The Importance of Community

Margaret Mead said “never underestimate a small group of committed people to change the world, in fact it’s the only thing that ever has”. With the U.S. and most of the world approaching 10 months of socially distancing through a pandemic, it can be hard to live out what Mead said even though we are becoming more and more aware of the environmental sufferings of our planet every day. What I have seen as an environmental scientist and as a member or leader of. multiple environmental communities, is that more than change is brought through these communities. They are a place where people feel safe, connected, empowered, heard, and united. Although we have lost a sense of community through COVID, we have also gained some communities through virtual platforms, in this small article I want to share the importance of these communities and why saving the Earth is not a one person job.

While I was studying in New Zealand two years ago, I had the opportunity to live in a house with five other amazing smart young female scientists. In this house we took our classes, cooked meals, ate together around a large table, volunteered in the community together, swam in the ocean, went on trips, and most of all, talked. The most important part of environmental communities are the multiple diverse voices that create new ideas and give the motivation to enact them. The problem with many environmental communities is that people feel that they have to be in the environmental field to make a difference. This is not only false but also harmful to the community as a whole. The best communities are ones where the members are connected through passion, but differ in career goals, racial background, cultural background, age, gender, socio economic status,etc. The more diverse the people sitting at the table is the better we become, so that the environmental community can cross all barriers. Anyone can be an environmentalist and create change wherever they work and live.

The real question is, is this even possible? Can we have a community that is that diverse? Thanks to COVID, communities have grown to be virtual, although this has led to a learning curve of how to feel connected and heard in a virtual environment, it has created a diversity of voices all over the world that have access to a global environmental community. The environmental group I’m referencing is Tuesdays For Trash which has recently reached 17 countries, and has people from all over picking up trash on Tuesdays in their hometowns to make a difference for our planet. Tuesday’s for trash is quickly growing too, with chapters started in major cities all over the U.S. (D.C., L.A., Portland and NYC). When stay at home orders are not in place, T4T chapter’s host cleanups in their cities where T4T members can meet each other and help clean the environment together. Although virtual communities are amazing, they are not always perfect and because many virtual communities are new from the pandemic we still have a lot to learn on how to connect and create a personal community.

I still haven’t gotten to my point on why saving the earth is not a one person job. So, while I was in New Zealand, I visited a lot of different communities with the five amazing young female scientists and I learned many valuable lessons from multiple environmental communities that I would like to share with you. When we visited Wellington, we stayed overnight at the Ngatiawa River Monastery, I remember what I first pictured in my head when I heard this for the first time, and let me tell you it’s not what you just pictured. No one wore robes or had shaven heads, instead it was a group of families and travelers who stayed together on a small plot of land next to the most beautiful flowing river. They had sheep, chickens, a garden, and a little prayer chapel on the hill. They cooked together, ate together, and everyone had different chores to make the place livable for everyone. Most met for prayer three times a day in the prayer chapel, and liturgies were sung in english and in the native New Zealand tongue, Maori. This community had a deep connection with the land they lived on and the people that lived on the land. Although they weren’t socially connected with the problems of the world, they were living out a peaceful low carbon emission lifestyle. What I learned for myself from this community is that it’s easier to reduce your footprint on the earth when everyone you live with is working for the same goal. They weren’t thinking what can I do to care for the earth, they were thinking how can I live in a community with people, the environment, and myself and the effect from that was a greener lifestyle.

So how can we put a global virtual environmental movement together with the lifestyle of modern day monks? It takes learning and listening to your local environment, neighbors, family/housemates, the native people your land is from, and local politics. It’s about creating a safe environmental space in your home, your neighborhood, your city, and then thinking globally. Because if everyone started creating an environmental lifestyle in their homes and communities, then every community will be environmental. So let’s start small and get big, lets clean up trash in our streets, talk about the environment within our household and communities, work places, and on Instagram. Let’s be humble and listen to voices that make us defensive, let’s even try to have conversations with people who see different politically in our neighborhoods because to save the world we need everyone to help.