Get Your Community to Go Green?

Answer 1

Okay, so you've been living the green life for a while. You convinced some of your friends, family, and even a few co-workers to make some green changes, too. The question is: what are you going to do about the rest of your community? Getting people you know to go green is a great start, but there's the rest of your townneighbors, schools, businessesthat still need convincing. It may seem like a daunting or difficult task, but it can be done!

Start small by talking to your neighbors. Learn about their concerns and make suggestions accordingly. If their garden is doing poorly, teach them about composting. If their electric bill is through the roof, tell them about energy saving techniques or products.

The next step would be to contact your local government (or the mayor's office). Express your concerns about a lack of eco-friendliness in your town and make some suggestions on how they can get the community involved. Be sure to include facts on how this will benefit the town. You may also want to point them to the EPA's Green Communities website, which offers information, suggestions, and plans on how they can make the community more green.

Finally, get involved with the community itself and lead by example! You can volunteer at environmental organizations, setup a booth at a local market or fair, organize donation drives, or start a website. You should also look into ways to educate children, such as doing some guest speaking at the schools or the local library. Getting them interested and excited about green projects will likely have them talking to their parents and others about it, too.

It will also help if you can get your community involved in specific earth-related holidays or activities throughout the year, such as cleaning trash out of a local river or adding some plants to a local park. Some key dates to really focus on community involvement include:

World Wetlands Day (February 2) Recyclemania (starts in early February and ends in early April) World Forestry Day (March 21also the Spring Equinox) World Water Day (March 22) Earth Hour (this date varies each year, but is usually during the last week of March) National Environmental Education Week (April 10 16) Earth Week (April 16 22) Earth Day (April 22) Arbor Day (the last Friday of April) Be Kind to Animals Week (May 6 12, or the first full week of May) National Public Gardens Day (May 11this year) Fair Trade Week (the second full week of May) International Migratory Bird Day (the second Saturday of May) Plant Conservation Day (May 18) Endangered Species Day (May 21) International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22) National Trails Day (June 2) World Environment Day (June 5) World Oceans Day (June 8) Global Wind Day (June 15) World Day to Combat Desertification (June 17) Great American Backyard Campout (June 23) National Wildlife Day (September 4) Clean Up the World Weekend (September 14 16) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (or Ozone Day--September 16) World Carfree Day (September 22) World Wildlife Week (October 1 7) World Farm Animals Day (October 2) World Animal Welfare Day (October 4) International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (November 6) America Recycles Day (November 15) Buy Nothing Day (Black Fridaythe Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, in November) Fur Free Friday (also held on Black Friday in November) International Volunteer Day (December 5)

For more ideas on how to get your community to go green, check out this article on Treehugger.com.

Answer 2

Okay, so youve been living the green life for a while. You convinced some of your friends, family, and even a few co-workers to make some green changes, too. The question is: what are you going to do about the rest of your community? Getting people you know to go green is a great start, but theres the rest of your townneighbors, schools, businessesthat still need convincing. It may seem like a daunting or difficult task, but it can be done!

Start small by talking to your neighbors. Learn about their concerns and make suggestions accordingly. If their garden is doing poorly, teach them about composting. If their electric bill is through the roof, tell them about energy saving techniques or products.

The next step would be to contact your local government (or the mayors office). Express your concerns about a lack of eco-friendliness in your town and make some suggestions on how they can get the community involved. Be sure to include facts on how this will benefit the town. You may also want to point them to the EPAs Green Communities website, which offers information, suggestions, and plans on how they can make the community more green.

Finally, get involved with the community itself and lead by example! You can volunteer at environmental organizations, setup a booth at a local market or fair, organize donation drives, or start a website. You should also look into ways to educate children, such as doing some guest speaking at the schools or the local library. Getting them interested and excited about green projects will likely have them talking to their parents and others about it, too.

It will also help if you can get your community involved in specific earth-related holidays or activities throughout the year, such as cleaning trash out of a local river or adding some plants to a local park. Some key dates to really focus on community involvement include:

World Wetlands Day (February 2) Recyclemania (starts in early February and ends in early April) World Forestry Day (March 21also the Spring Equinox) World Water Day (March 22) Earth Hour (this date varies each year, but is usually during the last week of March) National Environmental Education Week (April 10 _ 16) Earth Week (April 16 _ 22) Earth Day (April 22) Arbor Day (the last Friday of April) Be Kind to Animals Week (May 6 _ 12, or the first full week of May) National Public Gardens Day (May 11this year) Fair Trade Week (the second full week of May) International Migratory Bird Day (the second Saturday of May) Plant Conservation Day (May 18) Endangered Species Day (May 21) International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22) National Trails Day (June 2) World Environment Day (June 5) World Oceans Day (June 8) Global Wind Day (June 15) World Day to Combat Desertification (June 17) Great American Backyard Campout (June 23) National Wildlife Day (September 4) Clean Up the World Weekend (September 14 _ 16) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (or Ozone Day--September 16) World Carfree Day (September 22) World Wildlife Week (October 1 _ 7) World Farm Animals Day (October 2) World Animal Welfare Day (October 4) International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (November 6) America Recycles Day (November 15) Buy Nothing Day (Black Fridaythe Friday after Thanksgiving in the US, in November) Fur Free Friday (also held on Black Friday in November) International Volunteer Day (December 5)

For more ideas on how to get your community to go green, check out this article on Treehugger.com.