Saving Our Home
By Graciela Fischer
What To Do & Where To Start For some, environmental activism
volunteer with them is that I
may seem like a broad topic. It can
didn’t want to feel so alone
be overwhelming for a person to
anymore.”
know where to start. For youth,
350 Colorado gives
there are several programs based in
youth the opportunity to
Colorado that help get youth into
volunteer and get involved in
nature and helping the planet.
other activities, but there are
350 Colorado is an organi-
also companies that help to
zation that works on raising aware-
get youth directly outside in
ness of climate change. The organi-
nature. The Big City Moun-
zation has eight different committees.
taineers organization gives
Among those campaigns is the Youth
youth from lower-income
Action Committee, run by Phoebe
homes an opportunity to
Dominguez.
connect with nature.
“The majority of our committees meet once a month to plan events and ongoing campaign efforts,” Dominguez said. “Depending on how you decide to get involved your volunteer experience can vary a lot.” Dominguez has been on the Youth Action Committee for two years. In that time she has helped to organize over fifteen events and campaigns and has spoken at twelve events. “I had been interested in climate justice for a little bit, so I didn’t know how to start and felt completely overwhelmed. I needed to do something, so I decided to do Fridays For Future at the Colorado State Capitol,” Dominguez said. “One day someone told me about 350 Colorado and that I should look into their events. I went and met a lot of amazing people who have supported me and many I am still close with. I think the main reason I decided to
“We basically identify and Artist Zoe Watts, CHSToday
break down barriers facing youth who want to get into the outdoors. We are focused on serving students coming from communities who receive less funding: low-income students,” member Megan Aranow said. “We are not explicitly an environmental conservation program, we are focused on helping students develop a relationship with the outdoors.” Big City Mountaineers only provides volunteer opportunities for adults, not youth. However, the company is focused on providing youth with a connection to the Earth. Aranow has been volunteering with the Big City Mountaineers since 2017 and joined the staff team in the fall of 2021. While there are a lot of organizations on the state level there are also opportunities at Conifer High School (CHS). The school has a Keep Conifer Green club, which gives students the opportunity to be environmentally aware in their community. “My goal was to spread awareness of climate change, littering, and pollution. I
wanted to help people live a healthier life,” club president Jenna Stricker said. “It’s important because we are the next generation to help the environment.” For more information on the club for the 2022-2023 school year, email science teacher Jeff Colborn at jcolborn@jeffcoschools.us. Climate change and saving the environment may seem like an overwhelming topic, but finding solutions doesn’t have to be. There are resources everywhere that help reconnect people and the environment. “We see the environment and our students as benefiting each other. People can take care of the environment and the environment is crucial for taking care of us. We think it’s important for people to have a good relationship with the outdoors,” Aranow said. “That is essential for our long-term wellbeing.”
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