{"id":4978,"date":"2009-09-17T04:13:36","date_gmt":"2009-09-17T10:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=4978"},"modified":"2009-09-17T04:13:36","modified_gmt":"2009-09-17T10:13:36","slug":"environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nEnvironmental care is a practical, worldly thing. But it is also a step in one’s personal evolution. On the one hand, it is a practical response to the environmental problems we are facing. It is also a foresighted response to the issues (economic and environmental) that we might be facing if we don’t think more about the environment we live in and rely on. But, on the other hand, it is much more than that.<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

[social_buttons]<\/p>\n

WHO DO YOU TREAT LIKE A NEIGHBOR?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read a book in one of my sociology classes in college titled Who Is My Neighbor?: Social Affinity in a Modern World<\/a><\/em>. The results and conclusions of the book still stick with me today. Basically, through interviews, the author decided that people could be classified into different categories based on how far their care for others extended. For example, if I remember this all correctly, the first category included people who just basically cared about themselves and their family. Next were people who cared about their community or region, followed by people who felt a great care for and responsibility to their country. Last in the group were people who cared about all people in the world. The author also went on to break down the concept of social affinity (or what I just summarized as “care”) — the different aspects of it are social consciousness, sentiment, and action, according to the author.<\/p>\n

I would say that the spectrum layed out in that book could go one ring further to include people who care for all living things, all life.<\/p>\n

In fact, the spectrum layed out by the author was displayed in a sort of worldly, practical way, but it is actually similar to a variation presented in a more spiritual way by various religions and spirtual paths as well. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“CARE FOR ALL THINGS” IN SPIRITUAL PATHS AND RELIGIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buddhism<\/strong> talks about an “awakening<\/strong>” and sometimes even a series of awakenings leading one further and further into a spiritual life. The end goal is a sort of ultimate understanding and love. <\/p>\n

Christianity<\/strong> talks about “coming to Christ<\/strong>” in a positive since that often means coming to a greater understanding and becoming a better human being, as well as believing in Christ as your savior. As part of this, the Bible says to “love thy neighbor as theyself<\/a>,” to care for the feelings of all other people, and to care for and protect all animals<\/a> and nature<\/a>. Basically, love and care for others, for all of life. <\/p>\n

Taoism<\/strong> talks about becoming in touch with the Tao, the essence of all beings and of all Creation. “All things arise from Tao<\/a>,” as the Tao Te Ching<\/a><\/em> states. “Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao. It springs into existence, unconscious, perfect, free, takes on a physical body, lets circumstances complete it.<\/a>” Being in touch with the Tao means being in touch with all of life and caring for it. <\/p>\n

In harmony with the Way,
\nthe sky is clear and spacious,
\nthe earth is solid and full,
\nall creatures flourish together,
\ncontent with the way they are,
\nendlessly repeating themselves,
\nendlessly renewed.<\/p>\n

When man abandons the Way,
\nthe sky becomes filthy,
\nthe earth becomes depleted,
\nthe equilibrium crumbles,
\ncreatures become extinct.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other religions and spiritual paths talk about coming to deeper understanding and care in their own languages as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ENVIRONMENTALISM AS A GREATER CARE FOR LIFE & A STEP IN INDIVIDUAL EVOLUTION<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Environmentalism, therefore, can be about ensuring we, our families, and other people we care about or who are close to us remain safe<\/a> and live with a high standard of life. At its narrowest, this environmentalism is called NIMBYISM (Not In My Back Yard syndrome). Environmentalism can also be a greater concern (or sentiment) for all humanity, or on a deeper level, for all the living animals and even plants in the world. This can be a “negative” caring — worry — or a pure, open caring — one that is present and just as abundant in all situations, not just in the face of trouble<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Another possibility is to be nurturing and caring at all times. This would be the last ring on the spectrum — a nurturing and caring for all of life and the environment in any situation we are in. In any way we can, putting more positivity, more love, into others.<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is not to say that we should not act in response to the many practical problems we see in the world — work to address them. This piece is just to encourage us all (myself included) to look at the different layers of our environmentalism, to see how deep it goes, and to bring environmentalism outside of the spectrum of a solely physical phenomenon.<\/p>\n

May we all be deeper<\/strong> environmentalists!!<\/p>\n

For more articles like this, read:
\n1) Care and the Environment: A Proposition for Further Personal Growth<\/strong><\/a>
\n2) Environmental Degradation and the Self: The Link between the Two<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Image Credit 1: Cesar R. via flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/p>\n

Image Credit 2: Grant MacDonald via flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/p>\n

Image Credit 3: h.koppdelaney via flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Environmental care is a practical, worldly thing. But it is also a step in one’s personal evolution. On the one hand, it is a practical response to the environmental problems [ … ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":17621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24,21],"tags":[507,3950,2651,3951,397,360,3952,892,3953,3954],"yoast_head":"\nEnvironmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution • Sustainablog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution • Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Environmental care is a practical, worldly thing. But it is also a step in one’s personal evolution. On the one hand, it is a practical response to the environmental problems [ … ]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/nature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"zshahan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"zshahan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"zshahan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/560e40f37a2a251eb566cefaa59be0c4\"},\"headline\":\"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\"},\"wordCount\":872,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Buddhism\",\"Buddhist\",\"care\",\"Christian\",\"Christianity\",\"environmentalism\",\"Personal Evolution\",\"Personal Sustainability\",\"Tao\",\"Taoism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\",\"Living\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\",\"name\":\"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution • Sustainablog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"description\":\"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":142,\"caption\":\"Sustainablog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/560e40f37a2a251eb566cefaa59be0c4\",\"name\":\"zshahan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3af65bafd82ab5c33087e1e70a5d2e62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3af65bafd82ab5c33087e1e70a5d2e62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"zshahan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/zshahan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution • Sustainablog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution • Sustainablog","og_description":"Environmental care is a practical, worldly thing. But it is also a step in one’s personal evolution. On the one hand, it is a practical response to the environmental problems [ … ]","og_url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/","og_site_name":"Sustainablog","article_published_time":"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":336,"height":336,"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/nature.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"zshahan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"zshahan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/"},"author":{"name":"zshahan","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/560e40f37a2a251eb566cefaa59be0c4"},"headline":"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution","datePublished":"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00","dateModified":"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/"},"wordCount":872,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["Buddhism","Buddhist","care","Christian","Christianity","environmentalism","Personal Evolution","Personal Sustainability","Tao","Taoism"],"articleSection":["Culture","Living","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/","name":"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution • Sustainablog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00","dateModified":"2009-09-17T10:13:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/environmentalism-as-a-step-in-individual-evolution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","name":"Sustainablog","description":"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization","name":"Sustainablog","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","width":200,"height":142,"caption":"Sustainablog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/560e40f37a2a251eb566cefaa59be0c4","name":"zshahan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3af65bafd82ab5c33087e1e70a5d2e62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3af65bafd82ab5c33087e1e70a5d2e62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"zshahan"},"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/zshahan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}