It’s no secret that the environment is in danger as a result of human actions. It’s a major talking point on the political stage, but it’s also a personal matter to many. While many people are pushing for changes in policy that will impact widespread change, individuals can also change their own day to day activities and habits in order to do their part to impede further damages. If you’re interested in getting involved in reducing your community’s negative impact on the environment, here are some steps you can take.

Renovation

Human-made structures take up a lot of space. This, in and of itself, isn’t a problem in the grand scheme of things. However, these structures need to be maintained in order to stay standing, and buildings that go without owners and, therefore, without maintenance, can begin to break down. In many places, especially small towns, there are many buildings that present a problem in which they still take up space that could be used for other purposes, but they no longer provide any value to humanity or nature. One way to create a positive impact in your community is to push for structures like these to be removed completely or rebuilt. Start with a search for rigging companies in Michigan, for example, to start estimating the cost of such a project. Then, do some research into what kind of buildings, or other features, your community could use, such as additional housing, and make a plan to propose to your local government. Perhaps consider starting a petition and collecting signatures in order to prove to your leaders that there is a need for this sort of renovation in order to not only reduce the community’s negative impact on the environment, but also improve the community, itself.

Cleaning Up

While human structures may be a problem in many cases, litter is a constant issue environmental activists must tackle. While there is infrastructure in place for litter cleanup, it’s not utilized as often as it should be. Consider trying to form a group of participants to remove trash from common problem areas, such as roadsides, on a monthly basis. However, treating the symptoms instead of the disease is always a losing battle, so you’ll need to take things a step further. Recycling infrastructure leaves something to be desired, for example, and recycling is, in many ways, the preferable option when disposing of trash. Therefore, you may want to pursue bringing a recycling program to your community, if, like many, it doesn’t have one. If it does have a recycling program, there will almost certainly still be stragglers, and so you can begin taking steps to bring awareness to the community regarding proper trash disposal. For many people, the problem is distant enough from them that their impact often doesn’t even cross their minds, so this kind of outreach can be one of the most important factors in reversing environmental damages, albeit still on a small scale.

Sustainability

You’ve almost certainly heard the phrase, “Think globally, act locally,” and this mantra is applicable to the entirety of environmental pursuits, but it is particularly applicable to sustainability practices. Creating a self sufficient community will, in many ways, reduce the negative impact of human action on the planet. One major example of this is the use of solar energy, and another is that of locally produced food. Using solar energy, instead of traditional power sources, forgoes the byproduct of pollution in favor of what is ultimately less power, but the more widespread the technology is, the more it becomes incentivized to advance the technology. In terms of food, local farming operations also bypass the pollution of large scale industrial farming operations by meeting the much smaller demand of a single community.

There is no shortage of work that needs to be done in order to reduce damage to the planet. Luckily, there are steps even the individual can take in order to bring this dream closer to becoming a reality. The individual is, at the end of the day, a small part of a greater community, and a community of like-minded people is a powerful thing.