Giving Compass' Take:

• Tom Jacobs from Pacific Standard writes about Chinese researchers revealing how using terms like 'Mother Nature' and other anthropomorphisms can actually inspire people to take environmental action.

• How can philanthropies and funders implement this research into driving support for saving our environment?

• Here's an article on engaging community conservationists in understanding their environment.

"Mother Nature" is a rather antiquated way of referring to the natural world. It seems ridiculous to anthropomorphize something so huge and diffuse, let alone to assign it a gender.

But new research from China suggests that reviving this image could inspire people to act in more environmentally conscious ways.

"Our results show a robust implicit association between women and nature," writes a research team led by Ting Liu of Nanjing University. "The metaphor 'Mother Earth' builds on this association and leads to increases [in] one's connection with nature, which in turn leads to increases in pro-environmental behavior."

After all, who wants to disappoint their mother?

Read the full article on ways to inspire people to go green by Tom Jacobs at Pacific Standard