Promote community-building and make your town or city a greener place to live.
Looking for easy ideas to promote sustainability and community building at the same time? We got you covered.
- Get Involved with Government and Politics – If you aren’t already involved within your community’s government, you might be surprised at the opportunities for everyday residents to influence policy decisions. Make sure to attend public meetings, reach out to elected officials, and even serve on local boards and commissions.
- Start a Community Garden – Growing food together in a sustainable way isn’t a radical new idea in community building. It’s one that our grandparents and great-grandparents practiced to grow food and to help communities work together. A community garden is about more than just fresh fruits and vegetables; it’s about creating connections with neighbors to create a better and more resilient community.
- Become a Bike Advocate – Here in my home state, we have two local bike groups–the Urban Bike Project and the Newark Bike Project. They are nonprofit groups with the goal of encouraging and supporting bicycling as a healthy, affordable, and practical means of transportation, recreation, and community building. Maybe you could start something like this in your town.
- Pick an Issue and Work on It – There are plenty of worthy, local issues that need advocates just like you. Promoting backyard egg-laying chickens, curbing the use of plastic bags, allowing backyard beehives, and more are all great issues that you promote along with your neighbors. Make change in your community while you build relationships with neighbors!
- Advocate for Local Food – Whether it’s getting a farmers market started in your town, getting a community garden off the ground, working on policy to allow fruit trees and foraging on public lands, there are so many worthwhile local food projects to advocate for while community building.
- Certified Wildlife Habitat – Work with your neighbors to turn your lawns into certified wildlife habitats through the National Wildlife Federation and allow nature to flourish in your town. The antiquated idea of what a yard is supposed to look like dates backs to the 16th-century aristocracy!
- Promote Open Space – Walking paths and parks are one of the quickest and most effective ways to build a sense of community and improve the quality of life. Gather your neighbors together to reach out to your elected officials to identify and protect open spaces in your community.
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