Lesson 4: What We Can Do to Help
Environmental stewardship — taking care of the natural world — is something everyone can practice, even very young people.
On a golf course, it looks like simple acts: replacing a divot in the fairway so the grass grows back, raking a bunker after using it, not disturbing nesting birds, picking up any litter that blows onto the course.
These small actions add up. A golfer who takes care of the course contributes to a healthier environment for both the game and the wildlife that shares it.
Caring about golf and caring about nature are not two different things. They are the same thing.
Design a ‘Golfer’s Environmental Pledge’ — a list of five things a golfer promises to do to take care of the course and its wildlife. Decorate it and sign it. This pledge goes in your nature journal as a permanent commitment.
The environmental pledge is both a values exercise and a literacy exercise. Encourage your student to choose commitments they actually intend to keep rather than just writing what sounds good. A short list of genuine commitments is worth more than a long list of performative ones — and this distinction, articulated gently, is itself an important lesson.