Caring for the environment is not new.

When I was a kid, I discovered that people of my grandfather's generation had a habit of picking up trash and fixing things in their communities and on public lands. Cleaning up was just part of their routine.

When one went to a campsite, to a beach or other location, people would do a little cleaning as part of excursion.

People who went on hikes would regularly engage in trail building.

People used to call this type of behaviour civics.

The government pulled civics from schools in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Baby Boom Generation was trained to whine but never act. New think tells us that the people were put on earth to whine. The government uses the collective whining to justify social programs.

Anyway, prior to the 1960s, it was common to see people out cleaning up areas thinking that such activity was their civic duty. I think that the de-emphasis of civics was a big loss for the world.