By Susan Clayton
Discussions about the natural world often include some element of negativity. People worry about the sacrifices that may be expected (carbon taxes, shorter showers, etc.) in order to protect it. Groups that offer competing perspectives on the state of the environment question each other's motives and intelligence. A triad of ignorance surrounds our understanding of environmental threats: lack of information, confusion about how information should be interpreted and deliberate attempts at misinformation leave people exhausted and inclined to move on to a different topic. But on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we should remember what lies at the core of this event -- people love nature. Responses to national surveys, purchasing choices, and recreational preferences all show this -- we want to have houses near nature, we want to vacation in scenic natural settings, we even buy products that claim to be more natural.
There's a good reason for this. A growing body of psychological research shows that nature can be good for us. Natural settings, compared to built environments, relax us, restore our depleted mental resources and promote health and well-being. People even benefit from having a view of nature from their offices (greater levels of concentration), their hospital rooms (faster recovery) and out the windows of their cars (reduced stress). City dwellers who have access to nature -- through urban parks -- live longer than those who don't. But nature is not like medicine or exercise, something to utilize because it's good for you. Nature is fascinating. Researchers are just beginning to systematically explore the ways in which people make nature a part of their social worlds. Nature means family camping trips in which shared experiences of long hikes, bug bites and dramatic vistas create memories that become part of family history. It means picnics and outdoor games in which the standard social hierarchy is eliminated and the youngest participants can discover the best way across the creek. It means community parks where people have a chance to see their neighbors and develop a sense of shared identity, and visits to the zoo where children and even adults draw together in admiration over a clouded leopard, nervous fascination over a boa constrictor and recognition of similarity with a chimpanzee.
One of the most striking things about the natural world is its ability to evoke powerful and authentic emotions in a population we think of as increasingly cynical. For more than 100 years, visitors to American national parks have described their experiences as awe-inspiring, humbling, even transcendent -- an opportunity to gain perspective on themselves and their place in the universe. My own research in zoos has found children hopping up and down in excitement, adults thrilled by an animal that acknowledges them, jaded adolescents using words like "beautiful" and "awesome." Parents deliberately use these encounters with animals and nature to teach fundamental lessons about caring, responsibility and morality. Without natural places to enjoy, and wild animals to admire, we'd lose experiences that are important to our individual development and social connections. So on Earth Day, let's stop thinking about protecting the environment as an unpleasant and unwanted obligation. Let's go outside and celebrate the nature that forms such a significant part of our lives.
Susan Clayton is professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster. She is the co-author (with Gene Myers) of "Conservation Psychology: Understanding and promoting human care for nature."