Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Washington Youth Summit on the Environment

I told you on this blog awhile back that I will not fill you in on my WYSE journey, aware of the time, effort, and of course environmental impact of typing it all out for you which may take hours or days online. But to not share with you all the ideas and knowledge I've gained from the speakers and people I've met from the summit, well that would just be so foolish! SO my entire experience will be noted here. Please read through but mostly share your thoughts as well!!! You can never truly conclude anything without first opposing viewpoints so let me know what YOU think.

WYSE introduced guest speaker Davey Rogner, an environmentalist, revolutionist, musician and an overall just chill kind of guy that leads Pick Up America.
Pick Up America is simply a group of four recent college graduates travelin' on the dirty roads of America and cleaning up after everyone else' mess. Their campaign's number one goal is to clean as much plastic waste possible but also educate and influence community members to step up and make this change that they need - creating a zero waste lifestyle and society. They receive funds as a nonprofit organization to fuel them to areas in desperate need of clean up! For more information on what they've been doing or where they're going next, please check their updated website here. http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/

From what I remember, these are a few things about him -age 25, lives in a RV with three friends, he is a musician and while travelin' plays at open mics or gigs, most importantly he is an environmentalist that has dedicated his life to support our green-livings. He is an asthmatic but has fully devoted his life to doing what he believes in while fighting off poison ivy, ticks, and anything else he can possibly catch where ever the cleaning journey may lead him (and his friends.)

"We are not waiting for someone to act, we are going to do everything we think possible. " - Davey Rogner

How can YOU contribute to a cleaner future?

Tip #1 Take Action "We have figured out how to allow many to live in comfort, but forgotten how to nurture a community or how to maintain a healthy environment." He suggested we should openly discuss solutions that not only our government can take but also as a community to make a positive difference. To think, protest and demand such is not as powerful as to practice and apply these changes we need to support and influence a green trend. We must sustain comfort by addressing our environmental problems and seeking to resolve them.

Tip #2 Therefore never shut anyone off. As I earlier stated, in order to truly understand an argument, it is vital for one to oppose viewpoints. Davey stated, "It may be the bum on the side of the road to Barack Obama. . .we can all gain something from their position and knowledge."

Tip #3 Acknowledge your leadership abilities and strengths and use them. It is our generation that has been left with so much baggage and is depended on to find the solutions for our hurting planet. Davey reminded us that "We are the weight of transitioning responsibly to clean and renewable resources. . .we can be the generation that frees this world from the tribulation."

Tip #4 Relearning how to be American: sustaining true comfort.
With Pick Up America, Davey has been working in the best interest of humanity and devoted his life to something he believes in. With the group he "raises consciousness about living in comfort and harmony with the planet. . . It is not about the physical comfort we can obtain in a given moment to forget a gaping problem, but rather about the sustained comfort we can obtain by addressing our problems and seeking to solve them once and for all."

Lastly, get up and go. Do as much as you can, whenever you can and where ever you can.
Davey let us know that there is hope for us "weird" fellows that actually care for things besides ourselves. With these simple words he said it all. "There is no greater sacrifice than stifling what you believe in because the “real world” has not yet evolved to accept it. Instead, you must lead that evolution."

1 comment:

  1. Great post! I'm sure these tips could be used by many to make a difference for the environment.

    ReplyDelete