Protect the environment

Environmental stewardship connects individual well-being to collective flourishing and intergenerational responsibility. Stern's value-belief-norm theory explains that pro-environmental behavior emerges when people hold biospheric values, believe that environmental conditions threaten things they value, and feel a personal obligation to act. Schwartz's theory of universal human values identifies universalism — concern for the welfare of all people and nature — as a fundamental value orientation associated with greater life satisfaction and prosocial behavior. Research on environmental identity shows that people who see themselves as connected to and responsible for the natural world experience greater meaning, purpose, and life coherence. Environmental action also produces measurable psychological benefits: studies on pro-environmental behavior consistently find that people who take action on environmental issues report higher well-being than those who are concerned but passive.

• 1
  You feel concerned about environmental issues but take no concrete personal action
• 2
  Your lifestyle habits — consumption, waste, energy use — contradict your stated environmental values
• 3
  You feel helpless about environmental problems and have disengaged from the issue entirely
• 4
  You have not educated yourself about the environmental impact of your daily choices

Consider these questions to understand where you stand: