One of the newest trends that is progressively spreading across the world is eco-friendly living. People are starting to care more and more about safeguarding the environment they live in and coming up with novel concepts that promote sustainable development. However, there are many communities all around the world who are yet to embrace this trend. They are either unaware of all the positive contribution they can do to all of humanity by adapting to a greener lifestyle or simply too indolent to even start. If you feel like you belong to a community such as this, it is never too late to start going green. You could start with simple steps as an individual and encourage others to participate in them. With time, you may be able to create a wave that spreads across the entire community.
Be Innovative with Your Ideas
People have heard enough about recycling, saving electricity and planting more trees. That’s actually all they get to hear with regard to going green. However, there are many other ways to adapt to a greener lifestyle; ways that are not very obvious and direct.
For instance, putting up community notice boards around your vicinity may seem like a very ordinary thing to do. It’s something that can help your community as a whole by providing a platform for general messages to be circulated and giving local businesses a cheap alternative to conventional advertising. However, this may also reduce the use of paper for printing large number of flyers and the use of plastic and its derivatives to create posters. The contribution it makes towards a greener lifestyle is actually quite minimal. However, if this practise happens to pick up and continues within the community, chances are that you will make some sort of positive impact on the environment at some point.
Make ‘Going Green’ a Culture within Your Community
Going green as a community is going to take some time. This is because there is always going to be someone who relentlessly tries to stop every initiative you take just because he/she does not benefit from it. In order to fight such circumstances, you need the backing of at least a majority of your community. In order to achieve that, you should establish and maintain a culture that appreciates green practices and encourages others to embrace them.
For instance, having all the grocery stores in the area switch to reusable bags instead of plastic or polythene or getting all the residents of the area to start composting their waste would be a good place to start. You and a few others would obviously have to lay the foundation for these practices. The job of carrying them out within the community will be the responsibility of all its members.
Tell People About the Financial Benefits of Going Green
People would do anything for money. That is the sad reality of the current world. Therefore, if you want to sell them any product, service or practise, the best route to take will always bethe “it will help you save a lot of money”.
This is actually a very honest fact with regard to going green. A greener lifestyle can help a community save a lot of money. For instances, powering your electronic devices with solar energy is a lot cheaper than using normal electricity. Even though the initial investment for the system is considerably high, you will have very little cost in the future. Similarly, people could even earn small amounts by going green. Certain entities buy used paper, plastic and glass and recycle them into usable products. Such entities pay a fair amount to those who supply them with these used materials.
Educate the Young About its Importance
It is not enough to establish a green lifestyle within your community. The important thing is to maintain it for as long as possible. In order to do this, the young generation who will one day be the decision makers of your community should be aware of the reason such a system exists in the place they live. In order to ensure that this happens, you will need to educate them on the importance of going green as a community. Only then will you be able to really achieve a greener and more responsible society within your community.
