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DCL
All this Earth Day talk can be so hard to sort through, it's tempting to just ignore it all. But there's a reason we recognize the day's importance and want to celebrate it by adding a little more green to our lives than usual. The most important and exciting changes are the ones that last beyond the one day in April. When it comes to community involvement and acting up in schools and the workplace, here are four key areas where you can make a huge impact in your life and for the planet.
Green your office
The office can be a tough place to go green if your management or colleagues aren't into it. But it's worth the effort: getting your office to switch to recycled paper, for example, will save 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 to 4 barrels of oil, 7,000 gallons of water and 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity for every ton of recycled paper that is used instead of virgin (and an office can go through that quickly, since the average American uses 600 pounds of paper a year). Production of recycled paper also emits 74 percent less air pollution and 35 percent less water pollution.
Recycled furniture, if there happens to be any remodeling going on, also has a huge impact: one ton of recycled steel saves the energy equivalent of 3.6 barrels of oil and 1.49 tons of iron ore, according to Headwaters Cooperative Recycling. Make sure electronics get repaired rather than replaced, and if/when electronics do get thrown out, make sure your office recycles them responsibly; help organize the effort if you need to.
And talk to your coworkers about making low-effort, big-impact changes: print less, turn the lights off, buy eco-friendly supplies, put computers into energy-saving mode, bring in water bottles and mugs if disposable cups are used in the office.
Organize your community
Community involvement can be really satisfying because the results can be so immediate. Consider joining or starting a community garden—growing vegetables will save you money and cut your food miles to just about zero. Every meal you eat from local ingredients will save up to 17 times the petroleum that the average American meal consumes. And you'll probably grow it with fewer, if any, chemicals, plus you'll have some extra green space in your neighborhood.
Or get some people together to invest collectively in solar power—you'll save tons of carbon emissions by avoiding fossil fuels, and you'll all save money because the group-buying advantage means participants are likely to pay $1-2 per watt, rather than the usual $9-10/watt. Organize for a car-free community so that the streets are safer and the air is cleaner. Or get some community cleanups going.
Buy more fair trade, support sustainable and people-friendly practices worldwide
Fair trade products are getting easier to find every year, and the more demand there is, the more supply is generated. Coffee's the easy one: consider committing to buying fair trade, shade-grown coffee only. Try to stick to making it yourself, so you can be sure it's made from ethical beans that support, rather than destroy, biodiversity.
Fair trade beans can be more expensive (though definitely not always), so think about one thing you buy that you've been meaning to give up anyway. Then you have a tradeoff and won't feel wallet-guilt for buying fair trade—eat less cheese, for example, which can be pricey as well as carbon-heavy. Or try baking at home more—you'll save money on prepared food and packaging, and end up with home-baked goods to dunk in your coffee.
You can use a similar tradeoff to support other things, like microfinance, which improves livelihoods worldwide, and if you must get coffee on the go, try to patronize (with your reusable mug) businesses that make efforts to brew (and not just sell) fair trade coffee and encourage waste reduction in their stores.
Get involved in your school
As a parent, teacher, or student, school is a great place to show some green spirit. With just a little organizing and a lot of persistence, teachers can get their schools to recycle if they don't already do so, or to start composting or start gardening, get renewable energy into their schools, or reducing their energy use overall—and measuring it, so they understand what a Kilowatt Hour is, and how their energy consumption translates to carbon emissions savings.
Parents can help prioritize waste-free lunches, get involved on the school board or with teachers to bring sustainability issues into the curriculum and sustainable practices onto campus. And students can act by demanding more sustainable practices, from more vegetarian options at lunch to organizing green events.
The best part about getting involved in school is the effect doesn't stop when you leave the building. Kids learn to think more sustainably, and that means enormous potential for future generations.
