Rediscover the earth through the

eyes of a child

Story and photo by Priscilla N. Shartle

When is the right time to begin educating a child about taking care of our planet?

The question never occurred to me until I started recycling again. I’d gotten out of the habit, and then Signal Mountain began using the big green cans that can be lifted by the “arm” of a truck and dumped. The letter explaining the new service included notice that pick-up would now be only one day a week instead of two; it encouraged homeowners to recycle.

I decided to start small and recycle once a week, early on Saturday morning. To my surprise, the recycle center on the mountain was empty with the exception of one man and his small child, barely old enough to walk. Sometimes she followed her father, carrying an empty milk jug or holding a bag of mixed paper. Other times she sat on his shoulders as they went from bin to bin, tossing in the recyclables. All the while he was talking to her, explaining the importance of putting this color glass in this bin or the difference between aluminum and tin cans. The information seemed way over her head, but she listened and followed his example, and together they walked the maze of bins. To me, the scene seemed almost spiritual.

Environmental education isn’t a new concept. Credit for the contemporary environmental (or “green”) movement is given to Rachel Carson, named by Time magazine as one of the 20th century’s 100 most influential people. She was a writer, scientist and ecologist who became concerned by the health threat posed by the chemicals used in agriculture after World War II.  According to author Linda Lear, who reports on the website RachelCarson.org, Carson stood up to the agriculture industry and began to focus her writings and attention on environmental education. One such article was “Help Your Child to Wonder,” written in 1956. Today this article is reprinted in the book  The Sense of Wonder, which critics have called a “gift for generations to come” and “a book to be treasured for years.” It was Carson’s philosophy that inspiring our children to appreciate the beauty of the natural world is the first step in teaching them to take care of the earth.

It’s no coincidence that the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency by the Nixon administration in 1970 came soon after the publication of Carson’s best-known book, Silent Spring.  A few months after the EPA bill was signed, the first Earth Day was celebrated, and it is still recognized by schools throughout the country. Now in Chattanooga and other communities, a number of schools have environmental or “eco” clubs.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences teaches kids that the “Four Rs” of conservation—reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink—are great ways to eliminate waste and protect the environment.

Now to the question at hand: When is the right time to begin educating a child about taking care of our planet? The answer: It is never too early. And one way to begin is to heed the advice of Rachel Carson: “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”