What Got Me Excited About Conservation
By: Rebecca Scott
Tags: Conservation, Water Pollution

Spoiler it’s not what most people expect.

Photo by Tsaiwen Hsu on Unsplash

What’s the common reason why someone says they are interested in environmental topics? It’s more than likely because for an emotional reason (save the panda bears). Or the reason is for future generations (save the trees).

Why am I interested in conservation? It’s more than just emotional. There’s another reason that got me excited about environmental management and conservation. This reason was strong enough for me that I earned three university degrees in environmental management and conservation.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

We only have one planet to live on. Similar to the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Earth is perfectly placed in our solar system. Any closer to the Sun and it will be too hot for life. Any further away and it would be too cold. We have seasons because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis.

Every season is connected to the one before it and after it. Each season has a part in the life-cycles of every plant and animal. Everything is connected from small to global levels.

The realization that everything is connected is what got me interested in environmental management and conservation. I’m not a tree-hugger. We need development, but we also need natural systems and spaces. Invaluable eco-system services come from nature for free to benefit us.

Think about the basic water cycle. Water evaporates and forms clouds. Eventually, clouds release the water as precipitation. The water is accumulated on Earth. And it all starts again. It is more complex than that, but every part is essential no matter what level of detail you look at it.

Everything gets more interesting and complex when you throw humans into natural cycles.

Think about our use of water.

We need water for virtually everything. Yet we treat water like a high school bully treats the nerd.

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

Water does our homework for us and gives us their lunch. Water cleans us; moves us and our things; grows our food; cooks our food; provides habitat for our food; cools us down and warms us up.

Occasionally water gets revenge: floods, droughts, severe storms.

Millions of people worldwide rely on oceans, lakes and rivers for food and drinking water. Millions of people rely on natural coastal and marine ecosystems like salt-water marshes, sand dunes, coral reefs, and mangrove forests to protect their homes from storms. We show our gratitude by dumping our waste into it.

Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

Everything in life is in cycles and patterns. For me, environmental management and conservation are not about taming natural systems to our advantage without concern of consequences. It’s about recognizing the results of our actions and not ignoring them. We need these systems and everything is connected. There is a lot of evidence of our impacts on water. We know what the causes are and some of the solutions. But we don’t want to change our habits even though we know they are causing harm.

We all have a choice:

(1) Say it’s not my problem and do nothing.

(2) Say that this is not right and do something no matter how insignificant it might feel.

What got me excited about environmental management and conservation is the realizing everything is connected and I have the ability to influence the cycle to be better for all; even if it is small like remembering to bring my water bottle.

Maybe it is time we grow up and stop treating water like the high school nerd.