Positioning Oneself for Green Collar Jobs

Everyone knows that the best way to a solid job is a solid education but what many people may not be aware of is that more and more schools are taking the word sustainable to heart and offering comprehensive degrees in various Green fields of study! Berea College in Kentucky, Unity College in Maine and University of Wisconsin in River Falls are just three such schools focused on not only an environmental program of study but pursuing Green initiatives on campus as well.

Berea College offers a Sustainability and Environmental Studies Program which emphasizes sustainable based communities through the application of ecological design concepts. Although the program is only offered as a minor at this time, the efforts of the campus as a whole toward Greener practices make it a fantastic place to learn. On campus, the college houses the Ecovillage building where students take part in advancing the environmental benefits of sustainable campus living.

In addition to their program of study Berea has completed some pretty cool Green initiatives. Boone Tavern, the College run hotel, recently completed a $10 million renovation making them the first LEED certified hotel in Kentucky and their Lincoln Building was certified LEED as well, pretty impressive for a building constructed in 1886! Locally grown, organic foods are served in the Tavern and dining halls and they have installed a central plant which allows for optimal heating and cooling of the campus buildings while maintaining a much reduced energy consumption level.

Unity College is so dedicated to a Greener way of life the President of the facility currently lives in a LEED Platinum certified residence (the only one who does in the United States!) and the school only gets better from there. They are a small school (only about 500 students) that was founded in 1965 to specifically train in all areas of environmental focus. The campus is touted as being the entire 225 acres of land the college resides on.

Of their 24 Bachelor majors, twenty one are targeted specifically toward the environment. From Marine Biology or Forestry to Environmental Writing or Conservation Law Enforcement, it is likely Unity will have a degree program for those people interested in a little adventure with their environmental degree. They are even receptive to those who have been home schooled.

The River Falls Campus of the University of Wisconsin has partnered with three other campus locations (Parkside, Stout and Superior, as well as the Extension school) to provide a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Management degree. The program is an exclusive online program and is a 63 credit Bachelor program, certified and accredited. Direct from the website, the program prepares a student “to help businesses develop sustainable practices for a global marketplace, while still helping to preserve natural resources and strengthen community”.

The list of general competencies a student walks away with at the end of their studies is staggering. All students will be trained in the areas of energy, water consumption, world geography, carbon offsets and a slew of others too vast to mention. Their program is ideal for students who are interested in pursuing a career in a corporate environment but who still have a strong mindset on the planet we all live and work on, and their desire to help protect it.

These three very different schools, with widely varying approaches to learning about the world we live in, will help to provide the students of tomorrow the skills required to fill the Green Collar jobs which will be so desperately needed.

Sharing Is Caring

I am a member of Focus the Nation, a non-profit organization that is committed to fight for clean, renewable energy resources. This morning their news letter arrived in my inbox detailing some of the upcoming events and where they would be held. All the way at the bottom was a link to 41pounds.org which was described as a service that will stop all unwanted junk mail for five years. Having never heard of this particular organization before, I went to the website and read each page, looking to gain a broader perspective on what and how they do it. For $41.00 (US) they will contact and stop all unwanted mail for five full years -- catalogs, credit card offers, fliers -- anything with a name and address on it and $15.00 of that donation goes directly to an organization in the drop down menu. It sounded pretty good (especially since FTN was in the list), but while reading through the list it occurred to me that many of the organizations on it were local to southern California.

I love SoCal but presently live in Massachusetts so my wheels began to turn and I realized that the only organizations I currently belong to as a member are all national. This made me stop to think -- where are my local organizations and how can I find them? I thought about the saying:

Think Globally. Act Locally.

Now that is not to say that acting globally does not help because I do truly care what happens to the rest of the world but starting at home will give me more pride in actually being able to watch that effort come to fruition.

So where can I research local organizations? How do I join them? What makes them reputable?

I had a lot of questions and only the internet to guide the origins of my search. So I opened up Google and typed in “Environmental Org my hometown and state”. To my surprise and delight my own town website came up with links to three committees and the Sustainability Action Plan. The Town Selectmen voted eight years ago to join with the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign that would require a plan be put into action.

Eight years ago! I felt like I had a lot of catching up to do! My town issued part one of their Sustainability Plan just two years ago and a committee was formed so the first thing I did was register for an account to their website so I could learn more about upcoming events and town meetings. I learned that the next will be held tomorrow night at 7:30 PM and emailed the moderator of the meeting to see if it was open to the public. Finally, while waiting to hear back I called my Mom, who also lives here, and asked if she too would be interested to attend if we were allowed and she said sure!

There were two additional committees listed and I fully intend to research both in the same manner in order to get more involved right here in my own town. I will continue to donate to and support larger organizations such as We, 1Sky and Focus the Nation but to begin an effort right here in my own town makes me feel more connected to the air my own community breathes every day.

What are you doing to support local organizations? Tell me about your experiences!