Welcome! This is our final project on the Vermont Life magazine. We looked into how environmental ideas are portrayed in the magazine.
We decided to study and analyze Vermont Life issues from the 1970s. The 70s were a big turning point for environmentalism. Rachel Carson’s publication of Silent Spring in 1962 helped spur the beginnings of a modern American environmental movement. In the early 1970s, the environmental movement focused on pollution and pressuring Congress to pass measures for clean air and water. One of the most significant new laws passed was the Clean Air Act of 1970. There were some other notable acts passed including the Pesticide Control Act of 1972, the Clean Air Act of 1974, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and more. In the late 1970s, the movement increasingly addressed other types of environmental threats like toxic waste, as well as broader issues of ozone depletion and global warming. These environmental threats addressed in the 1970s distinctly contrasted views of earlier decades: preserving the environment for the continued utilitarian extraction of resources.
Gallery
Through an investigation of all of the Vermont Life magazine issues from the 1970s we identified articles through which Vermont Life expressed these different environmental philosophies. We put one photo each from a collection of 18 articles to create the gallery below. As you scroll down the page and work your way from the early 70s toward the end of the decade, notice how the different philosophies shine through in unique ways. You can click on an image to read about its context and the way in which it relates to how Vermont Life portrays these kinds of environmentalism. See if you can guess what the article is like just based off the picture and the article title! When talking about established industries in Vermont the magazine uses a more utilitarian perspective, while the preservation of nature for its sake and beauty is more prevalent when exploring the areas considered outside of the influence of humans, untouched and unspoiled. Enjoy!
