Protected values are something I think about often without
realizing it. I have slowly started to
shift my lifestyle in a way that reflect my protective values more, although
some of my habits can reflect otherwise.
The protected values that I mentioned in my Brain include protecting
endangered species, protecting our environment, and avoidance of products that
mistreat animals. My protected values
are all very similar to one another and reflect off of each other. They all became the values they are through
experiences I have had in my life, which I will discuss further.
My first protected values, protecting endangered species,
arose from my interest and love of nature and birds. I am a “birder”, which is less common amongst
young adults who are my age. My fiancé and
I go birding as often as we can. When I
was in my final year as an undergraduate I had to begin working on my
portfolio. I decided to start looking at endangered species, specifically
birds, and realized just how crucial they are to our ecosystem. The more I began exploring the topic the more
evident it became. I realize it can be a
difficult transition to rehabilitate animals back into an unfamiliar
environment. An example of this would be
beavers. While beavers are not
endangered, they are struggling to find habitat due to overdevelopment. A lot of people also do not like beavers, as
they can be highly aggressive animals.
These are issues that can cause gray area when discussing protection of
endangered species, or animals in general.
The steps I have started to take to help in this progress include
attending educational events that discuss steps we can take on our own to help
animals, donating to wildlife organizations specific to different animal
species, and donating money for people on their birthdays and holidays to help
protecting endangered animals. While it
isn’t a drastic step, these are steps I take often to ensure my protected
values are valued.
My next protected value is about protecting our
environment. These all go hand in hand,
as protecting our environment also ensure healthier habitats for animals. This became a serious issue for me when I was
in high school. I was working on a
science fair project for a class and decided to look into recycling because my
local high school did not recycle. This
was a school of over 3,000 students, none of which ever recycled during school
hours. What made matters worse was that
our school was a local drop site for the community to bring their recyclables
and the school had recycling bins, but chose to use them as trash cans
instead. This really began to bother me,
so I developed a science fair project based on theories and methods for
improving recycling. My project ended up
winning the local fair, which qualified me to attend and compete in the INTEL
International Science Fair in Nevada at the time. That was a life changing experience for me,
as I was able to be around other students who were just as passionate about
their area of interest as I was. These
experiences really changed the way I treated the environment. I am not entirely sure what clicked for me,
but ever since that period of my life, I have been an avid recycler and energy
saving individual. While I do not drive
a hybrid car and use more water than I should, I try my best to do my best
where and when I can.
The final protected value that I have is avoidance of
products that mistreat animals. There
are several instances in my life that led me to this belief, my love for
animals being a major factor. The more I
began to educate myself about cruelty of animals in so many of our products,
the more I tried to move away from it. I
became a vegetarian about 7 years ago and have slowly begun to stop using as
many products as I can that use animal testing.
It’s been difficult, as a lot of products that avoid animal testing tend
to be a lot more expensive. Because of
this, I have learned how to make a lot of my own products from my home, which
has cut down on costs and reduced the amount of chemicals I am putting on
myself.
Overall, these values have influenced a lot of my major
decisions in my life. I still have a lot
of smaller decisions that they do not effect quite as strongly as some of my
major life decisions, but they do have some weight on choices I make. I have a hard time eating certain foods and
putting certain things on my body because I psych myself out with it to avoid
it, but there are times where it’s sometimes just easier to give in if money or
time is a factor given the situation.
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