Volunteers from Grand Valley spend spring break with Greening Forward

This article is a post that comes from Greening Forward’s legacy blog. It was originally written on March 26, 2013.

When I heard that I would be traveling across the country to support the non-profit of a 17-year-old, I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t quite sure what Greening Forward did or how it operated. Having signed up as a participant for an Alternative Spring Break at Grand Valley State University, all I was able to choose was my issue. I chose “Sustainability in the Community” — a very wide-open, but nonetheless important, issue. As a young person, I am hoping to be on this Earth for quite a while. However, as a society, we are facing some very serious threats to our environment, climate, and the sustainability of our communities. If I want to spend the next 60 or 70 odd years as a citizen of this world, I can’t be passive in how we treat it. I can’t afford to simply allow the so-called “adults” to run the show on this vital issue, and neither can you!

Very early on in my trip, I learned that this was a big part of Greening Forward’s purpose. They’re not seeking to single-handedly change the world. Rather, they are empowering young people all over our country to change their own communities. It’s a brilliant concept and a worthwhile purpose. Throughout my trip, I had the opportunity to learn all about issues facing our environment. In addition, I was able to learn about and tour some very forward-thinking organizations and facilities such as Southface.

My stay in Atlanta culminated with the International Young Environmentalists Youth Summit. I had the privilege of helping Charles and the Greening Forward staff put on this first-ever conference. I met passionate people from all over the United States, who with the help of Greening Forward, are doing amazing things in their communities. I left Georgia inspired to do more to save our environment. I was also comforted by the realization that it’s not such a daunting task after all. All it really takes is committed individuals working to improve our world one neighborhood at a time. No one has to come up with a grand, sweeping solution, but everyone has to do his or her part.

Editor’s note: This guest blog comes to you by Andrew Plague, one of our Grand Valley State University students from Allendale, MI who’d rather volunteer their Spring Breakthrough a program at their school called Alternative Breaks. We are grateful some of these students decided to drive 17 hours to Atlanta to learn about sustainability. Their week ended by helping us plane out International Young Environmentalists Youth Summit.

Andrew Plague (fourth on the bottom row from right to left) and the rest of the Grand Valley State University team strike a pose for a picture during their service week.