GOING 'GREEN' GOES GLOBAL
January 2017
Imagine carrying around all of the trash that you produced in one day: the wrapper from the protein bar you ate for breakfast, the used napkin, the plastic water bottle.
That’s what junior Risako Nozaki did. As a member of the Environmental Club, Nozaki participated in Project Green Challenge (PGC).
Each day for 30 days, she and several other members of a team took on various challenges dedicated to becoming more environmentally-conscious. They did more than carrying around their trash, however; other challenges included things like calculating their carbon footprint, finding products that are better for the environment, and implementing what they’ve learned into their communities.
The trash challenge was part of a day dedicated to learning about zero waste: the idea that all waste produced would go to compost or recycling instead of the landfill. Beyond learning this fact, Nozaki saw the ripple effect that the challenge had on others.
“When they saw the bag [that I was carrying], people were asking me questions like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ Then I heard them talking about the waste that they produced that morning, so it made people more conscious,” said Nozaki.
These were the actions of one individual. At San Mateo High School, a Green Team is actively working to make their school more environmentally-friendly.
For Sabrina Jin, becoming more environmentally-conscious was a natural choice.
Jin is a junior and president of the Green Team at her school. It acts like an environmental club, doing volunteer activities such as picking up recycling from classrooms twice a week and advocating for greater awareness.
Despite facing the difficulties of restarting a club, the Green Team now has over 40 members who regularly attend the club’s weekly meetings.
Both Nozaki and Jin are students who learned about the importance of being environmentally-conscious and took that knowledge to their schools. While these individuals are a driving force in spreading awareness, organizations also play a large role.
One organization, Turning Green, focuses on spreading awareness through students. Beyond hosting PGC, Turning Green also organizes other programs focused on raising awareness, such as national college campus tours or promoting healthier food in schools.
As a result of efforts from organizations like Turning Green, environmental awareness is slowly but surely spreading to more people. The effect has transcended to the new level, with several cities making it their mission to encourage conscious behavior.
An example would be San Francisco.
The city itself set a zero waste goal back in 2002, and has the highest waste diversion rate in the country at 80 percent (only 20 percent of waste goes to the landfill), despite the national average being 34 percent. San Francisco’s success can be traced to the city’s culture itself, which includes aggressive campaigns and strong composting programs.
Despite San Francisco’s accomplishment, normalizing conscious behavior can be a challenge.
Jin said, “We’ve tried to incentivize [conscious behavior]. For example, if you do an action on our environmentally-friendly list such as carpooling, you get points for a prize,” said Jin.
All of these individual efforts, whether it be the students in PGC or the Green Team, are working to make their communities “greener.” This effect goes beyond the individual and many organizations, however: the idea of going “green” is a trend that’s growing nationally and globally.
Being environmentally-conscious is no longer a foreign concept for many people. Organic products are now generally known as being better overall, while compost pickup is growing more common in cities. The idea that there’s more than three R’s being revised to five R’s - refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot, in that order - suggests that conventional behavior is becoming “greener.”
While the limits to going “green” have yet to be tested -- “Zero Waste Home” author Bea Johnson and her family is known in the zero waste community for producing one mason jar of non-compostable or non-recyclable trash per year - organizations will continue to inspire change, whether it be the environmental club or the company that picks up your waste each week.
This will take time. For now, change is about compromise with a large impact, such as cities encouraging compost to increase waste diversion or making healthy food with less packaging more accessible.
Movements like these go back to individuals such as Jin and the Green Team, who are making headway in their school.
Jin said, “Our goal is not just to educate people and make them aware, but to make them passionate. So even if my club has only five people but are really passionate, that’s good enough for me.”
That’s what junior Risako Nozaki did. As a member of the Environmental Club, Nozaki participated in Project Green Challenge (PGC).
Each day for 30 days, she and several other members of a team took on various challenges dedicated to becoming more environmentally-conscious. They did more than carrying around their trash, however; other challenges included things like calculating their carbon footprint, finding products that are better for the environment, and implementing what they’ve learned into their communities.
The trash challenge was part of a day dedicated to learning about zero waste: the idea that all waste produced would go to compost or recycling instead of the landfill. Beyond learning this fact, Nozaki saw the ripple effect that the challenge had on others.
“When they saw the bag [that I was carrying], people were asking me questions like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ Then I heard them talking about the waste that they produced that morning, so it made people more conscious,” said Nozaki.
These were the actions of one individual. At San Mateo High School, a Green Team is actively working to make their school more environmentally-friendly.
For Sabrina Jin, becoming more environmentally-conscious was a natural choice.
Jin is a junior and president of the Green Team at her school. It acts like an environmental club, doing volunteer activities such as picking up recycling from classrooms twice a week and advocating for greater awareness.
Despite facing the difficulties of restarting a club, the Green Team now has over 40 members who regularly attend the club’s weekly meetings.
Both Nozaki and Jin are students who learned about the importance of being environmentally-conscious and took that knowledge to their schools. While these individuals are a driving force in spreading awareness, organizations also play a large role.
One organization, Turning Green, focuses on spreading awareness through students. Beyond hosting PGC, Turning Green also organizes other programs focused on raising awareness, such as national college campus tours or promoting healthier food in schools.
As a result of efforts from organizations like Turning Green, environmental awareness is slowly but surely spreading to more people. The effect has transcended to the new level, with several cities making it their mission to encourage conscious behavior.
An example would be San Francisco.
The city itself set a zero waste goal back in 2002, and has the highest waste diversion rate in the country at 80 percent (only 20 percent of waste goes to the landfill), despite the national average being 34 percent. San Francisco’s success can be traced to the city’s culture itself, which includes aggressive campaigns and strong composting programs.
Despite San Francisco’s accomplishment, normalizing conscious behavior can be a challenge.
Jin said, “We’ve tried to incentivize [conscious behavior]. For example, if you do an action on our environmentally-friendly list such as carpooling, you get points for a prize,” said Jin.
All of these individual efforts, whether it be the students in PGC or the Green Team, are working to make their communities “greener.” This effect goes beyond the individual and many organizations, however: the idea of going “green” is a trend that’s growing nationally and globally.
Being environmentally-conscious is no longer a foreign concept for many people. Organic products are now generally known as being better overall, while compost pickup is growing more common in cities. The idea that there’s more than three R’s being revised to five R’s - refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot, in that order - suggests that conventional behavior is becoming “greener.”
While the limits to going “green” have yet to be tested -- “Zero Waste Home” author Bea Johnson and her family is known in the zero waste community for producing one mason jar of non-compostable or non-recyclable trash per year - organizations will continue to inspire change, whether it be the environmental club or the company that picks up your waste each week.
This will take time. For now, change is about compromise with a large impact, such as cities encouraging compost to increase waste diversion or making healthy food with less packaging more accessible.
Movements like these go back to individuals such as Jin and the Green Team, who are making headway in their school.
Jin said, “Our goal is not just to educate people and make them aware, but to make them passionate. So even if my club has only five people but are really passionate, that’s good enough for me.”