Cornell study correlates environmentalism with childhood exposure to wild places
Via treehugger and mongabay comes news of a Cornell University study that found that adult environmental behaviors correlated most strongly with exposure to wild natural places before age 11:
"Although domesticated nature activities—caring for plants and gardens—also have a positive relationship to adult environment attitudes, their effects aren't as strong as participating in such wild nature activities as camping, playing in the woods, hiking, walking, fishing and hunting," said [Nancy Wells, assistant professor of design and environmental analysis in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell]. "When children become truly engaged with the natural world at a young age, the experience is likely to stay with them in a powerful way—shaping their subsequent environmental path."
"Our study indicates that participating in wild nature activities before age 11 is a particularly potent pathway toward shaping both environmental attitudes and behaviors in adulthood," Wells added.
"Our study indicates that participating in wild nature activities before age 11 is a particularly potent pathway toward shaping both environmental attitudes and behaviors in adulthood," Wells added.