Living Green Main Page

Getting Involved

Getting involved in your community is a way to bring about social change, give you hands-on experience and create a stronger greener community. There are many ways you can be involved with green projects!

Start right now by taking a look at this simple quiz that may surprise you and is sure to get you thinking about some basic elements that affect the size of your ecological footprint from what you eat to where you live.



On Campus
At Home
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On Campus

Quick Tips

• Join one of the many student organization that focus on issues of sustainability. Here are a few organizations but you can find more at the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
• Get involved by registering with KU Center for Community Outreach. Once registered, CCO will email volunteer updates to you every week.
• Participate in the Sustainability Shift.
• KU offers a Service Learning Certificate that fulfills educational credit, boosts your resume and gives you an opportunity to learn as well as teach. Apply ecological principles to one of the many Service Learning courses.
• Find out more about involvement with KU sustainability efforts.

At Home

Quick Tips

• Get your family involved!
• Participate in your neighborhood association meetings. (Bring "green" ideas!)
• Volunteer your time to a worthy community cause.

• Help keep useful items from going to the landfill. Support organizations like Habitat for Humanity which operates the ReStore, a thrift store that relies on gently used and surplus construction materials. With all profits from the store going to Habitat for Humanity, you can affordably make unique home improvements and help the community.
• Another local source of information on green and sustainable ideas and events is the Lawrence Sustainability Network.
• Join a community organization.
  
  Local Organizations
  • Kansas Land Trust
  • Friends of the Kaw: Kansas River Keepers
  • The Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance
  • Save the Wetlands
  
  National Organizations with local chapters
  • Sierra Club:
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Audubon Society

More Resources

Learn more about environmental issues as they relate to policy on the state and national level. Here are a few sites that may help get you started.

• Worldwatch Institute


• Center for Global Development


• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education


• Media and Policy Center Foundation


• Property and Environmental Research Center


• The Environmental Protection Agency's web site can be useful to see what environmental issues are being pursued and potential solutions. Familiarize yourself with the wide range of issues found here.

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