Greening Denver

By Kate Levinson

With average starting salaries upwards of $40K, nearly a quarter of the population in its 20s and, of course, with a beautiful backdrop, it’s no surprise that recent college grads are flocking to Denver -- and thanks to them, it’s become one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.

And now we can add one more thing to the why-everyone-loves-Denver list: It’s green. Though always environmentally conscious, the city has really stepped it up in preparation for the upcoming Democratic National Convention -- what organizers say will be the greenest convention ever. And the green in Denver won’t end when the convention does. The Democratic National Convention Committee, the DNC Host Committee and the city’s Greenprint Denver are working together to make sure things get green and stay green for the convention and beyond.

The Democratic National Convention Committee began the greening process more than a year ago, starting with its own offices. They purposely chose a building near a mass transit hub and encouraged employees to walk or bike to work. When employees get there, they are met with energy efficient lighting and electronics, workstations that incorporate repurposed and recycled materials and a ton of recycled paper (for when they absolutely need to print something, double-sided only). What they won’t see is trash cans: To keep employees’ eyes on recycling, they don’t have garbage cans in their offices.

The DNCC has taken enormous steps to ensure the greenest convention in history, starting with the calculation of the entire event’s carbon footprint. They plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and participate in carbon offset programs to remedy the unavoidable.

The convention will also focus on energy efficiency, including permanent solar panels being installed on the Pepsi Center, the oh-so-green venue for the event, and also recycling and composting waste, focusing on sustainable materials and encouraging the use of mass transit.

The committee is also making sure convention attendees know what’s going on and why, with its green community service and education programs that aim to impact the Denver community post-event. Check out part one of the DNCC’s “Green Screen” series for a behind-the-scenes look at the greening going on:

While the DNCC tackles the convention itself, the event’s host committee, in partnership with Greenprint Denver, is trying to green everything beyond the doors of the Pepsi Center. It has organized Green Teams to address things like business outreach, including a green business directory for convention-goers; guidance for green event planning; water conservation efforts, from reminders in hotel rooms to reusable water bottles; and a Lean & Green program to offer guests healthy, organic and locally grown dining options.

According to the Wall Street Journal, much of the force behind greening Denver came from the city’s Democratic mayor, John Hickenlooper, who early on issued a challenge to “make this the greenest convention in the history of the planet.”

The response from newly hired Director of Greening, Andrea Robinson? “That terrifies me!”

But terrifying or not, all this greening will have a huge, lasting impact on the convention, the city of Denver and most importantly, the planet.

Photo by ishrona

Outdoor Education

By Amber Fagan

Outdoor education is a form of organized learning that takes place outside in a natural setting. The philosophy behind outdoor education claims that experiential and environmental education is best learned up close and personal with nature. It is often based on journey-type experiences in which students participate in hiking, canoeing, climbing, and other outdoor activities. Group games are a common staple of this teaching method.

The aims of outdoor education are to:

• Learn how to overcome adversity
• Enhance personal and social development
• Develop a deeper relationship with nature.

Outdoor education utilizes these three aims to teach outdoor survival skills, improve problem solving skills, reduce recidivism, enhance teamwork, develop leadership skills, understand the natural environment, and may promote spirituality.

Outdoor education can be said to have its beginning in early forms of organized camping trips that were popular across the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Programs like the nonprofit organization Outward Bound spread to the United States from Europe in the 1960’s. Outward Bound’s (Link: http://www.outwardbound.org/) mission “is to inspire character development and self-discovery in people of all ages and walks of life through challenge and adventure, and to impel them to achieve more than they ever thought possible, to show compassion for others and to actively engage in creating a better world.”

Antioch University in Ohio has a Naturalist Internship Program at the Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center. (Link: http://www.antioch.edu/glenhelen/OEC/NaturalistInternshipProgram.html) that strives to encourage children to cultivate a deeper relationship and appreciation of nature. The National Outdoor Leadership and Education School (Link: http://www.nols.edu/) in Wyoming wants to “take people into the wilderness for an extended period of time, teach them the right things, feed them well and when they walk out of the mountains, they will be skilled leaders.” Cornell University’s Phillips Outdoor Program Center (Link: http://www.coe.cornell.edu/goto.jsp?page=home) offers adventures in backpacking, biking, caving, climbing, emergency care, hiking, paddling, skiing, and teambuilding. The program also offers adult programs and multi-element adventures.

Outdoor education has been around for some time now, but it is becoming increasingly popular due to increased awareness of our environment and green initiatives. It also offers interesting career opportunities for those who want to work outdoors and educate others about the environment.

For more information see: The Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education (Link: http://aeoe.org/) and Outdoor Ed (Link: http://www.outdoored.com/)

Plant Some Green, Save Some Green

By Anne Consroe

In today’s world of skyrocketing fuel prices and fears of water shortages, many homeowners are looking for ways to reduce utility bills while minimizing their environmental impact. One approach involves techniques in which you landscape your lawn.

Follow these five easy pointers to help cut down on your household utility bills and help the environment, while landscaping your property.

1. Plant deciduous trees to shade your house. Planted on the east, west, and south sides of your house, deciduous trees (trees that drop their leaves in the fall) naturally cut down on air conditioning expenses during long hot summers. When the trees loose their leaves for the winter, they allow sunlight to warm up the house, also helping on heating costs during the colder months.

2. Plant evergreen trees to break the rough cold winter winds. It is beneficial to determine the dominant wind direction at your house (usually on the north and west), and plant your evergreen upwind. This will also help cut down on heating costs during the winter.

3. Plant species native to your geographical area. Native plants evolved through generations to be acclimated to the natural weather patterns of an area, and therefore require less maintenance and irrigation than exotic plants. They are also more resistant to pests and diseases than many non-native species, reducing the need for pesticides. When you do water, however, remember to water either in the morning or in the evening, when the sun is not at its peak. This will maximize how efficient the plant uses the moisture.

4. Plant a small garden for your home use. Planting fruits, vegetables, and herbs not only saves money and allows you to know exactly where your produce comes from, but also supports a more sustainable way of producing food. And of course, natural and/or organic gardening techniques maximize the benefit to the environment.

5. Compost. By starting a compost pile, you are able to reduce your landfill contribution while recycling your waste and providing vital nutrients to your garden. Fruit peels, vegetable trimmings, and yard clippings can all be composted to add beneficial nutrients to your landscaping.

Please visit

http://extension.usu.edu/forestry/HomeTown/Energy_TreesandEnergy.htm

for more information on planting trees for energy conservation,

http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/

for more information on native plants, and

http://www.compostguide.com/

for more information on composting.

Sustainable investing that is good for the wallet and the environment

By Amber Fagan

You arrive at the office on your first day of work. You are shown your new desk, introduced to people whose names you will not remember, and then hauled into the Human Resources office where you will most likely spend the rest of the day filling out paperwork.

You flip through the forms and notice one for your 401K. (Take a moment to feel truly grown-up.)

Now, if you are anything like me, you are hopelessly confused as to what you should do with your money. Should you invest more in stocks or bonds? Are you more conservative or aggressive with your money?

Do you want to make a difference with your 401K? If so, then socially responsible investing (SRI) is an investment strategy that seeks to increase financial profit and social good. SRI has been around for decades, but it has gained more ground with the growing green movement.

According to SustainableBusiness.com, only 20 percent of employees have the option of SRI; however, the numbers are growing quickly. It is estimated that by 2010, 60 percent of the workforce will have the option of SRI. It is also called the “second bottom line”, since, obviously the first bottom line if the financial benefit gained through the investment, while the second bottom line is the moral or ethical benefit from investing in companies that seek to improve the environment.

Calvert and Domini are two of the most well known SRI companies.

“Both firms ply the three main tenets of SRI: (1) rigorous research to assess the social and environmental integrity of companies being considered for inclusion in an investment portfolio; (2) using investors’ positions as stockholders (i.e. owners) of companies invested in to advocate for good corporate citizenship (often through the introduction of corporate resolutions); and (3) channeling affordable credit to needy communities ill-served by traditional lenders to rebuild neighborhoods and create jobs,” according to the Good Human.

Although you can sleep better at night knowing your money is working toward a common good, is it financially sound to trust your money to a bunch of tree huggers?

In short, yes.

Both the Domini Social Equity Fund and the Citizens Index Fund have outperformed the S&P 500 since they started. Also, in today’s world, money talks. Dumping your greenbacks into funds for solar power or groups that combat poverty is a good way to use your money to vote for the things you value most.

For more information on SRI, check out Social Funds, Calvert Funds, Domini Social Investments, Social(k), and Social Investment Forum.

High gas and pollution make many turn to bikes

By Anne Consroe

Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming seem to be the phrases of the year. But politics aside, they are important issues to examine.

The graph represents the contributing components of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States from 1990 to 2006. Over this sixteen year span, the primary greenhouse gas produced by Americans was carbon dioxide (CO2), representing approximately 85 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. The largest source of CO2 was from the combustion of fossil fuels.

The graph above shows emissions by economic categories: agriculture, commercial, electricity generation, industry, residential and transportation. Transportation activities make up the second largest portion.

According to the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, over the past decade automobiles and light trucks have shown to be the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources, accounting for more than 60 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions from mobiles sources.

But there is an alternative: personal bicycles for short trips. With soaring gas prices, bicycles are quickly growing in popularity, especially in urban areas. Bicycle maintenance businesses are also springing up, as they are increasingly becoming more appealing to entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs see such a business as a way to explore their passion for biking while taking advantage of this growing biking population. A small bike repair shop also has relatively low initial start-up investments, and allows the entrepreneur to invest as much time as he or she wants into the business.

Bicycle delivery services are also growing in popularity. Across the country, bikes are used to deliver groceries, newspapers, local businesses, messages, and courier services.

Bicycles are gaining momentum in suburban and urban areas across the country. Will you hop on?

Moving fashion forward

By Kate Levinson
You can rock this oh-so-fashionable bagfrom Target and state the obvious: I don’t use bad-for-the-earth plastic bags. But what damage was done to the planet in the making of your conversation piece? (I find it curious that Target doesn’t say.)

Enter the rising world of eco-fashion—stylish stuff that takes into account the wellbeing of the environment, consumers and manufacturers. The industry is popular, trendy and becoming more and more mainstream as the general public is more educated and concerned about environmental issues (i.e., that 25 percent of insecticides and 10 percent of pesticides in the world are used on cotton). And, of course, any industries growing in popularity so much so fast are career fields worth keeping an eye on.

Perhaps one of the most popular eco-fashion trends is the transformation of trash to treasure. From various food wrappers to old newspapers, soda can tabs to old vinyl records and bike chains to billboards, people are making—and buying—fashionable clothing and accessories that used to be different things entirely.

Check out Ecoist.com for a great selection of cool stuff that would have ended up in a landfill. (My favorite Internet find so far: Reiter8) —get it?!—which makes bags and other accessories from repurposed sails from sailboats.)

As someone who doesn’t have a straight-up environmental career, I find these possibilities to do what you love and positively impact the environment at the same time fascinating. No matter what field you’re in, there are opportunities to use the eco-fashion philosophy of creating products in a way that’s good for the people who make them, the people who use them and the planet we all live on.

For more eco-fashion: Check out the Eco Fashion Blog, EcoFashionWorld.com, the very cool FutureFashion and, of course, TreeHugger.

Photo: Target.com

Too much junk

By Amber Fagan

My sister and I had a yard sale last month. Movies, CDs, stuffed animals, jewelry, furniture, and more were piled onto the lawn.

However, the enormity of my possessions finally hit me when we began dumping all of our unwanted clothes onto tables. I examined all my belongings when I got back home later that day.

How many things did I have that I don’t use? How many more items would end up on the lawn next year to be sold for a fraction of what I bought them for? I have a lot of stuff in my one bedroom apartment that I don’t use, and probably never will use.

There is a growing movement across the nation to downsize our lives. Voluntary Simplicity, or Simple Living as it is also called, is a growing attraction for those who want to eschew consumption and develop a deeper meaning of self. The International Herald Tribune states that “the voluntary simplicity movement, which traces its inception to 1980s Seattle, is drawing a great deal of renewed interest.” There are varying degrees of living the simple life. Some merely get rid of unused junk accumulating in closets and garages, while others live a spartan lifestyle of selling all of their possessions, living off the land for their own sustenance.

The movement is gaining traction with the renewed awareness of quality life and quality time, because possessions are often becoming the reason people wake up and go to work every day. And that does not sit well with some people. Most people who embrace this movement, in whatever form, are looking for more meaning in their lives, away from the day in and day out drudgery of gas prices, television addiction, and cleaning endless rows of knickknacks. The term “downshifting” is often employed to denote individuals who trade high-style living for a more simple life with no careless consumption.

PBS has a series called “Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska” that focuses on four themes: environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement and financial responsibility. These four themes, to me, seem to capture the heart of voluntary simplicity.

And it is part of the green movement in that is promotes an awareness of the environment and the footprint we leave behind. Mindless consumption drains the earth’s resources and leaves behind devastating effects. Want to start small? Use reusable shopping bags and look for items that do not have a lot of packaging. Limiting or eliminating the need for plastic bags and Styrofoam containers is a wonderful way to start.

Also, simple living is not about completely eliminating consumerism (although there are those out there who would disagree with me on this), but it does mean taking a step back to determine if the purchase is really necessary. Will you use that item or will it sit on the shelf, collecting dust? And I am going to lump financial responsibility in with thoughtful consumption since debt and spending run amok is an overwhelming pressure on many people. Live within your means, and if you want to be truly independent, live below your means to the extent you are comfortable.

Finally, there is this whole idea of community involvement. Sharing your time and resources with others can take many forms. Volunteering is a wonderful way to give back to the community. Even getting to know your neighbors can be a form of community involvement. How many of us get home, lock the door and turn on the TV as a daily routine? Join a club, start a neighborhood compost pile, or just get out of the house and interact with other humans.

The ideals behind this movement appeal to me. I would love to get rid of my debt, ditch my day job and leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city with only the items I cherish most. I have tried to embrace some of the elements of simple living and downshifting. I now only buy items if I have the cash to get them and only after I still want the item after a couple of weeks. This habit has tamed my shopaholic ways. I buy more locally grown produce, which has the upside of being cheaper and tasting better. I also have scaled back the breadth and depth of my wardrobe. Who needs five pairs of jeans?

Whatever you choose to call it and whatever degree you choose to practice it, voluntary simplicity or simple living is a lifestyle choice aiming to slow the trend of work and spend.

For more information on Voluntary Simplicity check out Choosing Voluntary Simplicity and Simple Living

Painting the town green

By Anne Consroe

Green building is not only an environmentally friendly way to save money and waste in the home, but it also makes working in an office a little easier.

Many companies are choosing green options in their offices. Kate addressed this issue a few weeks ago in her post.

I wanted to share the ways my office at the Environmental Protection Agency does its part to help the environment.

Our bathrooms are equipped with water-saving toilets that not only use less water than the conventional toilet, but also offer the option of a half-flush as well as the full-flush if needed. Energy-efficient fluorescent lights and kitchen appliances in the break room, as well as plants and trees outside the building that do not require additional watering, add to the mix.

Although I thoroughly enjoy these fixtures, I think one of the best amenities of the building is our green roof. Our green roof includes ground covers and flowers among the benches and picnic tables available for lunch breaks. A green roof helps keep the building cool and absorb rain water, while offering employees a quiet place for some lunch-time fresh air. Our building also encourages biking, offering bike racks and a locker room where commuters can shower and freshen up before work—a necessity for a hot D.C. summer.

To learn more about green building, please visit Greenbuilding.com, and remember that every step helps our future environment.

Fighting green fatigue

By Kate Levinson

Buy green detergent, and only use green cleaners. Eat organic everything. Use the sun to power stuff, and recycle your dirty shower water. And of course all your light bulbs should be squiggly, your electronics unplugged and your compost pile overflowing.

But who wins the dishwasher vs. washing-by-hand fight? Is the junk in Nalgene bottles (and the fuel for the distance they travel) really better than buying and recycling regular plastic water bottles? Is it time to get a hybrid?

And when is it all just too much to wrap your head around?

With living green all the rage, people panicking to do the right thing can fall victim to green noise caused by urgent, sometimes vexing or even contradictory information played at too high a volume for too long.” And then they do nothing. Or feel guilty about the small but important steps they are taking in the right direction.

This “green fatigue” from information and option overload worries companies who are marketing green products—and, lucky for young job-seekers and professionals, looking for fresh ideas and strategies for making environmentally friendly products easy to understand and easy to choose. Preston Koerner of online magazine Jetson Green gives five major principles for battling green fatigue in consumers:

· “Environmental progress should be authentic.” AKA, don’t lie. Don’t promote something that’s not quite as green as it sounds, and acknowledge the fact that you have room for improvement and are working toward it.

· “Products and services need to be remarkable.” AKA, don’t make something green just for the sake of making something green. It needs to be a good dishwasher or water bottle or car first and easy on the environment, too.

· “Spend more time strategizing over appropriate prices.” AKA, don’t make people broke. You don’t have to be the bottom-shelf green cleaner company, but be fair. If you can pitch the fact that you’ve done your homework on the two point above, charging a little more will be fair.

· “Be honest with customers about efforts to improve.” AKA, again, just don’t lie! Some things, such as the Nalgene bottle, come with a handful of good and a handful of bad. Pump up the good stuff, but also tell people a) you know there’s some not-so-good, and b) you’re doing things to make it better.

· “Avoid complaints about costs and obstacles to ‘going green.’” AKA, don’t make excuses. Go back to the childhood days of the word “can’t” not being allowed, focus on the positive and figure out how you can do it.

By keeping these pillars in mind, marketing professionals-to-be will have a leg up on the competition and can start brainstorming about ways to make consumers realize that the green noise, as noisy as it is, is truly an opportunity for people to educate themselves and make choices that will make for a healthier planet. (And of course, if one of those choices just happens to be the product you’re trying to sell, even better.) And as green gets cooler and cooler –and more and more important—you may very well find yourself in green marketing in some capacity whether you expected it or not.

Photo by Clorox Green Works

Business goes green

By Anne Consroe

In a world of free trade and seemingly endless shipping before, during, and after production, it seems as if more and more businesses are beginning to make leaps in sustainable industry.

Many choose to produce goods in a “greener” way for many reasons. In addition to obvious environmental benefits, some companies cater to sustainable production in an attempt to take advantage of the current popularity of the “green movement,” or simply because they morally believe it is the right thing to do.

Businesses choose to advocate sustainable production to cater to consumers’ preferences, especially as organic green products grow in popularity. From Hollywood to small grassroots organizations, “sustainable” has been shown to be the word of the year, and is being marketed to its full extent.

Aside from simply being a catch-phrase, some businesses are choosing sustainable industry because they believe it will benefit the greater good. “Fair trade” products are on the rise with their increases in familiarity and access to markets. Fair trade is defined as a market-based trading technique that promises a fair price for a variety of exports. Keeping in mind environmental and social standards, fair trade promotes economic self-sufficiency in developing countries.

Businesses are also opting for more sustainable inputs (such as organic fibers) to help smaller farmers stay in business while supporting environmentally-friendly farming techniques. American Apparel, Patagonia, Levi’s, H&M, Timberland, and Nike all produce a line of products made with organic materials. Choosing a different green route, L. L. Bean prints their catalogs only on paper from trees that have not been genetically-modified.

Whatever the reason, sustainable practices in industry will be an important factor in the health of our future environment.

Be good to animals

By Amber Fagan

Animal testing is still widely accepted for medical and scientific advancement, but many members of the green revolution are starting to speak out against animal cruelty as an environmental cause.

Some companies, including Aubrey Organics and L’Occitane, have stopped animal testing altogether to save the often cruel and painful procedures that lab animals often have to endure.

According to a animal testing report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, animals of all kinds—birds, dogs, fish, guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, rats and even monkeys—are put through severe pain.

“[They] are forced to swallow or inhale massive doses of a test substance, which can cause severe abdominal pain, paralysis, swelling and ulceration of the skin and/or eyes, convulsions and seizures and bleeding from the nose, mouth and genitals before they are poisoned to death or killed by the experimenter,” the report said.

PETA, an animal protection agency, has claimed that animal testing has not played a key role in medical and scientific advancements.

“Many of the most important advances in the field of health care can be attributed to human studies, which have led to major medical breakthroughs, such as the development of anesthesia, the stethoscope, morphine, radium, penicillin, artificial respiration, x-rays, antiseptics, and CAT, MRI, and PET scans,” WHERE DOES IT SAY THIS?

According to PETA, many countries require animal testing before of pesticides, industrial chemicals, drugs and vaccines, genetically manipulated foods and some consumer products can be imported into the country. Some regulations require upwards of 50 animal toxicity studies.

But recently, alternatives to animal testing have been introduced and include the following:

• EPISKIN™ and EpiDerm™, models made up of human skin cell cultures which have been validated and accepted internationally as complete replacements for rabbit skin-corrosion studies
• The cell-based “3T3 neutral red uptake phototoxicity test,” that has become a commonly accepted substitute to the use of guinea pigs and mice to determine sunlight-induced skin irritation
• The “embryonic stem cell test for embryotoxicity,” which uses cells from mice (while not harming the actual mice) to detect chemicals that have the potential to cause the malformation of developing embryos
• The use of human skin tissue samples to calculate the rate at which chemicals are absorbed through the skin

Go green and make sure that your products don’t test on animals and visit StopAnimalTests.com to learn more about animal testing and its alternatives.

More women look to environment for careers

By Kate Levinson

The environmental careers of 40-50 years ago were missing one very important thing: women.

Luckily green careers have come a long way, for women and in general. The environmental field of the old days lived in somewhat of a tunnel; jobs were in science and engineering, where women have been historically underrepresented.

But now, the view has broadened, and we’ve realized that many more careers are undoubtedly connected to the environment (i.e., public health). And the science and engineering sectors? Women are making their mark. Finally, as Amber discussed last week, more and more opportunities are popping up for women (and men!) to go headfirst into environmental careers, starting with their education.

Check out the feature in this month’s Women’s Health magazine for a sampling of some slightly out-of-the-box environmental careers women are rocking. From pollution to global environmental policy to marine wildlife, these women will you inspire you-and just might give you some career ideas of your own.

For more ideas, connections and inspiration, check out some of the women-focused environmental organizations out there: the Women’s Environment Council and Women’s Environmental Network for starters.

And one of the best ways to explore the many green career possibilities is to get out there and try them. Volunteer, intern, job shadow-it’ll definitely help you figure out what you want (and what you don’t) out of your career. There are millions of opportunities out there in straight-up environmental work, as well as the many, many related fields.

Check out:
Environmental Protection Agency careers, internships and scholarships Volunteer opportunities and internships at Idealist and VolunteerMatch Global volunteer opportunities (such as Anne’s trip to Belize) at Volunteer Abroad.

Photo by the Women's International Alliance

Colleges offer sustainable degrees

By Amber Fagan

As a graduate student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, I am especially eager to see how the campus is working towards a greener future.

Since 2001, ODU has started to implement many green initiatives, including several courses and degree programs. Currently, ODU offers a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health, which is accredited by the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council.

“Environmental health specialists are responsible for education, consultation, and enforcement relating to local, state and federal laws, regulations, and standards governing the safety and sanitation of air, water, milk, food, solid, hazardous and infectious wastes, sewage, housing, institutional environments, and other health hazards,” the website for the Environmental Health Degree program states.

A course offered in 2007, the New Portal to Appreciating Our Global Environment (or NewPAGE), encouraged all incoming freshmen to analytically examine some of the world’s major environmental problems. The course was very popular among incoming students and the university expects to launch new multidisciplinary courses that are outgrowths of NewPAGE topics in the near future.

NewPAGE has spawned awareness among students to reach beyond their classrooms for the environment. In 2006, sophomore Carl Pucci, along with about 30 other ODU students from a NewPAGE section, launched SURGE, Students Undertaking Responsibility for the Global Environment. This organization helped to organize ODU’s Earth Week celebration in 2007, introduced an international environmental film festival, and worked to implement other green initiatives around campus.

But other colleges around the country are starting to offer courses in sustainability and green degrees. For instance, The New School, located in New York City, launched the Tishman Environment and Design Center which aims to draw upon a holistic approach to studying the environment.

“In a democratic society, we have an obligation as citizens to be environmentally literate in order to participate in some of the great debates of our time and to affect change on a local and global scale,” said Bob Kerrey, the president of the New School.

Yale University is creating a new joint degree between the Architecture School and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, which strives to create more harmonious connections between people and the environment. Also, New York University, Chatham College and Oklahoma University are just a handful of degree granting institutions that offer courses and programs in environmental advocacy.

And with global climate change being such a hot topic, a broad spectrum of employment opportunities are available to graduates of environmental programs.

Graduates have found positions in local, state and federal health and environmental agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, NASA, and the Department of Defense.

Others work in hospitals, industries, insurance companies, laboratories, consulting firms, waste and wastewater plants and other organizations, agencies and firms.