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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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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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