14 DAY TRIAL // A new research conducted by specialists working with the Michigan State University argues that, when it comes to environmental protection and conservation projects, income fails to matter.
More precisely, the case is made that, although wealthy people can indeed make more significant contributions to fund raising campaigns aimed at safeguarding the natural world, those who were not all that blessed financially-wise are quite willing to give up on potential economic gain in favor of a healthier environment.
The study, recently published in the international journal AMBIO, focuses on China demographics and maintains that low-income households display this environmentally-friendly attitude because they are the ones first and foremost affected by air, water or soil pollution.
In order to reach this conclusion, the researchers used a questionnaire, which 5,000 urban citizens were asked to complete. Most of the questions referred to their daily routine in terms of green-oriented behavior.
Michigan State University's website reports that Xiaodong Chen, one of the specialists involved in carrying out this research, explained how, “Environmental harm could be more important than economic status in predicting environmental behavior.”
More precisely, “If people are affected by degraded environmental conditions, then even people with low economic status still may sacrifice some economic benefit in order to protect the environment.”
Apparently, once someone experiences threats to their health as a result of environmental degradation, simple decisions such as recycling or sorting the trash come naturally.
Moreover, it seems that Chinese citizens often engage in open protests against various environmental threats posed by industrial development and the like.
This only goes to show that the people here are well aware of the fact that safeguarding the environment is just a means to an end, and that the final goal is keeping a close eye on public health and the development of human society.
From where we stand, this study into human behavior is more than welcomed, mainly because, as researcher Jianguo Liu puts it, “The human and natural worlds are tightly coupled and we cannot protect the environment without empirical studies on how rich and poor people are understanding and reacting to the natural world around them.”