What about my community?

The biggest thing you can do in your community towards the cause of Climate change, is to be vocal. Talk to your neighbours, talk to your schools, maybe even try to establish a committee.

You will soon discover that other people are happy to embrace some changes, if they were given some direction and support.

Plant a tree – for one week National Tree Week – is organised each year by the Tree Council of Ireland – going strong and growing since 1985! This year, the theme was ‘Planting for our Planet’

See more at https://treecouncil.ie/initiatives/tree-week/

But it doesn’t have to be only once a year – have a look around your area and see where you could plant a tree in your area  – get the kids and the community involved.

(Please take care when accessing public areas or busy roads of course and make sure you have permission to plant)

Start a ‘Plant a Community Garden’ initiative.

always be practical in some areas, but if it is, have a think about this. Rolling up your sleeves and digging in the soil offers a great way to meet neighbours and add something to back into your neighbourhood.

Start walking. There are obviously more benefits to this one than just the environment, but this is a really good place to start. And when you’re out there – consider the route. Could it be cleaned up a bit ? Maybe carry a bag to collect a few pieces of rubbish along the way. In more rural areas could the community plant a few wild flowers to enhance the route?

Travelling to work or school: Cycle to work if you can. Again, we know that his is not always practical, but think about whether you could do this – even in the summer months? Some of our cities have the City Bikes schemes, which are great. There is also a government Bike to School Grant that you can get your employer involved with.

Car Share – another great way to save on unnecessary trips and we’re pretty sure that your neighbours and communities will be happy to be involved. If there are a few kids along the same route to school – is it worth looking into a minibus?

Car Share companies: There are a few of these in cities now…

GoCar is probably the most well known one. The Wasted.ie team use these when we need to get around the city. GoCar are also continually investing in Electric Vehicles too, so this will help to decrease carbon pollution in our cities.

Electric neighbourhood: We know that so many people have thought about Electric Cars, but are put off by a number of factors. (please read our article on Electric Cars in the motoring section). One of the big factors is having access to a charge point. Could you share a charge-point with your neighbour? Put pressure on your local government and TD’s to increase the number of charge points in your area.

Shop Local: As well as supporting your local business community and jobs, you will have less of an excess transport impact on the environment. You will also know where your fruit and vegetables grew up.

Support (or organise) a community clean-up: It doesn’t have to be every week or month, but every effort will help. One day (or half a day) of getting everyone involved will go a great way to cleaning up your area, streets, get someone to organise teas, coffees or refreshments in the local hall or school afterwards. The important thing is to to something . The council cannot do it all.