(© Bonnie Schiedel. Originally published in Green Living, Fall 2009).
So you’ve changed your light bulbs, lowered your thermostat and signed a few petitions—all great steps towards protecting the planet. But if you’re itching for a more meaningful and direct way to make change, consider volunteering for a green cause. Here our some of our favourite opportunities to pitch in—whether you’re looking to give your time and talents once a day or once a year.
Short term
Keep an eye your own backyard Help scientists study climate change and biodiversity by collecting scientific data—right in your own community, on your own time—through four different NatureWatch programs. Using scientific protocols designed to be easy for non-scientists to follow, you can help identify freeze/thaw cycles of water bodies (IceWatch), listen for frog and toad calls (FrogWatch), record bloom dates for wildflowers (PlantWatch) and even look for worms (WormWatch).
Time commitment: varies from a few minutes a day to an hour a week, seasonally
Get more info: www.naturewatch.ca. Consider other monitoring programs too, such as www.waterkeeper.ca (national) and www.citizensenvironmentwatch.org (Toronto)
Lead a tour Got a cool green event, building or natural area in your town? Learn more about it, and help others to learn and be inspired too, by volunteering as a tour guide. "Last fall, as part of Green Skyline, I led two one-hour tours of the Olympic Village, which includes a low-carbon energy system, rain-water reuse, sustainable spring water management and green roofs," says urban designer Dave Ramslie of Vancouver. "It was great to be able to interact with other people interested in sustainable development, and see it through their eyes."
Time commitment: minimum 3 hours
Get more info: www.cascadiagbc.org and click on "programs and events." (southern BC). Be sure to check out tour guide opportunities in your own city too. (see "Who needs your help?" sidebar)
Use your computer You can lend a hand in small way every time you hit your computer’s On button. For example, use a search engine with a conscience like Google’s Blackle, which saves engery with its predominant use of the colour black. Or play a free green game that automatically buys carbon offsets. You can also take part in "distributed computing," where the spare processing power of your computer is used to help make calculations for a large project on, say, climate change.
Time commitment: a couple minutes
Get more info: www.helpfromhome.org
Medium-term
Put the 3 Rs into action Habitat for Humanity has 60 ReStores across the country, which sell used or slightly imperfect new building materials, ranging from cabinets and fixtures to hardware and paint, that would otherwise be destined for the landfill. The revenue goes towards building homes for low-income families. Volunteer activities include sales, stocking, driving the truck that picks up donations, loading and unloading merchandise, salvage, maintenance, marketing, communications and accounting.
Time commitment: varies from store to store, but 10-24 hours a month is average
Get more info: www.habitat.ca
Rock the vote If you like the environmental policies of your municipal, provincial or federal politico, help him or her get into office to put those policies to work. Door-to-door canvassing and lawn sign duty are time-honoured election tasks, but other skills are needed year-round. For example, the Green Party has volunteer positions for translators, videographers, web programmers, graphic designers, systems trainers and event organizers.
Time commitment: about 2-6 hours a week
Get more info: www.greenparty.ca, or contact your local rep (for any party) directly
Work with kids Inspire kids to protect the earth—and have a blast besides—by volunteering with environmental education programs. Green Kids is a non-profit theatre group that travels to grade schools in western and central Canada, putting on positive, interactive shows with green themes. Volunteer roles include writing acting, promotion, set design and directing. Fiona Sanipelli, a Winnipeg interior designer, created the graphics that decorate Green Kids’ "Bio Bus" (a camper van used by the cast and crew that runs on solar power and vegetable oil), and outfitted it with bamboo flooring and recycled fabrics. She also chose the images that are projected on the backdrop during one of the recent plays. "It’s so fun to see the kids squealing and jumping up and down and enjoying the show!" she says.
Time commitment: varies from 1-10 hours per week, depending on role
Get more info: www.greenkids.com. Other children’s programs to consider include www.earthangels.ca (Toronto), www.coastalaction.org (Nova Scotia) and www.girlguides.ca (national).
Long term
Take the trip of a lifetime Environmental volunteer vacations are a win-win opportunity: you get to travel to a unique and beautiful part of the world, and take part in a valuable scientific expedition to evaluate climate change, monitor habitat or help restore ecosystems. "It was mind-blowing, inspiring and enlightening. It was so much fun and I met incredible people," says writer Rebecca Caldwell of Toronto, who traveled to Canada’s Arctic last February to conduct climate change research with University of Alberta scientists. "The field work was so interesting: we dug snow pits and then classified the snow crystals, and took density measurements and temperatures. I felt like I was a small part of a big project that was doing some good."
Time commitment: generally 10 days to 3 weeks. Volunteers have to pay their way.
Get more info: www.earthwatch.org. Also check out www.projects-abroad.ca
Help out closer to home If your schedule and budget can’t accommodate a blow-out exotic trip, there are still plenty of shorter, wallet-friendly (about $200-600 plus transportation) volunteer vacations out there. You could spend a weekend helping to clean up the shoreline of a beautiful island off the coast of BC, for instance, or a week restoring native vegetation and removing invasive species at the majestic Grand Canyon. As with the longer-term trips, you’ll be able to relax and explore the area during your downtime.
Time commitment: 2 days to one week
Get more info: www.conservancy.bc.ca (BC) and www.sierraclub.org (North America).
Work for free Between jobs, retired or underemployed? Doing a full-time or part-time environmental internship can be a great way to beef up your resume and make a meaningful contribution to a green cause. For example, SeaChoice, a national organization dedicated to educating the public about sustainable seafood choices, offers a three-month, part-time internship in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Interns are responsible for outreach programs at sustainable seafood events in their city.
Time commitment: varies from one half-day a week to full-time for a set period of weeks or months.
Get more info: www.seachoice.org. Also visit www.wwoof.org (organic farming in North America and around the world) and www.ecoteer.com (multi-month work abroad programs)
Find green volunteering opportunities:
www.planetvolunteer.net
www.ec.gc.ca/volunteers
www.idealist.org
www.volunteer.ca or 1-800-670-0401
