10 Ways Students Can Help the Earth
Every year on April 22nd people from all across the world come together to celebrate Earth Day. Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, to raise awareness about air and water pollution. It’s evolved into a day where international grassroots activists raise social and political consciousness about the most pressing environmental challenges of the time.
To commemorate Earth Day, we’ve put together a few ways students can apply sustainability thinking to their daily lives and become better global citizens:
1) Create a Community Garden
Community gardens are a smart and practical way to get a community to participate in growing local food. This alternative method of growing food can provide organic healthy fruits and vegetables that often are expensive and difficult to find in food desserts. Host cooking classes and community dinners using food from the garden.
2) Transform Into a Waste Free School
Many schools do not have recycling policies. Those that do don’t always enforce the policy. Students can collectively try to enforce policies by creating signs and making announcements that encourage students and staff to use recycling bins. Students can transform their schools into “Waste Free Schools” by also using plates, cups, and napkins made from recycled materials and using reusable utensil sets.
3) Swap or Sell Your Clothes
Clothing swaps and sales are a smart and efficient way to recycle clothing. The production of clothing uses a lot of energy in factories, transporting clothing, and producing the materials for the clothing. Recycling clothes by swapping or reselling encourages students to economically and environmentally conserve savings and energy. There are many thrift stores across NJ like Unique that sell already used clothes.
Student groups can have environmentally friendly fashion shows and fundraisers that use recycled clothing to raise awareness about how swapping clothes can benefit the community.
4) Host Green Movie Nights and Discussions
Movie nights and discussions are great ways for students to influence their community awareness on sustainability. Making sustainable education interesting and interactive can attract more participation in sustainable living. Invite speakers and have dinners created from food produced from your community garden.
5) Create Green Gadgets
Save electricity by making green gadgets. One example is a solar phone charger. DIY!
Supplies needed:
· Mint tin container
· USB Charging Circuit
· AA Battery Holder
· AA Rechargeable Batteries
· 1N914 Diode
· Wire
Teenagers from all over the world are developing science projects into innovative technologies that can be used to make our communities more sustainable.
6) Shrink Your Footprint
Eating locally grown food, less meat, and non-packaged food reduces your ecological footprint. The production of meat uses a lot of energy and can be extremely hazardous. The transportation of meat and the transnational transport of food also causes a lot of smog.
Walking, biking, and taking public transportation instead of driving can also shrink your ecological footprint.
7) Become a Solar Powered School
School is in session during the day, the same time the Sun is out. Solar panels are a great source of energy for schools. The Sun can naturally power the school and provide electricity to brighten hallways and classrooms. Rather than using paper towels, a solar powered school can install hand dryers that can be powered by their solar panels.
8) Educate elementary and middle school students about sustainability
Teach younger students about sustainability. By teaching them you are transforming their lifestyles at a younger age. Launch programs where older students have the opportunity to teach their younger peers about sustainability. Learning about the subject from older kids will make sustainability cool and interesting! Older students can also serve as a mentor.
9) Get involved with local food communities
Visit, volunteer or work with local food communities. There are over 20 organic farms in NJ you can visit or maybe even volunteer with! There are equally as many community supported gardens and food coops in NJ that young people can work or volunteer with.
10) Get hands-on learning on the local energy
Visit self sustaining homes, wind farms, paper factories, power plants, waste management facilities and other local businesses and organizations that are helping our economy and society become more environmentally sound.
If you were to do just one thing, how would you change your lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly? How can we make green thinking more popular with our young people?
