have the ability to help and protect the things
they love so they are not left feeling the effects of ecophobia.
The
guidelines are:
1.)
Seek out information about conservation issues
2.)
Spread the word to others about the value of wildlife
3.)Look
for and purchase products that are friendly to the environment
4.)
Create habitats for wildlife in your backyard
5.)
Reduce, reuse, recycle and replenish
6.)
Choose your pet wisely
7.)
Support conservation organizations through contributions and volunteerism
These
messages can be applied to every age group in almost every situation. One
great way to do this is to use the idea of Place-Based education that was
mentioned in the last post. Use the wildlife in your area to inspire
conservation action. Nature is every where and even in a city, you can
find some great ways to connect museum visitors to their environment.
Here
is an example using watersheds in Washington DC:
1.)
Look up your local Watershed and learn more about it.
2.)
Spread the word to your friends about what you discovered.
3.)
Start using re-usable bags at the grocery store or purchase cleaning products
that are environmentally friendly after realizing that your waste often ends up
in the watershed.
4.)
Plant a tree at a local park or pick up trash when you see it on the ground.
5.)
Reduce, reuse, recycle and replenish
6.)
Did you know that outside cats are harmful to local animals, especially birds?
7.)
Did you know D.C. has food co-ops? Find one near you to see of you can
join to help reduce emissions from food having to be transported into the city.
They are also often organic, meaning pesticides will not run off into
your watershed. You could also volunteer for a river clean-up or start
your own organization to help spread the word about your local watershed.
I think you hit on something really important when you say "manageable tasks". As someone who grew up pretty ignorant of conservation issues, I remember wanting clear directions on how I can directly impact my environment or my own life, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think it would also be important to show our "small" efforts will lead to big changes. That would encourage visitors to participate even more.
--Audrey Ra