Personal Environmental History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Environmental History - Essay Example As I moved into my early teenage years, despite becoming further educated about the nature of pollution and environmental degradation, I became complacent in my relation to the earth such that it became even more estranged to my existence. During this period my friends and I would regularly litter and act with little disregard for nature. These actions were perhaps youthful arrogance personified. It was a general understanding of life and nature that it was plentiful and without end. As I matured I began to have and look back on the experiences I had with nature. As a child growing up my family and I would often go on camping trips where we would venture in the woods, set up a campsite, and enjoy the natural surroundings. I remember venturing down to the lake with my brother and attaching crickets to our fishing line and bringing in fish. As I grew older I remember visiting the Appalachian Trail and spending an entire weekend hiking a significant segment, and camping in the woods. I appreciated the meditative aspects that nature provided. The means of nature as a retreat from the development of the industrialized world and all its social problems, and nature’s ability to provide this respite. I read books such as Thoreau’s Walden and began to appreciate nature not as a stranger, but as a close friend.