5 Ideas for Environmental Volunteering

Volunteer work, especially when it involves environmental conservation, is a great way to inspire community development and give back to Mother Nature. Spending volunteer opportunities getting your hands dirty offers a chance to directly protect our natural resources and indirectly save endangered species and prompt forest conservation.

There are volunteer programs involving environmental projects across the nation that you can pursue to help inspire a safer, greener planet. Here are a few environmental volunteer ideas that you can try on your own, with family, or with other community members:

1. Encourage Your Family to Recycle

One of the easiest ways to get your family involved with environmental conservation is by encouraging them to recycle at home and on the go. Throwing recyclables in with waste plays a role in the amount of trash build up at landfills, which can ultimately impact the environment in a negative way.

“Landfills create methane, a serious climate bad actor, and the less that goes into the landfill, the better,” Keefe Harrison, the CEO of a recycling organization shared with The Atlantic. “From a system point of view, recycling protects the climate by keeping natural habitats in place, limiting the need for carbon-intensive harvesting of virgin natural resources.”

Make it a simplified task by setting up four bins with labels: plastic, paper, and cardboard, glass, aluminum. Other tips you can share with family members and friends include:

• Never recycle plastic grocery bags
• Make sure recyclables are always clean and empty
• Understand the difference between recyclable plastic and nonrecyclable plastic

With better education on recycling, you and your family can get more comfortable reducing your carbon footprint and contributing to a healthier planet.

2. Form a Park Clean-Up Group

Does your community have an issue with trash and waste spread from one line of the town to the next? Even when the occasional piece of trash gets left behind on the ground, it’s more likely to invade and pollute our waters and other natural resources.

Getting together a group of friends for trash collection is a simple way to give back to the community. You can also work with your local parks and recreation department to organize an event that brings more locals together for a bigger impact.

3. Grow a Community Garden

A community garden filled with lush greens, fresh fruits, and vegetables, as well as blossoming flowers is a simple way to light up the town and inspire a love for plant life. Keeping a garden can offset gas emissions that would otherwise arise from transporting food. Plus, both edible and flower gardens can improve the quality of air and soil in your community.

4. Plant Trees Throughout the Community

Trees are essential to creating livable, sustainable communities. They’re responsible for improving the quality of air, conserving water, supporting animals and wildlife, preserving soil and so much more. But most importantly, they provide oxygen that allows our communities to thrive. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “It is proposed that one large tree can provide a day’s supply of oxygen for up to four people.”

Get a group of friends together to plant new trees throughout the community. This is a great opportunity for environmental volunteer work that you can bring up to your local parks and recreation department.

5. Volunteer with Natural Restorations

Looking for a conservation volunteer opportunity? Natural Restorations, a Tru Flask partner, hosts an environmental volunteer program that consists of military veterans and community members. The organization works closely within a local community to conduct restoration work in an effort to preserve and maintain our natural lands and other resources.

Natural Restorations takes pride in its effort to educate the community on the importance of caring for the environment and providing the right tools and resources to garner the changes.