[slideshow]
On 10/10/10, people around the world organized Global Work Parties to help recognize climate challenges and solutions in their community. It’s called 350; 350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.
On 10/10/10, we, members of The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, Deep Creek Middle School, and the Deep Creek community, celebrated climate solutions by working together to clean up trash from our streets. We collected aluminum cans to raise money for the Deep Creek Middle School through Cans for Kids, and sorted glass and metal in our resource center at The Island School, to be shipped to Nassau for recycling. We rode bikes, walked, and drove our biodiesel fueled vehicles. Most importantly, we created a forum for discussion about island communities and waste.
Why do we remove trash from the streets? How do we deal with this waste? Should we burn it at the dump, releasing toxic chemicals into the atmosphere? Should we transport waste off island on a boat that is burning fuel? Should we leave it on the street to slowly decompose and release greenhouse gasses?
Living on an island, we are forced to think every day about how to minimize our consumption and close waste streams. We applaud people getting to work to demand leadership on climate solutions.
For more information about the event, and the 350 mission, please visit www.350.org.