Ready to do some good for yourself and our planet? Here are 5 actions you can take this week:
- Check out these amazing students creating a sustainable summer! The Sustainable Summer program at Dartmouth College will have us all dreaming of our youth. This environmental leadership academy is impressive – and available for youth between the ages of 15 and 18.
- Plant a tree. Trees are simply amazing. Let the Arbor Day Foundation help you celebrate their greatness.
- Recycle and buy recycled products. Closing the recycling loop is essential, just ask Grist’s Umbra! Did we mention Umbra was on our show in 2011? She was! You can listen to the podcast and everything. Wow – 2011. Where does time go?
- Look for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification on wood and wood products.The FSC sets standards for responsible forest management. A voluntary program, FSC uses the power of the marketplace to protect forests for future generations. Some people feel the best way to prevent deforestation is to stop using forest products. In reality, people use forest products every day. For example, the average American uses nearly six trees worth of paper each year. So FSC harnesses market demand to ensure forests are responsibly managed. Because FSC is the gold standard in forest certification, it is the only system supported by groups such as WWF, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council and National Wildlife Federation. Today, more than 380 million acres of forest are certified under FSC’s system, including more than 150 million acres in the US and Canada.
- Eat vegetarian meals. Be like the Lorax and speak for the trees! What we are having for dinner is a big part of the equation. Well, dinner and breakfast and lunch – it matters.