Saving the Environment through Digital Media
I’m Jit Teo, a graduate student in the School of Communications and Information Science (SC&I) at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. I’m currently pursuing an MA in Communications because I have a deep and abiding interest in mediated communications. It is truly dazzling if we think about all the ways the internet has permeated our lives – from the number of hours we spend on it to what we use it for—work, shopping, dating, news source, making connections with friends… the list is almost endless. While television may have captivated us in its heyday, it is certainly no exaggeration to say that the internet has us even more firmly in its grip. It has gone from being something we want to something that we absolutely need (yes, I dare say that for many of us!).
While there are tons of possibilities to explore regarding the internet and how it has changed our lives in a million different ways, I am starting this blog today because I want to examine an issue that is important to me—the environment. So what is the connection between the digital media and the environment, you might ask? The connection is even closer than you might think. I can safely say that 90% of my environmental awareness and education has come from online sources—from reading news articles, watching videos warning of impending doom, partaking in conversations through the many “environmental causes” in Facebook, and doing research on matters from the best and most fuel-efficient car to buy, to how to unclog my toilet without releasing toxic “Draino” into our water systems. From the big things to small things in our lives, we can find and learn information to help us lead greener lives quickly and efficiently, which was hardly possible before the advent of the internet.
I digress… My aim is to continue to encourage greater awareness about the environment through this blog, and hopefully spearhead a better exchange of ideas between all readers in the spirit of our new interactive digital media. Specifically, I would like to explore how the internet has helped to impact the environment - what direct and indirect changes it has brought about (both good and bad), and how environmentalists have harnessed it to enhance education and awareness and change attitudes. I would also like to talk about the movers and shakers in the eco movement today and examine how they have effectively made use of social media to solicit funding for their causes and even to effect important changes in environmental policy. Finally, it would also be interesting to examine how the new media is shaping the future of this social movement by exploring the most innovative environmental projects going on right now and observing what directions they are headed for in the future.
To start us off, here is a link to Yahoo Green. This website is a great example of the use of digital media to promote greater awareness of the environment. Yahoo started this website in 2007 as a "green space" that "converges" news on the environment, tips on how to live and shop green, blogs for like-minded readers to exchange ideas, a question and answer section, and even fun animated tools and questionnaires to gauge our carbon footprints. Until the next time, happy surfing!
