[caption id=”attachment_151504″ align=”aligncenter” width=”2000″](Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
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Of any age group, Millennials certainly have said and shown that they care about the environment. Interestingly enough, however, they don’t want to be called an “environmentalist.”
Bentley University highlights how Millennials are known as “Generation Generosity,” and that 88 percent of them want to “work for a company that’s socially responsible and ethical.” And some of a focus they have on social work and volunteering does have a focus on ecological efforts.
Millennials are also big on sustainability efforts, whether this comes from themselves or from tech companies.
Even more telling is a recent survey Bentley points to:
Those are noteworthy results which set Millennials apart from other age groups, particularly seniors. And yet Millennials are also set apart from seniors on the environment in other ways.
A Pew Research Center study found that 32 percent of Millennials say “an environmentalist” is a term that describes them very well, while 44 percent of the Silent generation say the same.
According to NPR, young people worry that the term has become “corrupted,” “politicized,” “polarizing,” and “outdated.”
NPR makes a good point. Right or wrong, people have certain associations and expectations when it comes to labels. And sometimes, that’s what the issue ends up being about. Think of all the attention surrounding feminists.
The turn off from being called an environmentalist need not be discouraging. Data shows that Millennials are certainly doing their part for the environment. It just goes to show that labels don’t mean everything.
