Wondering about what the next generation will be like becomes an increasingly popular pastime for this generation the older we get. You can sense the torch slowly being passed with each day.

 

As a journalist I´m seeing it with publishing, as I wrote in the last issue. I see the younger generation with a natural comfort level with new technology and new means of delivering information that I´ll never have, because I didn´t grow up with it. In the same way, the generation coming of age now will have its own unique take on managing the environment.

 

The Nature Conservancy recently came out with a study that American families are spending more time indoors with television, video games and the Internet than in the outdoors. The group expressed concern about what this means for the future of conservation. It cited another study that per capita visits to U.S. national parks has been declining since 1987. If kids aren´t learning to appreciate the outdoors on their own, by playing in the woods and climbing trees, the group fears, it can´t bode well for a fundamental concern for the environment when they´re in the position to really have an impact on it.

 

And that attitude logically would apply to other types of environmental management. There´s a perception sometimes that today´s young crowd is more environmentally conscious, but it also could be a vocal and visible minority. When all´s said and done, will they work to reduce global warming or instead opt for SUVs -- which are plenty popular with youth now.

 

Attitudes do tend to change with age, as people become more invested in the world around them. Studies have shown that the under-30 age group traditionally have the lowest recycling rates, while seniors have the highest. Then again, this older generation grew up during The Depression and World War II, and developed a strong sense of the value of resources -- because they didn´t have the luxury of taking them for granted.

 

Today´s kids won´t remotely grow up with the same childhood values. Short of taking away the Xboxes and unplugging the computer, we can only hope that tomorrow´s generation will find their own way to responsible environmental management.

 

Allan Gerlat is editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.

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