Students for Change
We all want to change the world
When it comes to world-changing, that's our business at NCP. Like you, we're worried about
the planet - from endangered species to climate change to deforestation - and about people -
especially young women who can't go to school, and others left out and left behind. We know
you care about these things too.
"What can I do?" Makena asked after the session with her class. Here are some ideas,
starting with personal choices and moving out from there:
Pay attention to what you eat. They're cutting down rainforest and using child workers to
produce palm oil - and it's in a lot of stuff you like (yep, Skittles, KitKat bars, Oreos - and
Girl Scout cookies). We waste 40 percent of the food we grow in the USA - and with it all
the land and fuel and chemicals it took to grow it. Don't.
Fight climate change It's the challenge of your lifetime. Drive less, since every mile creates
a pound of CO2; go veggie and reduce your carbon footprint by 1.5 tons this year. Our
Million Tree Campaign is planting 100,000 trees a year for the next ten years to soak up
carbon dioxide plus do a bunch of other wonderful things for our planet and us - pitch in!
Think about students in other places. Over 250 million children and youth are not in school
around the world. For girls, this leads to early marriage, a difficult future - or even sex
trafficking. Our Give a Girl a Chance program sends a girl to school for 15 cents a day -
$65 gets a high school girl in Malawi a bicycle to help her get to school 7-14 miles away! And
educating girls is one of the Top Ten ways to put the brakes on climate change!
Connect with groups doing good things. NCP invites volunteers and interns to our
Sustainable Living Centers in VA and VT where we work on sustainable food production,
reducing greenhouse gases, promoting bicycling and doing outreach to the marginalized.
Get others involved! Two teenage sisters started a campaign that got plastic bags banned
in Bali! Greta and Malala launched global movements with their courage and persistence.
North Penn HS has an active EnAct enviro club - with its own Facebook page and newsletter,
The Green Gazette - cool! The SAVE Club at Souderton High has a greenhouse for food production
and runs recycling campaigns for everything from computers to Christmas trees - and are the
self-proclaimed Best Environmental Club in the USA (modesty is another of their virtues... ;0 ).
Get your friends together and put the heat on your campus to get greener!
- NetZero Plastic is the goal of a group at Bridgewater College in VA. (photo)
- At Washington College on the Eastern Shore, they're into gardening, hiking and
taking care of the Chesapeake Bay.
- Engineers, gardeners, activists - Lafayette College has them all!
- Green Allies works to empower student groups in the Mid-Atlantic states,
including holding a yearly conference to bring together activists, educators
and students from a six-state region.
Supercharge your passion - go on an NCP Learning Tour to visit incredible people and
places like Myanmar and Nepal (photo), Denali National Park in Alaska, or the Dine
Reservation in New Mexico - and have an up-close and personal encounter with the
beauty of our world and the resilience of its people - and the challenges facing both.
Bring NCP to your school or club or congregation to talk about the rain forest, plastics,
climate change, girls' education, child labor or any other topic you care about.
