This week’s blog post is from Erin Schrode, one of our dynamic advisory board members. Erin shares some information about her wonderful organization, Teens Turning Green.
I believe in the power of education above all else. I endeavor to be a catalyst for critical thought. I see public and environmental health as paramount. And I am on a mission to inspire, inform, and mobilize as many people as possible in taking action to sustain a just, sustainable planet… simple task, right?
With Teens Turning Green, the youth-driven non-profit I co-founded in 2005, we work with high school and college students on education and advocacy around environmentally sustainable and socially just choices – for lifestyles, schools, and communities. And right now, we are crisscrossing the country on our annual Conscious College Road Tour. Our goal? To spread the word far and wide about the importance and accessibility of conscious living, as well as how to implement actionable sustainability projects on campuses. From Texas to Virginia, California to Maryland, Ohio to Kentucky, the response is the same: young people (in particular) are eager and excited to take charge around issues that are relevant to their lives.
We break down environmentalism into categories that are just that: whole body, sustainable food, green clean, ethical fashion, zero waste, non-GMO, and hemp. To be able to see, smell, feel, test, experience different aspects of a ‘conscious’ lifestyle provides students – particularly those entirely unfamiliar with such ideas – with an entry point into environmental activism. That is what our Conscious Information Station aims to accomplish, as an interactive display in the center of college campuses on each road tour stop. The Town Hall Meeting component focuses on bringing together a diverse, multi-sector stakeholder group to ideate and collaborate on specific sustainability-related projects on campus, wherein each person or group brings unique perspective and skills to the table that allow for ultimate success.
You (regardless of age or degree or career path) can take a stand, make more mindful choices, establish healthier and safer habits, shift behavior in a more just direction, vote with your dollar, speak up for causes you believe in; you can become an active citizen!
The combination of offline action, face-to-face dialogue, learning, and physical exchange with online amplification, in-depth resources, networking, and ongoing communication is golden. Both the tangible and the digital are critical pieces in this all-important environmental education equation.