What Is Environmentalism — And Why Does It Matter?
Written by Keith Nickolaus, CRBA Writers Team
In this post we celebrate Earth Month’s 55th birthday by commemorating what environmentalism is about, why it’s a project we can all get behind, and why it matters (so much). And, with climate change leading to more and more frequent and intense disasters and disruptions to health, agriculture, and more, it’s as good a time as ever to show up to work for the planet if you haven’t taken that step yet, or to renew your interest and commitments to the work! Our planet and our kids’ futures depend on us.
"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
— Native American Proverb
Walk into any grocery store, scroll through the news, or chat with a teenager, and you’re bound to encounter some mention of climate change, biodiversity loss, or going “green.” But what do we really mean when we talk about environmentalism — and why should it matter to everyone?
At its core, environmentalism is a belief and a movement, it’s part sentiment, part philosophy and spirituality, and definitely informed by science and understood in unique ways thank to science.
Central to environmentalism is the belief that the natural world matters and has inherent value — the way each one of us does — and that humans — in their actions, policies, laws, material activities, and shared wisdom — have a responsibility to preserve, restore, and protect it.
Because our health is impacted by pollution — the poisoning of water, air, and land with toxins and heavy metals from mining and industrial production — environmentalism is also closely tied to the health of human communities and the welfare and survival of living creatures and organisms in the natural world.
This means the natural environment that surrounds us — and therefore environmentalism — isn’t really something that just scientists, policy wonks, or activists “do” or need to speak up for. It’s really a job for everyone — or at least for anyone who enjoys breathing fresh air, drinking clean water, walking through a park, or just letting themselves be moved by looking up into the heavens on a clear, starry night.
Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash
A Movement Rooted in Urgency and Reverence
Environmentalism as a formal movement isn’t an ideology, it’s a response to a crisis.
It arose as a practical and urgent necessity, especially with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, and in response to further harm to the environment from rapid urbanization and rising population growth.
“Before 1970, a factory could spew black clouds of toxic smoke into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into a nearby stream, and that was perfectly legal. They could not be taken to court to stop it. How was that possible? Because there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act. There were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.”
As humans expand their industrial footprints and rates of material consumption, the threats to the environment, to health, to the protection of wild landscapes and wildlife, and to the climate as we’ve known it to be for most of human history, are growing more severe. The crisis is deepening and environmentalism is a response to these existential threats.
Over time the environmental movement grew into a global force — uniting people across cultures and continents with the shared goal of protecting the planet that sustains us all.
And, as people felt or learned about the full toll human activity was taking on the environment, they also discovered how unevenly the spoils from the extractive, industrial exploitation of natural resources were distributed. Some communities were particularly polluted and impoverished, while others flourished, at least in terms of enjoying cleaner air and water and greater material prosperity.
These social realities sparked a new area of environmental work called environmental justice. Today, as climate change impacts different communities and nations much more than others, due to wealth inequities or geographical fate, people are also engaging in the work of climate justice.
But environmentalism isn’t just about finding a balance between industrialization, human activity, and consumption on the one hand, and the conservation or preservation of nature on the other.
Environmentalism is also about awe and reverence — about responding to the wonder that natural beauties and wild landscapes inspire by creating a broad and comprehensive approach to defending nature’s gifts to us as a shared and timeless treasure, a priceless inheritance with sacred or divine dimensions.
As the feisty and uncompromising 20th-century American environmentalist Edward Abbey wrote,
“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth... the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see.”
This reverence for nature runs deep in the environmental tradition.
Whether it’s preserving wild spaces, keeping ecosystems intact, or respecting the unseen connections between species… environmentalism calls on us to recognize the earth not just as a resource — but as a home filled with wonder, one deserving reverence, one worth defending, for its intrinsic value, and for our welfare and prosperity as well.
Photo by Yuheng Mei on Unsplash
The Science Behind the Sentiment
While nature can inspire paintings, poetry, and even reverence for a divine dimension underlying our existence and the earth that nurtures us, environmentalism isn’t just spiritual and philosophical — it’s also probed and understood in unique ways through the lens of science, not just biology and chemistry, of course, but also ecology, the study of how living things interact with each other and their surroundings.
Ecologists remind us that everything in nature is connected.
A healthy forest isn’t just a bunch of trees — it’s a living network of soil microbes, insects, birds, fungi, mammals, rainfall patterns, and more.
When one part of that system is disrupted by human activity or encroachments — by deforestation, pollution, or climate change— the entire ecosystem can suffer.
Rachel Carson, an American scientist and pioneering environmentalist from the 1960s, who ignited the modern environmental movement with her groundbreaking book Silent Spring, summed up the core insight of ecology in five simple words:
“In nature nothing exists alone.”
From bees pollinating crops to wetlands preventing floods, nature and the natural world offer amazing resources and that are self-renewing and self-balancing through biological and chemical processes and interactions that reveal wondrous interwoven designs and synergies.
Despite all nature reveals and offers, it can be easy to take nature for granted, especially as more and more of us move into urban settings. As city dwellers, our senses can be dulled. We lose sight of the marvelous ecosystems we depend on, collectively, for clean air, abundant water, and predictable climate patterns.
Beyond the walls of our wood, plaster, and brick dwellings and asphalt highways, however, is a fascinating world we rely on for survival — a natural world that provides an incredible, but not necessarily inexhaustible, wealth of resources (water for crops, fish, and wildlife, trees for shade, and so much more).
It should be evident…
how much we rely on these ecosystems and natural resources, and…
the urgent reasons why we should get behind meaningful efforts to protect, steward, restore, and preserve them.
Environmentalism Today: Many Tribes and Viewpoints, One Earth
It’s important to remember that environmentalism is not—and should not be—partisan. Clean air, safe water, and a stable climate are not political talking points. They are fundamentals of life, and protecting them should unite us around a common heritage and inheritance, not divide us.
In today’s world, environmental issues can feel overwhelming: global warming, plastic pollution, habitat loss, species extinction. But environmentalism offers a hopeful path forward — as an urgent and multifaceted human project inspiring connection, action, and stewardship.
Environmentalism can take many forms: joining a beach cleanup, planting a tree, supporting sustainable businesses, voting for leaders who prioritize the environment, helping others understand which innovations reduce pollution, or simply learning more.
It doesn’t require any specific vocation or political orientation — just participation.
Why It Matters
The stakes are high, but so is the opportunity. Environmentalism isn’t about everything from saving polar bears or protecting faraway rainforests, to safeguarding our everyday health and quality of life, our food and water sources, our future, and our shared humanity.
It’s about leaving a livable world for our children — and for all species whose home is planet earth.
It’s also about honoring those dimensions of nature that inspire reverence, even as they defy our efforts, even those of scientists, to fully understand them.
As Rachel Carson once wrote:
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
Or, as the apostle Paul wrote, the created world that we see around us is one that offers us visible signs of an eternal and divine nature — signs “which have been clearly seen” by all people.
It’s worth remembering that the earth and its resources gave us and continue to give us life, not the other way around.
Therefore, is the earth ours to foul, plunder, and ravage with no restraints? Consider the sayings of native american elders whose cultures held nature in reverence and respect:
"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
— Julia Parker, Coast Miwok and Pomo Elder
"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys."
— Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way…
From carbon-fueled climate disasters, to over-fishing, to mass extinctions of organisms and living species, to toxic pollution… the consequences of ignoring our dependence on the earth is putting humanity on a path to a bleak future, but it really doesn’t have to be that way.
So whether you’re new to the idea or already deep into composting and community gardening, know this: environmentalism matters because the environment matters. And protecting it isn’t someone else’s job — it’s OUR job and we need to show up to work before it’s too late to get the job done!
Ready for More?
Want to know more about environmentalism, ways to join the work, or about everyday environmental heroes in our midst?
Check out the Climate Reality Bay Area blog pages for book reviews, insights into rising climate threats and new solutions, and more.
Then, be sure to hop over to our events pages or get yourself ready to attend the 2025 SF Climate Week (April 19-27) — both are great ways to get connected and join others in the project of a lifetime — giving our planet a new lease on life for your generation and for generations to come.