It means doing what each of us can, as much as we can, to protect our environment and make planet Earth a better place to live. If our planet is to survive, each of us must understand as much as possible about how we can protect our environment. Becoming an environmental citizen means making a personal commitment to learning more about the environment and to taking responsible environmental action. Environmental citizenship encourages people, communities and organisations to think about the environmental rights and responsibilities we all have as residents of planet Earth.
Environmental citizenship means caring for the Earth and caring for Canada.
The idea of environmental citizenship is that each and every one of us is a member of a larger community of living things, whose home is the biosphere. As Canadians, it is our responsibility to care for this home. It is also in our best interests. The water, air and land, which support life on planet Earth, the biosphere, have all been here since the beginning and are all essential to our survival. As citizens of planet Earth, we do not have a good history of managing our environment well.