Since President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act in 1906, National Monuments and National Parks have played a huge role in preserving the natural beauty and historic sites of the United States. States, counties and cities have followed suit, making their own smaller parks, with their own specific roles and rules. All these parks can and do play and important role in saving the environment, through a variety of means. Some are actively working to protect nature, while others act more passively to preserve nature and raise awareness simply by existing. Here are just a few ways that parks of all kinds can save the environment. 

Use Renewable Energy

Many parks are switching, or have already switched, to renewable energy sources like solar panels to power their lights and buildings. This can be particularly valuable for newer parks, and parks in extremely remote areas, since hooking those parks up to the national grid might not be cost effective or environmentally friendly. These parks can then also play an important role in normalizing the use of renewable energy and providing a market to encourage the production and improvement of renewable energy technologies. 

Reduce Waste and Recycle

Parks are also important advocates for recycling and the reduction of waste. This is especially important for larger and more heavily trafficked parks. An accumulation of waste in a park is bad for the image and the traffic in that park. Recycling and waste reduction can and must be a huge part of what parks do as part of their everyday operations. Cleanup efforts can even involve citizens and create buzz on social media. As inconvenient and expensive as this is in the short term, the long term benefits are the preservation of a pristine and beautiful piece of nature. 

Conserve and Conduct Research

Preservation is at the core of almost every park, whether they're preserving a huge swathe of untouched wilderness or a small patch of green in the middle of a city. A lot of parks, particularly at the national level, conduct research and do important conservation work. By observing the behavior of wolves within certain national parks, scientists were able to confirm that most wolves are not a threat to livestock farmers, which has been important research to back the reintroduction and preservation of an endangered species. As a microcosm of that; local and city parks are useful places to observe the migration of birds, both for scientists and for everyday citizens.

Raise Awareness

Perhaps the most important thing a park can do is raise awareness among citizens. Take for example the observation of migratory birds. These observations are important to scientists because they help track the path of potentially endangered species, help us learn how climate change affects birds and other scientifically valuable information. Recruiting park visitors to look for birds and encouraging them to report that information can increase the reach and effectiveness of these programs but it also gets local people invested in their local parks. Activities like this increase awareness among citizens and can educate them about their local environment. Making citizens as invested in the park as scientists already are is hugely important for parks everywhere. Parks aren't worth much if people don't care enough to preserve them. They need support among the citizenry, and raising awareness goes a long way towards creating that support.

National, state and local parks are an important part of society. They play an important role in our society and are incredibly valuable resource for science, as well as being an important for environmental causes. But parks are about more than the concrete, measurable benefits that can be enjoyed right now. They are also about the less concrete benefits that can be experienced long term. A park is a piece of beauty that you can enjoy today, but it's also something that your children can enjoy tomorrow. Perhaps one day, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will enjoy that same park, without even knowing how much they owe you for preserving it.