Readings on David Orr

David Orr discusses many different aspects of educating students and creating a connection between humans and sustainability in the few chapters of his book, that I read, “Ecological Literacy.”He makes several connections back to Greek mythology discussing how even back then there was some connection to sustainability because they didn’t have the technology we have today and to me I feel like that was a very relative strong point. Orr discusses that through time we have lost our connection with sustainability and stopped caring about the environment and the damage we are contributing to the Earth’s atmosphere by living our daily lives so carelessly. As our technology is increasing, we are in a way getting dumber because we are becoming addicted to these machines that are doing everything for us and nobody is learning how to go out and work for what you need in life. New generations of children aren’t going to learn how to go out and successfully plant crops and what chemicals you need to keep them growing successfully and in what seasons what plants will grow the biggest; or how to use minimal water and electricity so we aren’t putting so many bad emissions into the atmosphere. We are just learning how to run bigger and more modern televisions, and how to use Microsoft Office, which is a useful tool, but will never get us as far as being able to grow your own food properly so you can live. Orr also discusses the concept of ecological literacy. He defines ecological literacy as understanding your environment and being able to read environmental terms and relate to it and understand what is going on around us in the world. He talks about how much the government, and international companies, and corporations can do to contribute to sustainability but Orr also says that nobody is talking about what schools, colleges, and universities can do to make a difference. One of the main things we need in American and all over the world is an education. Although Orr believes in trying to teach children about ecological literacy, I have to disagree. As a child you won’t be able to retain the information required to learn about ecological literacy. Instead give the children fun environmental related projects and games to play that will teach them what is right and wrong. You learn the majority of what you remember for the rest of your life as a child, so teaching land ethics, as Aldo Leopold discussed, in a simpler way so the new generations can understand will create a whole new era of future environmental scientists and “green” children.