Scoutmaster

Appreciating Nature Modifies Behavior and Shapes Attitudes

A recently published study from the University of Rochester asserts that Nature Makes Us More Caring

"Stopping to experience our natural surroundings can have social as well as personal benefits," says Richard Ryan, coauthor and professor of psychology, psychiatry and education at the University of Rochester. While the salubrious effects of nature are well documented, from increasing happiness and physical health to lowering stress, this study shows that the benefits extend to a person's values and actions. Exposure to natural as opposed to man-made environments leads people to value community and close relationships and to be more generous with money..."

Why should nature make us more charitable and concerned about others? ... nature helps to connect people to their authentic selves... our authentic selves are inherently communal because humans evolved in hunter and gatherer societies that depended on mutuality for survival.

... the richness and complexity of natural environments may encourage introspection and the lack of man-made structures provide a safe haven from the man-made pressures of society. "Nature in a way strips away the artifices of society that alienate us from one another,"

Incorporating parks and other representations of nature into urban environments may help build a stronger sense of community among residents... to the extent that our links with nature are disrupted, we may also lose some connection with each other... This alienation may help explain other research showing that urban as compared to rural dwellers show more reservation, indifference, and estrangement from others.

"We are influenced by our environment in ways that we are not aware of". Because of the hidden benefits of connecting with nature, people should take advantage of opportunities to get away from built environments and, when inside, they should surround themselves with plants, natural objects, and images of the natural world. "The more you appreciate nature, the more you can benefit,

These effects were detected when people were simply shown pictures of natural or urban environments or worked in labs with or without plants. Participants viewing pictures were encouraged to 'attend to their environment', to imagine textures smells and sounds represented in the pictures.

Imagine the effect of actually experiencing nature first hand by going camping for a weekend every month. 

The Footprint Chronicles

Patagonia makes some of the best outdoor clothing and gear available. I don't own much Patagonia because it is usually very expensive (although worth it).

I buy Patagonia when I can justify the expense in part because they are an environmentally sensitive manufacturer. Beyond direct environmental impact Patagonia factors social responsibility into the way they design and produce their products.

The Footprint Chronicles is an online record that allows customers to track the impact of selected Patagonia products from 'design through delivery'. We don't often consider the lasting environmental and social effects (the 'footprint') of what we buy. For example producing a Patagonia men's tee shirt;

• requires the energy to burn a 18 Watt compact fluorescent for 11 days (24 hours a day).
• requires the materials and finished product are shipped 7840 miles
• creates 3.5 pounds of CO2 (eight times the weight of the shirt)
• produces six ounces of waste (equivalent to the weight of the shirt itself.)

This seems like an awfully big footprint to me and does not factor in the water and fuel used to produce the fiber (organic cotton) dyes, inks etc. Even the relatively minor decision to buy a tee shirt has some really amazingly far-flung consequences. I have to give Patagonia credit for what looks like brutally honest reporting and wonder if I can find a tee shirt with a smaller footprint out there somewhere.

Scouting encourages us to consider our impact on the environment and consider the impact we have when camping. Calculating the total effect of our decisions as consumers has a similar and probably more significant role to play in preserving the environment and rings true as a basic Scouting value.