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Planet Now
Blog on Effective Environmental Communication
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If you are looking for a hobby that helps the earth, others, and yourself, consider volunteering at a community garden! I began volunteering at community gardens in high school and think there are several reasons that you should try it out if you haven’t already.
You are helping the environment by promoting eating locally. Transportation accounts for about one-fifth of carbon emissions in the food industry. By reducing the transportation of food, you can reduce air pollution and carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Next, you are helping your community. Community gardens often provide fresh food to people without reliable access to affordable food. For instance, Carolina Community Garden provides fruit and vegetables to UNC’s lower wage employees. There are personal benefits, too! Volunteering provides an opportunity to meet new people in your community. You may be assigned tasks with a couple people. Shoveling compost or picking vegetables together provides a chance to chat. Volunteering at community gardens at UNC allowed me to meet students in other departments. You can also bring your friends and get to spend time with them while doing a unique activity. Gardening can be relaxing and good for your mental health. Some tasks, like weeding and planting seeds, can be a bit tedious but allow you to focus on the simple task in front of you. In some instances, you might be gardening alone (like at a satellite garden for a campus garden). When I watered my residence hall garden during undergrad, I enjoyed peaceful mornings listening to music and podcasts. Plus, if you volunteer regularly, it can be satisfying to see the seeds you plant grow into food. I started a garden at my high school and loved seeing our seeds turn into foods like onions and carrots. You can’t always see the direct impact of your efforts, but you can when you garden. Another benefit of gardening is that you can get a light workout. When you volunteer, you don’t know what tasks you might be assigned and may end up digging holes or pushing a heavy wheelbarrow full of compost. (Of course, you should only do tasks that you are comfortably and physically able to do.) It might not be as intense as a gym workout but is great if you are trying to live a more active lifestyle. Moreover, you get to spend time outside. It’s especially nice to volunteer on a cool fall or warm spring day. Sometimes, you may get to take home some food yourself and enjoy eating local, fresh produce. Once I got to try fennel for the first time. Another time I enjoyed a salsa with some fresh herbs I got to take from a community garden. If you are interested in volunteering, look into options in your community! For UNC students reading this post, a couple great options are Carolina Community Garden and Edible Campus.
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Ka-ching! Money is powerful, and the ways we shop—particularly for clothes—can help us live more sustainably and support businesses with sustainable practices. Shopping sustainably can even save us money in these times of high inflation. Plus, we can more effectively communicate about the environment when we align our actions, like how we dress, with our words, like advocating for slowing climate change. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions (which cause climate change) and 20% of wastewater globally. Another problem with the fashion industry is its use of tiny synthetic fibers called microfibers. About half a million tons of microfibers end up in the ocean every year. Fish and other sea creatures can eat these microfibers, which can eventually get in human diets and cause health problems like cancer. People can help combat these effects by reducing clothing production and supporting companies that are producing clothing sustainably—that means the companies are taking actions like lowering their carbon emissions and water usage so that they have less negative environmental impacts. Three main ways to dress sustainably are to buy second-hand clothes, rent clothes, and buy from environmentally friendly companies. Share the following tips with other people to help them fight climate change with their wallets. Buy second-hand clothes This step is fairly simple and can save people money! For example, the same pair of jeans might cost $10 at a thrift store but $50 at a traditional retailer. When people buy second-hand clothes, they are preventing old clothes from being sent to landfills and reducing the need to produce new clothes. Even if the clothing was not made sustainably, at least it is being worn longer. Rent clothes Renting is a great option for people who need clothes for one-time-only occasions, like weddings and dances. Rent the Runway is one company that allows members to regularly rent clothes. It allows them to constantly transform their wardrobes and styles! Buy from environmentally friendly companies This action can be quite tricky. Companies can greenwash, or advertise themselves as more environmentally friendly than is true. Consumers should check which companies have clear sustainability goals and list specific actions they are taking to reach those goals. These companies should share measurable progress. A couple environmentally friendly companies are Allbirds and Athleta. How can companies avoid greenwashing? I recently answered this question when I held an Instagram Live conversation with Lynn Yap, an entrepreneur, attorney, and author of The Altruistic Capitalist. We discussed ways that individuals and businesses can take steps to slow climate change.
Yap and I speak on Instagram Live on March 15, 2022, to discuss ways that individuals and businesses can use their voices and power to slow climate change.
Watch the whole video here! (Also, you can read Yap’s blog post about my tips for environmental communication.)
When it comes to living and dressing sustainably, you do not need to be perfect. Instead, take some of these steps to add sustainable items to your closet and create a sustainable wardrobe over time. What is one tip you will keep in mind next time you decide to get new clothes? Most of us have a lot of responsibilities in life, and it can be tough to commit to lifestyle changes to protect the environment. However, you should make the point to take each of the following actions at least one time. These actions could be more fun and less challenging than they may appear! 1. Read a book about the environment. Books can help people better understand and discuss complex environmental topics. Also, reading about the beauty of the environment could inspire action to protect it. One book that shares stories of hope for solving climate change is All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson edited this book. See this list for more books about climate change. 2. Compost food waste at home. The USDA’s Economic Research Service found that Americans waste about 31% of the food they buy. Uneaten food contributes to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases in landfills. To reduce food in landfills, people can compost by first collecting food scraps in small bins. They should avoid collecting meat and dairy. Then they can add the scraps to backyard compost bins or bring them to drop-off sites, such as community gardens. The scraps will break down into fertilizer that can improve soil and grow more food. 3. Join an environmental organization. People can join environmental organizations to contribute to larger efforts to reduce climate change. Through these organizations, people might install solar panels in communities or collect signatures on petitions for climate policies. Participating in environmental organizations can remind people that they are not alone in attempting to slow climate change. Some organizations, like the Sierra Club and the Sunrise Movement, are national organizations with local chapters. Some examples of regional organizations in North Carolina are Appalachian Voices and Save Our Sandhills. College students may have several options of environmental organizations they can join through their schools. For example, at UNC-Chapel Hill, I lead an organization called United Solar Initiative. It teaches students about solar energy and reduces climate change by adding solar panels to homes in the community. 4. Attend an environmental protest. Protests with clear purposes can encourage politicians to pass climate policies or can inspire more people to call for action to protect the environment. Climate activist Greta Thunberg is known for encouraging students to skip school on Fridays in protest of a lack of international action to prevent climate change. Her protests have been effective at inspiring millions of students around the world to advocate for slowing climate change, although Thunberg said in November 2021 that international leaders have failed to take meaningful action to prevent climate change so far. In September 2019, I attended a peaceful protest in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to encourage town, state, and national leaders to pass policies reducing greenhouse gas emissions. About 200 people attended. The protest did not directly lead to policy changes, but it did show me that other students and community members care about reducing climate impacts. At the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in September 2019, people protest a lack of government climate action. 5. Start a conversation about climate change with someone who does not seem concerned about the problem. Encouraging one person to think about climate change in new ways can make that person influence others to think differently. A recent post shares tips on motivating people to care about climate change. These actions are meaningful! Making efforts to protect the environment can make environmental communicators appear more trustworthy to Americans. Communicators’ willingness to make changes suggests that they believe climate change is real and serious. Therefore, taking these actions can help you communicate more effectively. |
Welcome to my blog! It is a combination of posts from my strategic writing (spring 2022) and personal branding (spring 2023) courses at UNC. I hope you will enjoy reading the posts and learning about the environment and communication.
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