Social media helping millennial become more environmentally aware

By: Kayla Hunt, Columnist

There have been various studies that examine environmental attitudes across generations. Which group is more environmentally aware, millennials or baby boomers? Which group is more likely to take action?

Social media challenges are a great way to interact with other users across different platforms and encourage people to participate – whether it be simply for fun or to adhere a cause.

#Trashtag is an Internet challenge that has recently gone viral, encouraging users to pick up trash in public spaces. The challenge is to post before and after pictures of the littered area. The hashtag was initiated by Byron Román, who posted two pictures in an outdoor location: one photo showing an outdoor woodsy area cluttered with trash and the next photo showing the area cleaned up.

In his post, Romàn stated that this was “a new #challenge for all you bored teens.”

This new challenge is a great way to encourage people to be more environmentally conscious and participate in keeping their communities clean. However, the challenge shouldn’t be specifically targeted to a single group because the cause affects us all. Even though millennials are the highest users of social media, according to the Pew Research Center, there has been an increase in the social media presence of older generations.

Everyone should participate in making sure their communities are safe, green and healthy. Targeting out a single group seems to discourage the cause. The environmentalist movement is an inclusive one and using social media tactics, such as Internet challenges, is an effective method to get people aware and involved.

There are a plentiful amount of options for those interested in becoming environmentally friendly. A small change in your routine makes a difference such as conserving energy by not leaving the lights on, wasting less food, composting, recycling and reusing. There are also environmental organizations that you can join if you want to be more informed.

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