A series that runs every Tuesday, where I ask questions unrelated to the environment, fair trade, or local politics that I’ve been wondering about but haven’t been able to google the answers to. Any advice is appreciated.
When you were in college — or for those of you who are in college, right now — what did you do for the environment and social justice?
Do you feel overwhelmed by the requests for money you get from various orgs you feel affinities with? If so, how do you deal with these requests, in light of the fact that you have limited funds?
Good questions, Siel!
1. In college, I did very little for the environment and social justice. I think for the first year or two, I was just getting over high school ;) and reveling in the fun and challenge of college. I started taking women’s studies classes my junior year, and that set me on a more focused path re: social justice – getting a related internship, becoming more politically aware, and eventually starting a career in politics and social justice issues. I think my education laid the groundwork for action after I graduated. I have to say, I am really impressed by college students who take time from social and academic pleasures and challenges to become leaders in social action. That takes a lot of passion, commitment and time management skills.
2. $ pleas from non-profits. This is always a tough one for me. I’m apparently on the bleeding heart, tree hugging, liberal mailing list, so I get tons of requests for money. I can’t realistically give to every worthy cause, so I’ve set up monthly sustainer memberships in areas that are important to me (NARAL, Global Exchange and Amnesty International). I want to add a more specifically enviro group to that list, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. And I always feel particularly guilty when I receive a mailing with address labels or tiny Tibetan prayer flags and I don’t send a donation. (I guess that’s their angle, eh?) One thing that bothers me a bit with all of these mailings is the enviro impact of all that paper and shipping.
Comment by Melissa — April 19, 2006 @ 10:38 am
1 i did not really do anything at all in relation to environment. at uni i was a member of amnesty and wrote letters pleaing for a decent trial of x or immediate release of y.
2 i put myself in the public i-do-not-want-addressed-offers-or-telephone-calls. that effectively blocked everything. at least in sweden. back in sweden i donated money to three organisations, of i was member of two. these received small monthly installments, the other on a much more irregular basis. with the very limited funds i have i think it is better to give a least some boost to one field of interest. the two main organisation above had a different approach with similar overall aim.
now in portugal i am paying non-active member in one org and volunteer in another org. so i guess giving my time and effort is one type of payment/donation.
Comment by Johan — April 19, 2006 @ 12:52 pm
In college I was the president of my school’s biological sciences society, and I did a lot of “guiding” work in the mangroves, rocky beaches, and forests, teaching schoolkids and sometimes adults about biodiversity and nature.
In terms of donations, I just give where I can when I’m able to, but obviously I’m not that soluble so I just pick and choose based on my interests and the ratings on CharityNavigator.org.
Comment by Jasmin — April 19, 2006 @ 1:46 pm
In college I didn’t do much for the environment except learn. It was in college that I was first exposed to the concerns of Western overconsumption. The process to employing the things I learned about took years. Now I am in a (priviledged) place where I can ride my bike to work (have no car) and shop in open air markets and have no air conditioner. I compost on my balcony and throw away probably half of what I did back in Chicago. In Italy that’s easier, average distances from home to work are shorter, alternatives to big supermarkets are plentiful and well, air conditioning is rare.
Comment by Susan in Italy — April 21, 2006 @ 2:25 am
BTW, I love the content of your site. Great stuff.
1) I worked for my campus facilities department during college. I start working on a recycling program, and then switched to energy conservation… with a little monkeywrenching on the weekends to keep my sanity. It wasn’t until after WTO Seattle that I made a deep connection between social and environmental change and how the first needed to preceed the later.
2)Giving money to organizations is similiar to working for a cause… it’s all about were you want to put your energy. We all pick our battles by choosing what we see as the logical next step towards a goal. I see donating to an organization in the same light, and choose only a few that I see readily relevant. Right now I support Rural Vermont. A great local farmers advocacy group in central Vermont fight for a GM free Vermont… as well as backyard chicken flocks that do not need RFID tags.
E
Comment by EC — April 25, 2006 @ 12:34 pm
Okay — I seriously did nothing for the environment while I was in college. That said, I didn’t own a car then, so I s’pose I was emmitting fewer greenhouse gases than I prolly am now –
I usually give a lil money to Planned Parenthood, NARAL and Global Exchange when they ask me for it with a specific cause at target. I recently had to halt my monthly contribution to Environment California though :( I also support KCRW. And I gave a few bucks to WorldChanging during their fundraising efforts last week. If money falls from the sky, I’d like to give to Greenpeace and the ACLU…. Usually, I try to comfort myself by saying I devote time to these causes, if not money as of yet –
Comment by Siel — April 26, 2006 @ 5:25 pm