Anthony Peters
Sep 5, 2018 · 3 min read

What Does “Environment” Mean to You?

Who you are as a person today did not occur overnight. There are tons of factors that made you and everyone their own separate person such as childhood experiences, how you were raised, what you were taught growing up, etc. Anything from what you like to eat, favorite color, favorite sport was all influenced from the world around you. While some think you can’t change as an adult, that is not true. Adults are more solidified people with regards to their beliefs and thoughts but can still be influenced from life experiences and the environment around them. Environmental beliefs are shaped this exact same way. This is why people around the world hear the word environment and have a unique picture inside their head of what “environment” is. This becomes our environmental belief system.

However, there is a difference between environmental beliefs and environmental attitudes. Many people assume this to be synonyms but that is false. “behavior” and “attitude” differ very slightly, but the difference is important to know. Attitude is best described as a good predictor of how a person will act. Due to “attitude” having a different meaning, the influences on attitude of a person is different than how a person’s behavior is influenced. The opinion of important people in your life have a chance of greatly changing your attitude towards an environmental topic. The reason for saying “important” when talking about people is because a random stranger has far less influence over you than a family member’s opinion that you respect. Another attitude influencer are the various messages you are bombarded with throughout a single day from the media, people, newspapers, commercials, etc. Due to different individuals have their own environmental attitudes and beliefs, we all view different environmental conflicts and issues differently. I will specifically talk about the environmental issues of plastic and water.

The issue of water shortage is very well known and can be considered common knowledge. This knowledge still does not change the way some of us think and use water. The average American uses 105 gallons per day while the average person in Mozambique uses 1 gallon a day. This stat alone shows that the attitude the average American has towards water is that is not a luxury and is just a normal item to have access to on a daily basis. In Mozambique, the attitude and ideology towards water is the opposite. The people there only use 1 gallon a day because water is a luxury. It is not something that everyone has easy access to. Just like water, plastic product waste is another environmental issue that is worldwide

Plastic is a global problem because of the effect it has on our plant. However, the contribution to the problem is made primarily from more developed countries. This is because more developed countries like America view plastics as a convenient way to carry around groceries, clothes, etc. We as a culture tend to forget or don’t realize the effect plastic waste has on the wildlife and environment around us. However, there are people in America that are very aware of this problem and fight it on a daily basis. There are other people that couldn’t care less. This difference is due to people having different environmental behaviors of attitudes. The person that cares about this cause could be someone that sees the ocean on a daily basis and knows first-hand how crucial it is to stop littering in the ocean.