Did We Make It to #1 Worldwide?
by Fredericka Brandt,
USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator
As of mid-April when writing this article, our St. Louis Goes Green! Earth Day Ecochallenge team was ranked 13 out of 735 teams worldwide. WOW! Over 8,000 participants have joined the Ecochallenge community of changemakers since April 1 to create a healthy, just and sustainable future. How are the actions of 8,000+ people making a positive impact on Earth every day? Through the Ecochallenge, participants are composting, spending more time outdoors, keeping plastic bottles & straws out of the landfill, planting trees, saving water, and so much more! We are just halfway through the challenge and our team has composted 55 pounds of waste, participated in multiple advocacy actions, and saved nearly 1,500 gallons of water.
We created the St. Louis Goes Green! Earth Day Ecochallenge team to bring together organizations and their members focused on #goinggreen. Our team consists of USGBC – Missouri Gateway, EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden, One STL, and earthday365. We are making an impact by engaging in the online platform of earthday.ecohallenge.org, which provides ways for us to connect the dots between our actions, our impact, and our will to create significant environmental and social change. The Earth, each community, each state, and each country is made up of individuals. You are an individual. You are making an impact.
When you challenge yourself to complete the actions laid out in the Earth Day Ecochallenge, you make a positive impact. When you continue to practice healthy, positive habits you continue to make an impact every day, serving as an example to your family, your coworkers, your neighbors, and your community. When you lead by example your children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren see your positive actions. You might just find that your individual work inspires someone else to practice healthy habits for the Earth too. Before you know it, you’ve inspired and led community action to make this great spinning dot we call home a healthier, more equitable, more sustainable place.
As we keep spinning, keep learning, and keep taking positive action, the number of individuals who join us will grow. The positive impact we have on Earth will grow. Our actions are making impactful positive change, and as a collective team we have the potential to see these changes flourish. By making a personal commitment to individually create and practice healthy sustainable habits for the Earth, for your well-being, and for your community, you will begin to witness this planet thrive as carbon emissions are reduced.
As a team member of St. Louis Goes Green! I encourage you to check out our results by visiting earthday.ecochallenge.org. Did we get make it to first? How did Missouri do as a whole? What did the United States accomplish together? What kind of impact did we have just in the month of April as a collective team world-wide? Individuals like you are signing up every day and making a commitment, to do what you can, in ways that are most relevant to you, to make this Earth a healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable home. We are making an impact together.
Want to learn ways to help us continue to ensure a better shared future for all?
Please visit usgbc-mogateway.org for regular updates on virtual education and engagement opportunities. Or follow us @usgbcmogateway.