Research Paper Final Draft
Algeo Rosario
Jim Henry
ENG 100
11 November 2015
Meta-Commentary
Aim
My aim is to show how technology has evolved, and how attitudes have changed towards sustainability. The millennial generation has grown up with the constant advances in technology over the past decades. With that technology came different innovations to help fix sustainability. And with technology, it helped people become more educated about the topic of sustainability. I want to inform people that millennials do have a positive attitude about sustainability and that technology has advanced to where it can help all of the Earth’s environmental problems.
Authorship
I am an undecided major, however, I have two majors in mind. One is Information Computer Sciences and the other is Journalism. For this paper I wanted to see how I could combine the two in some sort of way. I took a look at social aspects of technology and how it’s shaping sustainability. I also looked at different innovations scientists have made using technology. Research-wise, it’s more of a challenge for me because I really do have to look for scholarly sources and judge credibility. It took me hours on end to find the relevant sources I wanted. Citing sources wasn’t that much of a challenge because I’m very experienced with in-text citations and MLA format throughout grade school.
I feel as if, the more I wrote the research paper the more ideas grew. At some point I gained writer’s block and didn’t know what ideas I could add on. I felt that most of the time I was repeating myself. However, finding more sources using some of the resources I already have it became more easier from then on.
Audience
I hope this paper gets to millennials and past generations. I want to inform them that technology is in fact helping us learn more about sustainability and ways to improve the environment. All generations should learn what is going on in the environment and educate themselves into how we can help.
Algeo Rosario
Jim Henry
ENG 100
16 November 2015
The Millenial Generation: Using Our Technological Knowledge to Boost Intergenerational Efforts in Sustainability
Introduction
“Apathetic,” “politically disengaged,” “ungrateful” are some terms that describe the Millennial Generation. Some think the millennials do not care about the issue of the Anthropocene Epoch. However, while these ideals are constructed by older generations, this isn’t the case. While the millennial generation is growing throughout this decade, so are advancements in technology and media, and the positive attitudes younger generations have towards the idea of sustainability. With many domains such as the internet and social media many millennials learn more about environmental issues and the Anthropocene Epoch. As time keeps moving forward, so are our generations and technology. It is our job as a world to look towards the future of sustainability by figuring out what millennials care about, to see how technology can help the environment, and find ways for different generations to come together and fix the Anthropocene Epoch.
Millennial Attitudes
The millennial generation or Generation Y are children born approximately between the 1980’s and 2000’s, coming after the baby boomer generation. Millennials are generally judged for having materialistic characteristics and being less complex in relation towards topics such as the environment. This generation has grown with the advancements in technology as well as positive attitudes towards environmental sustainability. In regards to older generations such as the silent generation (born between 1920s and 1940s), baby boomer generation (born between 1940s and 1960s), and Generation X (born from 1960s to the early 1980s) many of them don’t have the same views about sustainability that Millennials do.
In “College Students Who Exhibit Pro-Sustainability Attitudes and Behaviors” researchers studied the attitudes Millennials have over the sustainability of the Earth and they studied Management Information Systems students. Researchers asked millennials about what they care about on a global scale whether it be politics or the environment. Millennials seemed to have a mindset of “protecting the environment and having a civic mindset (which) appear to be particular concerns of young Millennials” ( Valdes-Vasquez et al.). Since they studied MIS students they seemed to care more about poverty and helping people, with sustainability being a second concern. Concluding the research, the authors hoped that more education could engage more students in addressing sustainability issues.
While that research may have shown some concern, millennials have more progressive views of sustainability when compared older generations. Majority of millennials believe that they need to do their part in addressing environmental issues. According to a study conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, 79 percent of Millennials agree that it is “my responsibility to improve the environment” (Madland & Teixeira). Most millennials feel that dependency on fossil fuels needs to be decreased and that we need to invest in new technologies that give cars energy (Madland & Teixeira). According to a PSP youth survey, renewable energy, such as moving away from oil and gas to wind and solar powered devices, is also supported by Millennials. Millennials are also willing to pay high prices just so that the environment can be protected.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 71 percent of Millennials say we should focus on developing alternative energy sources (Pew Research Center). Generations such as the silent generation are more in favor of expanding oil, coal, and natural gas exploration rather than finding alternative solutions. As for climate change, more millennials think that the earth is warming in contrast to older generations. Generally, millennials believe that we should focus more on alternative solutions towards sustainability.
In another survey by The Glass Packaging Institute, millennials feel they have more at stake when it comes to matters such as the environment. Millennials are more likely to be concerned about environmental issues such as of climate change, saving resources, and burying waste in landfills. Millennials feel that they can make a difference to benefit the environment. Over 80 percent of Millennials surveyed say that being eco-friendly improves their own quality of life, and three-fourths of those millennials actively look for changes to become more greener in the household.
Millennials are generally more progressive in terms of the environment when compared to older generations. What older generations lacked seemed to be the presence of technology, more specifically the internet, which most millennials grew up with.
How Advancements in Technology and Internet Help Sustainability
A defining part of the millennial generation is that they grew up with the rapid advancements in technology in such short decades. Technologies such as the radio, television, internet give people gateways into learning more information about sustainability. Technology has given environmental activists outlets to “communicate, mobilize, and fundraise in ways that are cheaper and easier than ever” (Kim 1). Internet-related technologies have proven to be beneficial with environmental organizations by informing the public of environmental issues. In a 1999 survey, 76 environmental organizations in New Zealand and Australia all said that the Internet has made their organizations more successful (Leeder).
Many environmental activists have used technology to access, use, and create information to spread the word out to the world socially and politically (Kutner 1). By using sources such as the Internet many environmental organizations have gained much success because of it. Instead of having to advertise within a general population of an area, the Internet is available world-wide, so information is dispersed more quickly to large numbers of people. Internet-based technology such as e-mail provides a free method of communication with the public and other environmental organizations. E-mails provide a better ways of sending messages, instead of paying and wasting paper. Web pages also provide ways that activist groups can affordably show information about themselves and their topics to a larger audience.
One way that future generations can take responsibility for sustainability is through the media. In “Communication, Media and Environment: Towards Reconnecting Research on the Production, Content and Social Implications of Environmental Communication,” Anders Hansen discusses the importance of communication and it’s relationship with the environment through domains such as media. Over the last decades the environment has become a major issue and has been a key concern in political and public issues. For the last half century, advances in mass media and communication across outlets have given powerful ways to inform the public of the issues going on with the environment. Coverage of the environment, which involves journalism and mass media have grown more source based. “Indications from more recent research are that the balance of power in the relationship between sources and journalists has shifted increasingly in favor of sources” (Hansen 11). Media is not only informative, but becoming more credible. Environmental groups pressure media outlets look to actively manage and influence communication about sustainability (Hansen). News coverage has encompassed a broad number of environmental issues such as pollution, nuclear power, and global warming (Hansen). Media coverage of environmental issues has contributed to understanding why environmental issues are a concern for the public, what the environmental issues are, and what the solutions are. Visuals and photographs in news coverage of the environment give viewers a sense of what environmental issues look like, from natural disasters, to oil spills, chemical spills, deforestation, acidification, open-cast mining and despoliation (Hansen). Ultimately, media coverage influences public understanding and political decision-making. If media coverage continues to grow, then it informs the public about environmental issues. If we implement this use of media towards future generations then those people will gain more understanding of environmental concerns.
Millennials have access to many resources that let them find out about sustainability issues, whether it be from the internet or from media outlets such as the radio or television. It is encouraged that environmentalists use this strategy of media and web to further allocate information to the public. Informing population about environmental issues let’s younger generations, even older generations, become more educated about sustainability.
Looking Towards the Future
With technology advancing rapidly in the past decades, our generation, and those that follow, need to focus on the future of sustainability and the younger generations. While some may argue that “specific” generations were responsible for the Anthropocene Epoch, these arguments need to desist. Our environment is depleting and if generations don’t act, then more generations will sustain negative effects.
In “Our Rights and Obligations to Future Generations for the Environment,” Edith Brown Weiss talks about the links different generations have between nature and with other generations. Humans have the capacity to destroy a whole environment. If older generations keep hurting the environment, then those damaging effects will be passed on to future generations. “As members of the present generation, we hold the earth in trust for future generations. At the same time, we are beneficiaries entitled to use and benefit from it” (Weiss 199). Many generations of humans before the millennials have hurt the environment in one way or another.
“Environmental damage continues to accumulate, with devastating effects on human health, animal life, and entire ecosystems. We continue to use energy sources that are devastating to the planet when they are extracted, when they are burned, and when we dispose of their wastes. The environmental effects of these human activities are sometimes obvious, as when millions of gallons of oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico; but they are often hidden, such as the slow death of coral reefs. Whether hidden or obvious, however, we know that it takes time and effort to undo the damage. Cleaning up after human activities is not cheap or easy, but it is necessary” (Buchanan 339).
Humans are linked to natural systems. Life would not be possible without the infinite resources of the environment. Our negative actions towards the environment will have consequences and it’s our responsibility as a human race to care for the planet. Weiss links one generation to the next generation. As generations pass on so does the responsibility of taking care of the environment. This idea is called Intergenerational Equity (Weiss 200). The environment must be in no more worse condition than before and each generation is trusted with obligations and rights to take care of it. If the environment is better now, then future generations will have a more rich environment. If our generation has a bad environment now, then the future generations will have a poorly treated environment. As an example, nuclear and hazardous waste disposal, the loss of biological diversity, and ozone depletion will have negative effects on the distant generations if we don’t fix them (Weiss 202).
Our environment can be controlled by humans and it’s our part, both older and future generations to take care of it. All generations are linked and throughout time we have to share the same environment. Many Intergenerational Programs have been developed so that generations from the past and present can cooperate to help the environment (Steinig & Butts). These intergenerational programs can help sustainability by broadening awareness to families and communities, providing strong relationships between different generations, encouraging improvements in the environment, and taking action to help the environment (Steinig & Butts). Activities in these programs can include building little gardens to finding ways to fix the environment. A technologically advanced intergenerational program is the ComNET Intergenerational Team (Steinig & Butts). This program engages teenagers and older adults to use their computers and identify problems in their environment such as trash, and burned out street lights and so that Groundwork staff can fix it. Another Intergenerational Program is the Senior Environment Corps which is a summer program taught by 50 year old people to teach younger generations about watersheds, source pollution, streams and monitored water quality and engaging them in other field work at a neighboring stream (Steinig & Butts). Intergenerational programs can teach young and old the effects they have on the environment.
Instead of blaming each generation of how they “ruined” the environment, we should focus more on how we can protect the environment starting from the present and focusing on the bigger implications in the future. With technology that allows us to communicate more efficiently we can all come together and find better ways to improve the environment. Each generation is responsible for taking part in sustainability, whatever age we were born in.
Conclusion
Contrary to what some people think, Millennials are generally more progressive in terms of the Anthropocene Epoch. Millennials really do think that environmental problems are a big issue and need resolving. Technology has also advanced and aged along with Millennials. We can use technology such as social media and the internet to further grasp more communication and information about sustainability. It is our jobs as humans, to further expand the knowledge of sustainability towards all generations, old and young. We share the same environment and we all must do our part in protecting it for future generations.
Works Cited
Buchanan, Neil H. "What Kind of Environment Do We Owe Future Generations?" Lewis & Clark, 14 Apr. 2011. Web.
Hansen, Anderson. "Communication, Media and Environment: Towards Reconnecting Research on the Production, Content and Social Implications of Environmental Communication." International Communication Gazette 73.1-2 (2011): 7-25. Web.
Kutner, Larie A. "Environmental Activism and the Internet." Electronic Green Journal 1.12 (2000): n. pag. Web.
Leeder, Kim. "Technology and Communication in the Environmental Movement." EScholarship. Electronic Green Journal, 2007. Web
Madland, David, and Ruy Teixeira. "New Progressive America: The Millennial Generation." (n.d.): n. pag. Center for American Progress, May 2009. Web.
“The Millennials: A Generation Invested in Health and the Environment.” Rep. Arlington, VA: Glass Packaging Institute, 2014. Print.
Steinig, Sheri Y., and Donna M. Butts. "Generations Going Green: Intergenerational Programs Connecting Young and Old to Improve Our Environment." American Society of Aging. Journal of the American Society of Aging, 22 Apr. 2013. Web.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. ”The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election." RSS. Pew Research Center, 03 Nov. 2011. Web.
Weiss, Edith Brown. “Our Rights and Obligations to Future Generations for the Environment”. The American Journal of International Law 84.1 (1990): 198–207. Web.
Valdes-Vasquez, Rodolfo; Valdes-Vasquez, Rodolfo; Klotz, Leidy; Shealy, Tripp; Cribbs, Jennifer; Godwin, Allison; Lock, Robynne; Potvin, Geoff; Hazari, Zahra. "Just Like All The Rest? College Students Who Exhibit Pro-Sustainability Attitudes And Behaviors." Journal Of College Admission 225 (2014): 16-26. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.