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agreed that the movements were “all 
aspects of one single wave of revo- 
lutionary change.” More than half 
thought “environmental degradation, 
social injustice, and economic inequal- 
ity are part of the same basic problem 
in our society.” 
The returns of both the 1970 and 
the 1980 questionnaires indicate that 
people who believe issues and move- 
ments are connected reflect this belief 
in their actions. Of all the activist 
movements described in the 1980 
forms, the environmental movement 
claimed the most followers. Of these 
environmental activists, about one- 
fourth have overlapping memberships 
in movements promoting social justice 
or solar energy, more than a fourth 
in movements against large-scale en- 
ergy development plans, and almost 
a fifth in movements for corporate 
responsibility. 
In both 1970 and 1980 we asked 
what actions people were taking to 
express their beliefs about the envi- 
ronment, and the answers to this ques- 
tion revealed a significant difference 
between the two samples. For exam- 
ple, in 1970, more than 25 percent 
Table 5 
Life-Style Changes in 
1980 
Used fewer disposables 
67.0% 
Recycled garbage 
47.5 
Modified home to save 
fossil-based energy 
53.8 
Changed residence to 
save energy 
20.1 
Did not use air-conditioner 
or recreational vehicle 
40.4 
Car-pooled or used public 
transit 
43.7 
Used smaller car 
59.0 
Reduced use of motors for 
recreation 
54.9 
Visited wilderness areas 
36.7 
Sought self-sufficient 
country living 
17.6 
Changed food habits 
2.6 
Other conservation of 
energy activities 
8.9 
Other preservation of 
environment activities 
2.3 
Other 
12.1 
of those responding to the question- 
naire made contact with people in- 
volved in environmental organizations 
three or more times a week. In 1980, 
only 5 percent had this much contact, 
and most had no more than a few 
such encounters each year. In general, 
activists in the 1970 sample seemed 
to be part of a young, grass-roots move- 
ment, whereas today’s activists work 
within a much more formal, bureau- 
cratic framework and interact with 
government and industry according to 
established routine. 
The 1970 and 1980 questionnaires 
emphasized not only movements but 
also change — personal as well as so- 
cial. And although the 1980 responses 
revealed less participation in orga- 
nized environmental activities than 
the 1970 responses, more than half 
the people who responded in 1980 in- 
dicated that their “involvement with 
environmental organizations had 
changed [their] ideas about [them- 
selves] and led [them] to act differ- 
ently.” People active in any one en- 
vironmental organization tended to be 
active in several: three-fourths of those 
who reported membership in groups 
concerned with environmental prob- 
lems belonged to two or more, and 
a third of these belonged to four or 
more. 
Finally, the 1980 sample is char- 
acterized by a sense of individual re- 
sponsibility for environmental prob- 
lems. More than 95 percent agreed 
with what was apparently our least 
controversial question: “I believe I 
have personal responsibility in the 
fight against pollution.” To get an- 
other measure of this level of involve- 
ment, we gave examples of personal 
actions that are commonly believed 
to contribute to a higher-quality en- 
vironment and asked our respondents 
to tell us which of these actions they 
had taken (see table 5). Not everyone 
would agree that all these actions are 
directly related to improving the en- 
vironment, but because most are ei- 
ther costly or time consuming, we feel 
they indicate commitment to ecologi- 
cal principles. Close to 60 percent of 
our sample listed from four to seven 
of these activities. 
In summary, environmental matters 
are still very important to Natural 
History readers. If our sample is any 
guide, a decade after Earth Day the 
environmental movement is most alive 
on an individual level, with many peo- 
ple choosing to express their ecological 
concern in their everyday lives. □ 
