We live in a very different world than what Leopold had experienced. The development of technology has made the world much more connected and now with the internet, people are able to search and find anything. This sort of reshapes how we see nature. Nowadays people are able to take out their phone and take a picture of the beautiful landscape and share it to their friends across the global in a matter of seconds. This easiness of sharing beautiful nature pictures pushes Leopold’s idea that nature should be conserved and not just taken for granted for its beauty.
The use of social media would be the new way to campaign and get attention to certain issues. Websites such as Avaaz is using this interconnectedness of people to start movement against various issues. This idea can be applied to land ethics. The official Instagram account of Leonardo DiCaprio is full of environmentally driven pictures that relate to climate change. He captions the picture with an explanation of what is happening in the picture, drawing attention to the cause due to his 6.5 million followers. Through these posts, DiCaprio teaches how people should interact with the biotic and abiotic factors of our land, and how our actions can affect these fragile systems.
Now in the 21st century, land ethics should now be adapted to the change in technology that occurs and utilize this great tool in favor of conservation. The land ethic idea can be pushed outwards through this tool, making people more aware of how they should interact with the land increasing overall conservation efforts. It is definitely a great tool to have.
Zeyu Hu 