Lessons Learned

Throughout many of these conversations, this point was brought up over and over again. To be a successful activist, you need to be willing to meet people where they are and try to change their minds using compassion and empathy. Remember, prejudice is often rooted in fear. A lot of people are passionate about environmental justice, but condemning people with different, even problematic views will not advance your cause. Take the time to make a judgement call: do you have the emotional capacity to calmly discuss this issue with the person? Do you think there is any chance to change their mind? Are there certain topics you think might resonate with the person more than others? And finally, are you the right person to change their mind? The sad reality is that sometimes people receive unwelcome messages better from strangers than family members or public figures. •“It doesn’t help to guilt-trip or blame people who don’t believe in your cause. The only thing that is effective is patient, repeated conversations where you challenge them to think critically about their own beliefs. You can’t tell someone that their beliefs are wrong. They need to come to that realization on their own.” – Veronica Coptis •“Talk to people equally, whether they’re democrat or republican, whether they agree with you or not. People are rarely just one thing or the other. There are often significant reasons for why they believe what they do. If you can get them to see that you respect them as people, it will be easier to get them to listen to what you have to say. Not only that, but it’s good for your own views to be challenged, so that you’re always thinking critically about the issues you’re fighting for. Don’t expect someone to accept your word blindly, even if you’re totally convinced.” – Maurice Sampson

Even people who agree on basic principals - “Climate change is a problem,” “air pollution needs to decreased,” “green energy is the future” - might have vastly different ideas of how to go about it. Some people might be in favor of cap-and-trade policies, while others see it as a get out of jail free card for polluting. Some people might argue that subsidies for local farmers and green energy initiatives are important, while others might worry that it could increase taxes without addressing the root causes of local pollution. True activism means understanding that there are many ways to attack the same problem and appreciating that clinging to a single view might inhibit progress rather than increase it. There’s a classic saying “two steps forward, one step back.” Being willing to compromise, even if it doesn’t achieve exactly what you were hoping to get done, is still better than no forward progress at all. •“There have been struggles working with other environmental groups. There are times where the group butt heads with people they should be allies with. I’ve definitely had my patience tried.” - Jill Mangaliman •“We’re pushing back against big green as well. Wind mills and solar panels aren’t going to solve working conditions or ownership issues.” – Veronica Coptis

It’s actually pretty easy to get started with environmental work. All you have to do is something. Organize a few friends and go collect trash in the local park. Reach out to the local chapter of the Sierra Club or another local non-profit and ask if they have any upcoming activities you could participate in. These organizations are always looking for volunteers. You don’t need to commit to months of work. Start by giving a few hours one weekend to help out your community. If you can’t do that, consider ways you can change your daily routine to help out, like drinking water from the tap instead of from a bottle. Another option is to get on a mailing list that lets you know about important environmental bills coming up in your state legislature. They will often have a form you can quickly sign and send to your representative that lets them know of your support. No matter what your ability or situation is, you can help make a difference. •“No one knows your community better than you, you don’t need to be knighted to start a mission to make your community better.” – Marylee Orr

All of the organizations highlighted in these interviews focus on their local communities. They are not trying to solve all the problems in the USA, but they are making a huge impact in their area. And if you add up the effects of all environmental non-profits in the USA, that’s a lot work that’s being accomplished across the country. When you work towards making a cleaner environment in your community, you are joining thousands of other communities working towards a better future for us all. •“Environmental work succeeds because it’s done together and starts at home. It’s about taking care of your neighbors. Everything you learn on a neighborhood scale can then be applied to a nationwide scale.” – Maurice Sampson •“We’re not alone in this work. Somewhere out there there’s another Got Green that is helping their own community. We’re all fighting.” – Jill Mangaliman

There’s a temptation to want to be the first at something, whether that’s accomplished by founding a new non-profit or starting a new volunteer group in your town. But there are hundreds of established environmental groups across the country that need new, energetic, young people to help keep their good work going. •“This is long term work, and there aren’t a lot of young people in this space. Most of the people I work with are older women. We need people who can carry the movement forward.” – Marylee Orr •“Mistakes we made are being repeated by new activists. Their ideas are good, but their methods are wrong. If they talked to the older generation, they would have the lessons we learned decades earlier.” – Maurice Sampson •Starting your own organization might seem great, but it’s a lot of work. Most of your time will go into bureaucracy and funding, rather than the work you’re actually interested in doing. Alternatively, consider joining one of the large, long-standing groups like the Sierra Club. They don’t have a lot of young members and could use new perspectives to revitalize them. Not to mention that they already have an organizational structure, so you can put most of your time and effort into the causes you’re fighting for. – Ean Tafoya (paraphrased)

There is so much that could be said here, all of which is important. The native people of America have tried and proven methods for maintaining a healthy environment, while also ensuring it is safe and inhabitable for humans. These methods include things like controlled burns to keep forests from getting out of control and causing wildfires, using crop circulation instead of monocultures/ fertilizers to maintain soil health and ensure long-term harvests, and keeping track of fish and whale populations to prevent the collapse of fisheries. All of these practices could be immediately implemented by our country and help us adapt to a warming climate. However, another thing we need to keep in mind is making sure that credit and respect is given to those who established these practices and honed the skills and knowledge required to implement them. It would be too easy to take the knowledge and use it, just as this country has taken land, rights, and resources. Instead of “mining” this knowledge, we need to include indigenous communities in land management as equal shareholders of the land. •“We need to honor indigenous people by recognizing their traditional methods. The native people of California knew when to do controlled burns in order to prevent giant wildfires.” – Tere Almaguer •“We need to remember that native lives were what this country was built on. Both their assimilation and their deaths.” – Lisa Finley-DeVille

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When you’re young, especially now in the age of 30 second videos and rapid media consumption, you expect everything to happen quickly. But long-term change doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye. If you’re committed to activism, here are a few things you’ll need to get prepared for a few of the following (all of which were experienced by the interviewees at some point). •Long town halls where no one seems to agree on anything •Months of canvassing and gathering signatures, only to have the city council tell you that they’re not convinced it’s a big issue •Having to contact scientists and researchers if public officials don’t want to fund health studies and won’t change policies without the data •Hours of answering and sending emails, phone calls, letters, etc. •The large amount of bureaucratic paperwork involved with organizing, community outreach, and most other forms of community activism The important thing to remember is that these are temporary roadblocks. If you persevere, all of these can be overcome.