On Oct. 1, 2025, Jane Goodall, a world-renowned humanitarian who devoted her life to conserving the natural environment, passed away peacefully in her sleep. While I personally didn’t know much about her, I’ve always looked up to her in awe for her work in advocating for animal rights.
As an inspiring model of courage and youth empowerment, she was the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and held the position of a United Nations Messenger of Peace. According to the Institute, she pushed young people to become a part of the conservation movement, saying famously that “every single one of us makes a difference every day — it is up to us as to the kind of difference we make.” Fascinated by evolution as well as the importance of respecting all the ways in which life can manifest itself, she extensively researched chimpanzees and opened up a new world of understanding animal behaviors.
Jane forged the path towards equilibrium between human expansion and the protection of wildlife. She has long appreciated that from the moment the first human species diverged from a lineage of chimpanzees, what remains the same is that nature, in all its beauty and forms, kept us alive.
In the current economy, however, nature’s value has often been dictated by its profitability rather than its intrinsic value. Its role in preserving vast ecosystems has been largely ignored, and instead nature has been looked upon as the basis of potent multi-billion industries. Just as hobbies, knowledge, and passions have been commodified due to increasing societal desires for money, nature has also fallen victim to this trend. In fact, the human experience as a whole has become commercialized by the allure of “success.”
Our generation has the opportunity to change this, to bring society closer to the innate, mutual relationship between humans and nature that once was. Yet, according to Brown University Health, the average teenager spends 6 hours and 40 minutes trapped behind endless screens and videos. Demand Sage claims that 41% of teens have over 8 hours of screen time daily. Whether it be at restaurants or in malls, I find myself gazing over to toddlers and tiny children who sit glued to their screens. When did this become the new normal?
I know how hard it is to put our phones down, to do something else after watching dozens of addictive TikTok videos, to ignore the constant notifications that buzz on the screen.
Yet, the natural world is such an incredible wonder that’s too often overlooked. It literally sustains humanity’s entire existence, with waterways, for example, sustaining agriculture, serving as irrigation for crops, nourishing our food sources, and making up the air life breathes. The world’s natural palette filled with all sorts of colors offers an endless source of beauty, relaxation, and appreciation. Its inimitable animal sounds, the intricate patterns weaved on leaves, and the texture of dirt squishing underneath feet provide a sensory experience that the digital universe fails to offer.
“Its inimitable animal sounds, the intricate patterns weaved on leaves, and the texture of dirt squishing underneath feet provide a sensory experience that the digital universe fails to offer.”
Maria Kato
Furthermore, a study by the American Psychological Association has elucidated that beyond visual pleasure, nature increases both cognition and mental health. Children living in greener spaces had a reduced risk of psychiatric disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia, occurring in the future.
Yes, nature has come without a cost, but that doesn’t mean it should be exploited. Every day, entire forests are cleared and rivers are polluted merely for financial endeavors.
As humans work to exploit wild plains for “extravagance,” contaminating rivers with chemicals and polluting the air to build towers of electronics, life’s most important gift of the environment is deteriorating. Social constructs of what should be valued and the power individuals so strongly desire are numbing minds to what truly matters. Individuality is diminishing. The environment is collapsing.
More money. More friends. More power. Is this really what life is about? Do people only leave their beds to chase after more and more? It seems the things that are desired and the aspirations held strongly in so many hearts seem to only comprise the things individuals “lack.”
Yet, I know when I draw my last breath, the accomplishment I couldn’t reach or the test I failed won’t hold any value. I’ll only deliberate about the beauty I’ve witnessed in nature and the irreplaceable moments I could have spent with my loved ones.
The time I’ve spent striving for more will never surpass the wonders of nature and my family, which have slipped away from me for much too long. The universe has long tried to teach me that I am not defined by amalgamations of my “successes.” My meaning derives from the people I love and how I choose to live my life.
As I continue growing and learning as a young woman, I wish to liberate myself from my screen, and to spend more time enjoying the beauty of the world around me. I wish to diverge from the common idea that nature is to be commodified, for so many innocent plants and animals are perishing each day due to that belief. I wish to live fully in the present, to notice the small things that make nature so astonishing, whether it be how the wings of birds are colored or the bushy tails squirrels have to use for balance.
“I wish to diverge from the common idea that nature is to be commodified, for so many innocent plants and animals are perishing each day due to that belief.”
Maria Kato
In my journey to reconnect with nature, I remain hopeful that others will, too.