"'Oh my gosh, you're a tree hugger. You're probably one of those tree huggers,' Brown recalled hearing from others. 'It was meant as a bad word.' Now, she said, the word brings 'pride.'"
"'I mean they give us oxygen, which is pretty like, you really need it,' Orla said, reflecting on the importance of trees during her nature immersion experience."
"In 1973, the Chipko movement in India coined the term 'tree-hugger,' according to Ramachandra Guha, an environmental historian. Chipko means 'to hug' or 'to stick to something' in Hindi."
"The original tree-huggers did not actually hug trees. At the time, rural villagers in the Himalayas were fighting 'commercial exploitation' of hornbeam trees, which were a cornerstone of the local economy."
The term 'tree-hugger' originated from the Chipko movement in India during the 1970s, where villagers embraced trees to prevent their commercial exploitation. This movement highlighted the importance of trees in preventing landslides and supporting local economies. Over time, the term transitioned from a derogatory label to a source of pride for environmentalists. Today, children engage with nature through programs like ForestKids, fostering a connection to the environment and an understanding of its significance, as exemplified by their experiences in urban parks.
Read at www.npr.org
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