Schools and Campuses

If the change is going to come—it's gonna come from you!

Just about anywhere you look, there needs to be change. Planet Earth —in big trouble. Seas over-fished. Forests over-cut. Atmosphere over-heated. Species overwhelmed. Poor People —around the world they're struggling. Half the world living in poverty—less than $3 a day. 200 million child workers. Three-quarters of a billion malnourished. In Africa , 3000 children a day dying of malaria. Young women have it worst—often far behind boys in opportunities for education, nutrition, employment. Rich People —that would be most of us reading this—doing more than our share to mess up the planet and often blissfully unaware of the suffering of our neighbors—even while they're making our jeans.

It's time for a change.

That's what NCP is all about—and that's where you come in. We want to encourage you to do what you do best—look at our world with open eyes and then respond with courage and compassion.

One Change
Two Action
Three Institutions

One Changing the world begins by changing ourselves, usually by experiences that move us and challenge us.

How can you help the other people on your campus have experiences that change them, their outlook, their actions?

Create awareness by going public. Use your imagination, such as…

• Gather all the recyclable trash your school produces in a week in a central hallway or high-traffic outdoor area—list the energy and landfill savings from recycling this much junk
• Set up a pile of rocks and place young women there with small sledge hammers as rock-breakers—a typical job for young women around the world (yes, making gravel—the pay is 50-75 cents a day) OR set up a mock sweatshop operation, with women slaving over machines while supervisors harass or yell at them to produce more. Hand out flyers promoting sweat-free goods. Combine this with a fund-raiser for NCP's Give a Girl a Chance girls' education fund and/or a signature petition to get the United States to sign the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (that's right, two nations haven't ratified it—us and the Central African Republic)
• Create a set of massive bar graphs in a prominent place on campus showing the relative amount spent by our government on the military, foreign aid, aid to the poor in our country, education, etc. (for instance, if the military budget is 500 billion, it might be painted boxes stacked 10 feet high; if foreign aid is 10 billion, it would be a box three inches high)
• Hold a day-long teach-in on campus with bands, speakers, theater focused on the topic of your choice (global warming, sweatshops, pick a war, pick an underreported trouble-spot—like the Congo )
• Work with NCP to plan a trip for teachers and students over spring break to the Amazon or Central America—possibilities for Sister School projects
• Need more ideas? NCP's Get Organized! page has links to separate info-pages on overconsumption, global warming, poverty, women's issues, and indigenous rights
• Your idea here

Bring in a speaker to get the school fired up about the environmental challenges we face or human rights abuses or the situation of the tens of millions of young adults working in sweatshops in the world. Some options…

• New Community Project (Email)
• Educating for Justice
• National Labor Committee
• Global Exchange
• Hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak out against the Vietnam War in 1967 and the threats of US imperialism—change a few words and it could have been preached yesterday…
• Hear Bono at the National Prayer Breakfast challenging our national leaders to work for justice

Two Changing the world requires personal action

What's the action you're hoping people will take (or you can help them take) to bring change?

Sample Action Ideas

• Get your friends to kick the drinking habit--bottled water, that is! Think Outside the Bottle!  Dive in deeper--more water info here!
• Measure the food waste in the cafeteria. Then a) challenge diners to cut down on waste, with the food service people using the savings to provide free ice cream, pizza, etc. b) remove trays from the cafeteria, making everyone carry their food to their tables on plates—then measure how much less food is wasted (Elon University actually did this—and it worked!)
• If you're on a college campus, hold a contest between dorms to see which one uses the least water/energy per person—or which one reduces consumption the most based on an earlier base-line. Reward with pizza—and smaller increases in tuition
• Use meal time to educate your peers about the impact of meat-based diets and other issues by using NCP's Table Tents
• Put out a challenge to give up lunch and contribute the savings to a worthy cause
• Get one of NCP's global warming info/action blurbs in each week's edition of the campus newspaper
• Work with campus religious leaders or other activists to do an advocacy/action campaign on a current global issue. For instance: combine advocacy on Darfur with donations for projects in Sudan.

Three You tell me it's the institution …

How do you want to impact the school as a whole—you know, the ”institution”?

Yes, we know you'd better “ free your mind instead ” (John Lennon)—but it's also important to call institutions to take the lead in acting responsibly. For instance:

• Time for a fund-raiser for your school or club? Sell candy bars without selling out--switch to Fair Trade instead of chocolate from cocoa plantations using child workers.
• Is there a school-wide policy on purchasing “green” products and having green practices—from light bulbs to copy paper to toilet paper to cutting back on lawn chemicals to installing low-flow showerheads?
• Does the food service company purchase any locally-grown food?
• Are there widespread recycling containers? Read about the benefits of recycling.
• Are there good vegetarian options in the cafeteria (cattle production is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions globally)?
• Are there loaner bikes around campus? High-gas-mileage vehicles that can be rented?
• Is there any incentive for fewer kids to drive their own cars to school or to have cars on campus?
• Do campus police and other workers get around with energy efficient vehicles—or even bikes?
• Is there a limit on the number of free copies each student can make at library printers—and after that a per page charge?
• Does your campus have a “sweat-free” purchasing policy (clothing at the campus bookstore, for instance) Options here...
• Does your school promote the Graduation Pledge to consider the social and environmental consequences of future work?
• NCP's Tom Benevento has a degree in Sustainable Systems and is available as a consultant to campuses wanting to reduce their energy footprint.
• Compare your school to those listed on Sierra Magazine's Top Ten green campuses