Small Town, Big City, or Campus: Global Climate Issues Demand Individual Action
by Krista Macomber
Work Study Student (UNH)
Clean Air-Cool Planet
“Global warming” and “climate change” are terms that crop up in today’s media quite often. In my study of the media as a freshman journalism student at Emerson College in Boston last year, I understood that the public, and therefore politicians, were concerned with the state of the environment. I heard much talk of what should be done, and what was supposedly being done, on a large scale. There was so much buzz from the federal government and media, but my life in the city bustled by without much evidence of local benefits or changes. To me, the green movement was more of a popular fad that I could write articles about than something that people dedicate careers to and work long hours for, right in my own community. I knew it was important, but never saw much of a force working toward it or fully understood its intricacies. In fact, living in the city sort of had the opposite effect on me – it gave me a greater insight into how bad the environmental issue currently is. I grew up in more rural New Hampshire, where the issue does not appear as pronounced. Recycling had always been the extent of my environmentalism, and I never realized the sheer number of people who do so much more, and that there was so much more I should be doing.
This view began to change when I transferred to UNH and gained firsthand experience with environmental awareness and efforts. I ate at the school’s dairy bar, which features locally grown food and locally produced dairy products, hopped on its “Eco-Cat” buses which utilize cleaner, alternative fuel and technology, and adjusted to seeing recycling and composting bins as often as trash cans around campus. It was a different way of life, and I was happy to do my part and partake in the school’s labors. I was pleased to know that some of my tuition money went to benefit the planet and that because of this, simply attending the school helps the campaign.
Then, second semester rolled around and I stumbled upon a writing position for Clean Air-Cool Planet, the leading nonprofit in New England that is devoted solely to finding and promoting solutions to global warming. Along with affording me great experience in my desired future career, writing, my time at CA-CP has opened my eyes to just what “global warming” means and the breadth of work that is being done to educate the public and neutralize the problem. Because one must fully understand the topics at hand in order to produce quality writing, I had to become well educated in the matter of climate change to do my job at CA-CP well. I had to learn about many things I would otherwise probably not know about, like the increasingly powerful Local Energy Committee movement in New Hampshire. I would not have the knowledge and understanding of the clean climate laws that are being passed and updated, both locally and nationally. PowerShift, the incredible gathering of thousands of young people in Washington, D.C. demanding solutions to the troubling environmental issues of our time, would be unknown to me.
It is partially because of this that I feel truly grateful to work for CA-CP – not only am I gaining incredible experience, but I enjoy the work I do there and am promoting an excellent cause to boot. As a journalist, this is always a good feeling! I am proud to be aware of and beginning to add to the movement of people demanding that we start taking care of the Earth.
Not many people are paid to hear experts on important environmental issues, like deforestation, speak to their small company, like I am. Climate change and environmentalism are so much more complex than I initially thought, and I am glad that I have begun to see this and can hopefully help others to see it as well, through my writing.
Transferring to UNH, and ultimately working for Clean Air-Cool Planet, really opened my eyes to what can be done, and is being done, on a local and individual level, to take substantial steps toward attaining climate neutrality.
And, let’s face it – this smaller-scale approach will ultimately make more of a difference. Federal government and leaders can only do so much to inspire, educate, and make lasting changes in individual towns, especially with an issue like climate change that is so community-specific. And this movement needs to be a local, neighborhood one to be effective and have people stick with it. People need to see real examples of what to do, and that this work can be successful and truly pay off. They need their community leaders to tell them that this affects their local ecosystems, too, and they need to do something about it.
