Your average citizen believes the first stage of “Saving the environment” means either picking up litter or recycling. Second stage of conservation = first stage + any additional conservation practices. Stage two comes with swag, like the label “hippy” and some serious long-term money saving benefits. Most local parks and recreation agencies are platinum stage for hippy status. They’ve got LEED certified platinum buildings, they’ve installed led lights everywhere, they’ve put permeable pavers in all their new parking lots, they’ve protected endangered and threatened species, and they’ve practically wrote the book on local environmental education. But I wonder if these local environmental leaders have forgotten the importance of the first stage. Despite advances into conservation levels never before dreamed of, it is often difficult to find recycling options in local parks, or recreation centers, or rental facilities or administration buildings. Recently, I was part of a lunch meeting at a local park district building that had visible and accessible recycling options! Hooray! However, when the garbage can had filled up, the attendees (local parks and recreation professionals) filled the recycle bin with their trash. Honestly, it should be really hard to NOT recycle when you work for local parks and recreation. Look to the Oak Brook Park District as an example. One of their values is environmental stewardship, which should be a value of every parks and recreation professional. This value encourages them to have visible recycling options everywhere. A value should be lived, so it’s also not surprising that they think about the impact on the environment in everything they do.
I’d even encourage you to take stage one conservation to the next level like the Town of Normal, Illinois. Their recreation department manages the Children’s Discovery Museum. You wouldn’t necessarily expect environmental education messaging from a children’s museum like say, a nature center. But the Normal Children’s museum offers recycling AND composting. They even have informative signage that thoroughly explains what belongs in the garbage, recycling and compost receptacles. I’m sure people mess it up all the time, but they are trying. I’m also sure they are making really great dirt for their flower beds and community gardens in the process.
Your communities look to you as conservation leaders and you go above and beyond in so many ways! In the process of revolutionizing conservation efforts don’t forget the building blocks of recycling and composting. The future growth of your community depends on the soil you are creating and the seeds you are planting today.
