PRESERVATI N
NATI N
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Building communities
for a better tomorrow...
Climate Change is too big an issue for any one individual to try to take on. As we covered in the Prevention page, human-accelerated climate change has historically been driven by the actions of a few large corporations and wealthy individuals. Individual action is still imperative, though, and one of the best ways to have a meaningful impact in protecting our planet is getting your community involved. Community involvement not only will help you from stronger bonds with those around you, it could multiply the positive effects of your individual efforts–after all, they say there’s strength in numbers.
Some of the ways to get your community involved in the fight against climate change include:
A Community Garden
Starting a community garden is much more complicated than you would imagine but it has enormous benefits and in the end, you and your community will be glad you did it. Having locally grown fruits, vegetables and herbs available helps cut down on emissions involved in the practices of factory farming–including the use of harmful pesticides–and the transportation of produce across long distances. Farming your own fruits and veggies could also make you and your community healthier, especially if you live in food dessert.
Starting a communal garden in your area will require a lot of planning, organizing, logistical knowledge and, most importantly, a plot of land for you and your community to use. This WikiHow article has a step-by-step guide and some tips to help you get started.
A Beach Clean-up
Though it does not have a direct impact in our climate, keeping our beaches clean is incredibly important for the health of the planet. Beach litter gets blown into the ocean by the wind, or it can be picked up by a high tide, and is very harmful to sea life and seabirds. Plastic waste in the ocean is sometimes deadly for fish and sea turtles, and their decomposing bodies can accelerate the ocean acidification process, which can result in coral bleaching and the decay of oxygen-producing plankton and in turn causes the deaths of more sea animals–this is what scientists call a feedback loop system that exponentially accelerate environmental degradation.
You'll most likely want to schedule your community beach cleanup sometime during the early spring or late fall so you can avoid extreme weather. You will also need to recruit volunteers to help and get permission from your local officials. You can find more information on organizing a community beach cleanup here.
Other projects you and your community may look into could be a tree-planting drive, a letter writing campaign to reach out to your representatives and local officials, or a weekly meatless Mondays campaign. Don't forget to get creative, keep and open mind and stay determined! Dealing with climate change can be overwhelming, if we all work toward a common goal, there's nothing we can't accomplish!