Development of anything in our modern world starts with participation.
This participatory turn occurs when citizens looking to grow come together for
town meetings, focus groups, and committees to help one another look for the
next best thing. Our environment has been on the forefront of the turn and yet
there is still a lack of significant development. We are still fighting to
block pipelines from being built in our forests and pollution being poured in
our rivers, but the cost is heavy. Michael Bell says “A local community
organization may have a fierce commitment to saving a nearby forest, say, or to
ending the fumes coming from the vicinity’s factory. But the company that owns
the forestland or the one that owns the factory likely has people working 9/5, and
maybe even 24/7, representing its interests” (270). The cost is high for those
of us who want to fight back because we are at the bottom of the rung, compared
to the major corporations and organizations with mottoes that directly require
them to dump their trash elsewhere.
We have
to support the little guys, starting from the bottom, but it’s hard to do at
the national level. The Environmental Justice Small Grants Program has spent
the last twenty years awarded over $24 million dollars to community-based
organizations that support healthy environmental contact. “EPA recognizes the
critical role of helping communities with localized strategies to avoid,
lessen, or delay the risks and impacts associated with our changing climate” (EPA.gov).
The EPA, among other environmental agencies, helps to push the precautionary principle,
acting against threats early, into the light. The support provided for the
bottom, these community based programs for example, is a step in the right
direction but we need mega corporations, from the top, to participate and
provide assistance. It’s important to remember too that just because a
corporation supports renewable resources and provides products that do not harm
the environment as much, they need to be committed to all aspects of the
environmental agenda.
15 Best Companies for the Planet:
What can we do? Unless your uncle owns a mega corporation that you could inherit soon, maybe we should start a little smaller. Build your own grassroots organization in your community!
Do Your Research: This goes beyond typing in "Global warming" into your Google search. Try looking into local problems and start there. This obviously does not mean you should only focus locally, if you have big ideas, go for it!
Find Your Focus: Is there a trash problem in your community? Are there ponds or lakes that are being polluted? Would your community benefit from a garden? Find something you can attack head on and rally around it to get it done.
Attract Members: Find like-minded people with ambitious purposes. Together you will not only be able to spread the burden of work that needs to be done but a team can help bring new ideas and resources to the organization.
Get Organized: Have meetings and make sure you know the agenda beforehand. Keep track of all of your information and be sure to have it available to all members of the group. Plan ahead and keep everyone on the same page.
Recruit Leaders: Define who can lead, how the decisions are made, and who is the face of them. It's hard to get things done if everyone is the leader, but spreading out the work and placing a face to each system (a social chair, a treasurer, etc.) in the organization will help keep things moving.
Aim High, Celebrate It All: Always reach for the big goals but do not be discouraged if you are only getting small victories. Celebrate all the victories you get, learn from the ones you didn't, and work to keep pushing forward. The environment is tough, you can be too.
Get out there and fight because whether you have noticed or not, the environment is changing and you are a part of it. Make good decisions and focus on the future of the environment, or we won't have one!
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