Environmental topics within the nonprofit sector are pretty interesting I think, the idea itself of protecting the environment is a fairly new branch of the sector, and this week’s readings and lecture offered a variety of different ways of participating in support of the environment. The annual report for the McKenzie Watershed Council had a variety of different interest groups ranging from local community groups, to the city and state levels, and then to the federal level. All represented different goals to protect the McKenzie River. This was interesting to see all the different work that is being done on the river in order to preserve its natural habitats and ecosystems or to rebuild these ecosystems to promote sustainable “watershed health”. The commencement address promoted individuals to go out and make a difference in protecting the world and I thought it was a pretty motivating speech to get everyone to realize that all have a role in preserving the natural resources on earth. I liked the idea he presented when he stated: “you can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet,” and I think it’s very true especially in the society we have today, where our government promotes consumption and where we are in a recession but still using more and more natural resources at an unsustainable rate. Another group presented in this week’s readings was the role that corporations could and do have in environmental protection. The idea of environmental commodities, I thought was very interesting and if as successful as claimed for sulfur dioxide emissions, then a really good idea. While it doesn’t cut down on the emissions a hundred percent, it’s a good start and is at least limiting them and it seems making a larger impact than relying solely on regulations. Also the idea of partnerships between nonprofits and corporations, depending on the corporation, could be beneficial for the nonprofit, providing them with larger amount of funds than they could receive solely on donations. However, this partnership could also be bad for the nonprofit if the corporation is only out to exploit the image viewed on the nonprofits by the public. I also thought that the program in Costa Rica was an interesting concept to reimburse environmental services. This idea could have potential, but I don't know if could work on a much larger scale.
For an outside source, we watched a video in my international studies class on the environment and the effects that consumerism has had on it. Its a little biased and not all arguments are backed up with clear sources however it was interesting. Its called the Story of Stuff. http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.php
The debate of whether non-profits should accept money from corporations had my head spinning in class. You bring up the great point that additional funding can be found in partnerships with corporations. The idea has so many sides. For example, should we assume all corporations will have ulterior motives when working with non-profits? Or should we assume that it is a great solution to the wide spread problem of lack of funding in non-profits? I guess only observation will tell. It sounds like you enjoyed the McKenzie watershed article. I did too. It showed how great and beneficial community participation can be.
ReplyDeleteI like that you mentioned “you can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet," environmental issues are so fragile and have to be approached in a very unique way. This quote reminded me of some research I did about the oregon farm bureau who is often under attack from environmental groups but has recently teamed up with conservation groups to stop foundation farmland from being urbanized. They argued that agriculture is the only soil based industry and that after you urbanize farmland there is no going back it can never be used as farmland again. This sort of parallels that same idea that once you use a sensitive natural resource it can not be replenished.
ReplyDeleteGreat outside source! I liked that it let me choose what I wanted to watch and learn about. I watched The Story of Bottled Water. I thought that it was a very informative short video. I am always confused by how much bottled water is sold, and constantly think to myself, "Why? This is just so wasteful!" I am glad that I am not alone in thinking that bottled water is just ridiculous. If anyone wants to make a small step in helping the environment they should not buy bottled water. Here at the University of Oregon there is a group of people pushing to take back the tap. Here is their facebook page... http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=289218700232#!/group.php?gid=289218700232&v=info
ReplyDeleteSmall things can really make a difference in making the earth a healthier place.