Environmental Generation Gap

I have noticed recently that there is a generation gap in thinking about the environment. I noticed this at first during a family dinner where my relatives were here. A discussion came up around my environmental career (of course) and where I was thinking of working and my internship (rural potable water use surveys). When I mentioned not-for-profit my uncle made some sort of huff-ing noise and a mumbled comment about *censored* bureaucrats. It caused a few raised eyebrows. The discussion continued and went down the path of property rights. His thinking was that no one could tell him what to do with or on his land, even if hypothetically he had a water well. He said it was his property. His thinking is the complete opposite of what I have learned throughout my entire university and college education. I was taught that everything is connected, the environment doesn't go by property boundaries, especially when it comes to groundwater. I brought that up and he just continued right on arguing that it was his property.
Since I didn't want to cause a scene (it's not my style) I didn't bring up the one argument that could have silenced him. The scenario goes like this:
I have a water well and you have a water well. Both of our wells draw from the same source of groundwater (aquifer). My property is up-gradient of your property. Since it is my property and I can do whatever I want with it, I decide I don't need my well anymore for drinking water and have decided to use it as my own personal disposal site for my paint thinner and any other miscellaneous chemicals I find laying around my farm. Since the groundwater flows through my property to your property, your drinking water has become contaminated and you get sick from drinking it. When you confront me I tell you "You can't tell me what to do with/on my property".
Now that I think about the conversation we had, I should have brought that point up, I would have liked to see him explain his way out of that one. This also lead to another thought. Since in the Niagara Region we do have an aging population (like many places) it doesn't surprise me anymore that there is a disconnect between what the environmentalists (younger generations) and the rural communities (older generations) think when it comes to environmental issues. I know not all of the older generation thinks in the 'boundary' way and that some do consider all the possible connections, but it does pose a challenge for communicating environmental issues. Perhaps some of those Public Relations lessons I have learned I can use to help persuade my uncle into seeing my point of view - a much more connected one.