identity and natural envir_edited by clayton opotow

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Identity and the Natural

Clayton

and

Susan Opotow

many others,

both of us value

the environment,

and

this

value

has

to shape

our

professional

and

personal lives. For the

past

15

years,

have worked

as social

psychologists

to

understand the

deep-seated

but

and values

people have regarding the natural envi-

(Clayton

&

Opotow,

L994;Opotow

&

Clayton,

1998).'We share

abiding interest

in

the psychology

of

justice, and

in our own

research

how

people

think

about

issues of

fairness

with

regard to the

environment

(e.g.,

Clayton,

1,996,2000;

Opotow,

1.993,

1.996l,.

Because

we

live

far

apafi,

we

meet

to

exchange

new

ideas

and

enjoy

camaraderie

of

collaboration.

One

evening,

over

dinner

at

a vege-

restaurant

in Ann

Arbor,

Michigan,

we

discussed

the

powerful

that

fairness

and

identity

interact

in

environmental

conflict.

After

our

ideas

crystallized

with

bracing

directness

in

a

graffiti

on

the

wall of the women's

restroom.

A first

comment admon-

"Eat

organic-no

poison food. Love

Earth-don't

poison

your

A crude

response

jeered:

"Eat

shit

you

tree

hugging

faggot."

This

and

response

captured

a reality that we

had observed both

anecdo-

and

in

our

work

on

environmental

perspectives in citizens'

'$7ise

groups

(Opotow

&

Clayton,

1998):

People

are

about environmental

issues,

their

environmental

beliefs can

other aspects

of who

they

are,

and environmental

positions

per-

as

different

than one's own

can elicit a violent

reaction.

The

graffiti

exchange

prompted

us

to think

about

what drives

such


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22/35

9

Trees

and

Human

Identity

Robert

Sommer

'S7hen

I

was

approached

15

years

ago

by

the

USDA Forest Service to

survey residents' attitudes

toward city

trees,

I

wasn't certain

that

most

people had

clear opinions. It was possible

that

trees,

like

lampposts

and

fire

hydrants,

were

street

furniture

passed

by unnoticed.

Our

interviews

with

city

dwellers

quickly

disabused

us of this naive notion.

\We

received

responses

like

this:

"The

Chinese pistache

on

our

street makes it attractive

to us and a

prime

choice

of

location

when we

bought the house."

"The community looks

very

good

with trees in

all the

yards.

When one is cur

down,

it is

not

the

same, even

if

another tree is

planted

in its place."

"A

city without trees

is

like

a day

without the

sun."

Personal pronouns

frequently

preceded

a species name in

written

com-

ments;

e.g., "our

elm tree," as distinct from others'elm

trees. Street trees

were viewed as

an

integral

component

of the

house

and lot,

the neigh-

borhood, and sometimes

of

the city.

The

return

rate

on

mailed ques-

tionnaires was

surprisingly high,

indicating a strong interest

in

the

topic.

Mailings

to

street addresses

without family names

produced

returns

in

excess of

50

percent

in repeated

surveys

(Sommer,

Guenther,

&

Barker,

1990).

Spontaneous

comments

thanked

us

for

undertaking the

survey,

and

people

alerted

us

to

gaps

rn

city maintenance,

or

reported

that

a

favorite

tree was ill or injured.'We

relayed

these

comments

to the appro-

priate

city

agency.

Trees

are

more

than a decorative

feature of

the landscape.

Many

street

and

city

names

are based

upon tree

names.

All

this helps

to shape

indi-

vidual and collective

identities.

The

family

tree is

both a metaphor

and

a

possession.

Connections

between trees and human

identity

can

be

indi-

rect,

as

in

trees

enhancing home

and

neighborhood and raising

property


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liolt1,11,\11111111,,1

9.1

effects

of trecs

:'ls sccn

in

tliffcrcnt

Iirrt.s

ol r-(.s(..Ir(l)

factors

Tiee

c:rnopy

:rifi:cts

:rir

rltrelity,

t('n)l)(.t

ittur(.,

wind

speed,

noisc,

wafcr rrrrroll,

rrrrtl otlrt,r'

natural

pfocesses

thrtt ntay

itrflrrt'rrtt'

lrurrrrrrr

health

and well-being.

Trees

make

hornes

ancl

nciglrlrrlrhoorls

rrrorr.

desirable,

thereby

enhar-rcing

inclivitlu:rl

;rn,l

community

self-irnages.

Converscly,

trct,

loss

t,rrr

produce

grief

responses,

rcflectiltll,

l tlirrrirrrrr iorr

of

self.

Trees

add

to

the value

of

homes

:rncl

neighborhoods,

and

this

has

a

positivc

cf lt.t.t

orr

self-image

The

presence

o{

trees

can improve

neighlror-hr,,,,1

interaction.

Peopie

identify

more

with

trrt.s

llrlr

have

planted

themselves.

Organized planting

;rrr,l

maintenance

programs

lead

to individuirl

:rrrtl

collective

empowerment.

In

both

self-report

and physiological

stuclics,

contact

with

greenery

has

restorative

valur'.'l'lrir

can restore

equilibrium

to a

person's

relatiorrslrlr

to

the

natural environment

and heal a

clarrr:rgt.,l

self.

I

t

r'r

Figure

9.1

t;hilclren

feel

a

special

affinity

for trees

that

can

ntental education.

factors

factors

factors

factors

thereby

contributing

to

the residents'

self-images.

As

tirbk.

.).

I

trees

not

only make

economic

and physical

contributi.rrs

rrr

well-being

and

sense

of

self,

they

also

contribute

in

aesrhcrit

,

and psychological

ways.

There

is

something

deeper,

spiritual,

rrrrrl

ineffable

about

people's

attachment

to

trees

(figurc 9.

l)

1991).

is

another

area

where

identity

issues

are

apparent.

sorrt.

rl

respondents

made

us

aware

of

the

psychological outcomes

()f

rr.(.(.

which

seemed

similar

in

form

to the grief

accompanying

thc

clc:rrrr

family

member.

Samuels

(1999)

describes

the responses

of

farrrt'r.s

who lost

most

of

their

elm

windbreaks

to Dutch

elm disc:rst.:

want

to

cry, but you

are

too

damn

big."

.,It,s

like losing

a

l


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lir tl

tt'

rl,\r

tr

t

t

t nlr

g,?

9.3

tree plantings.

Tree-planting

programs

empower

and

educ;rrr

and

enhance

their

sense

of

.o--rrrity.

I

rr'r't

F'igure

9.3

(a-c)

(continued)

more satisfied

with

the

following:

how

the

tre

at

planting

time,

the

location

selected

for

the

perception

that

the

tree

improved

the

yard

species

planted.

They also

had a

reduced

desi

or

feplaced.

There

were

additional

benefits

f

Lreen

part

of

a

community

shade

tree

progra

tance

during

planting,

becoming

better

a

greater access

to

maintenance

information

a

more

willingness

to

use

a

telephone

informa

voluntary

organization

for

future

mainten

Sommer,

&

Meyers,

1998).

Because

program

membership

and

tree

pl

0.34,

p

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