It takes a village to help the environment

I imagine that most people are familiar with the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child”. While this rings true for children and families, I find that this can apply to many things. In fact, the community or village around that child or idea betters almost everything as it tries to grow and plant its roots.

At the moment, I believe this philosophy can be applied to making a change for our environment and helping our environment to continue to grow, as it should. While a lot of positive changes and growth begin in the home, much like with children, you cannot underestimate nor deny the positive influence provided by the village.

There are many ways that you can encourage your community to come together to help the environment. While we don’t exist in the same way as a community or village that we used to, it can still be a great way to educate and spread the word about some of the issues going on in the environment today.

You’re probably wondering how you can do this in a neighborhood with people who work 9-5 shifts and don’t have much interest in being part of the community. My first tip is to start with their kids!

Many people are close-minded and live in a bubble that is there own life. While it is not beneficial to the community, the environment or our planet, who can blame them? The world and our society has changed a lot from its tribal times. However, children are still as open-minded and free spirited as ever.

One good way to influence others in your community to get involved is to plan a block party or an event for the kids in your neighborhood. Even if it is an eco-themed birthday party, you can still connect with the families you share your street with. By inviting children to events like these, they will feel excited and part of something, in turn, telling their parents about it.

Whether or not the individuals in your neighborhood get involved the first time, they are more likely to as time progresses. By bringing issues like the environment to the forefront of their thoughts or by drawing attention to it for one afternoon, you can create a ripple effect that will lead to positive change down the line.

Besides hosting a block party, other ideas to create involvement in the community could be a garage sale or bake sale to benefit a wildlife center or environmental group. You could also even start a recycling program to be run by kids in the neighborhood or a community garden with food being divided among families or to go to a local shelter.

Regardless of what you choose to do, the result can be extremely beneficial to the environment because it will give you the opportunity to get involved, teach younger generations about the importance of the environment and community as well as to educate others who might be otherwise unaware of what they could be doing to help.

Amy Lizee is currently completing a degree in marketing. She is a freelance writer for Environment911.org and Our Global Awareness. Environment911.org is an interactive website for individuals to come and discuss the environment from green business to natural disasters. The organization feels it is important for people to come together and share their thoughts, ideas and visions for the future. “The more we can communicate what is happening in our world, the more people can be educated and the more we can progress,” says Amy. Beyond their website, you can find Environment911.org on Facebook and Twitter where they are continuing to spread the message about our global  environment and the impact that we have on it every day.