As time has progressed, there have been important shifts in both our environment, and our practices to promote sustainability. As people today are becoming more conscious of the environment due to the widespread worry of global warming, an influx of sustainable thinking has emerged. Although this is ultimately a great thing, I think it is necessary to increase awareness even further about this topic, to our younger generations specifically. Many young people are informed about both the environment and sustainability, but few take the time to go out of their way to contribute to the bettering of their surroundings. Based on my own personal experiences as a high school student, I have witnessed it to be a difficult task for other students to recycle their paper scraps, or reuse a plastic water bottle. They are aware that there is an option to help reduce waste, but they choose to avoid it. In order to encourage students and young people to make larger sustainable choices, like repurposing furniture pieces, or recycling old materials, it is critical that sustainable practices are seen in their eyes as a necessity.
A lot of the time, teens avoid doing certain things if they see no purpose or benefit for themselves, which is why they may not care about taking the steps that are needed to help better our world. I believe a way to change this and increase youth participation in deconstruction and sustainability would first be communicating more directly through social media, which serves as one of the main ways teens get their information and news. Because of this, spreading more awareness across all platforms like TikTok and Instagram could be very influential. On these platforms, engaging content could persuade teens to think more about the environment. For example, short but helpful videos on how to refurbish old furniture, or tutorials on how to compost in their own backyards.
In addition, another tactic that could be used on socials is informing students on a variety of sustainability apps. There are multiple apps available to download which reward users with digital currency for making green choices. As stated previously, teens often need a reason to act, and with the knowledge that they would get awarded for recycling, I think a lot of changes would happen within our communities very quickly. I personally care very deeply for our environment, which is why I believe communicating about it to the younger generation is the smartest way to make a change. We are the future and the planet’s health rests in our hands, which is why I hope some ideas like this could be used globally to increase teen and child participation in sustaining the environment.
