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In 3 Words
Make an Impact, a program to help you save energy, save money, and save the planet, is coming to an area near you! We'd love your help to kick things off by showing what individuals in the community are doing to live sustainably and conserve energy.
Take a fun photo or video of yourself (or with your friends, family, pets, anyone!) making a positive environmental impact and send it to MakeAnImpact@c2es.org. We’ll email you back to confirm your details and get your permission to use your submission.
The photo should feature a white page with three words that help tell your story. Be creative!
Pull Out Recyclables
At our facility, we have created a program to recycle our absorbent mats (pigmats) that we use to capture oil drips and whatnot from machines. The Rezorb program implemented about a year ago now, but we still have problems with employees "throwing away" the rezorb mats into our production trash drums, which go to landfill.
Ray Rodriguez, pictured here, has an active role in looking through the drums, removing the Rezorb mats, and putting them in the proper container to be sent off for washing. This helps us prevent valuable mats, which could be washed and reused many times, from going to landfill.
Ellen Dempsey, EHS, Alcoa Fastening Systems, Torrance, CA
Save Our Planet
There was a time when I didn’t really care or did not think about the damage we as individuals can cause to our planet, just by throwing plastic bottles and not recycling them. Now I realize that no matter how little we do, as long as we do something to contribute to helping the environment, yes, we can make an impact!!
Think Drink Clink
We, as a family, realize recycling is our duty to maintain a vigilant stand on the war of “Resource Deficiency” facing our great planet. Recycling cans means less manufacturing plant time, less natural resources consumed, more money saved by companies because they do not have to create the aluminum from the raw material stage to the finished product. Transformational generational thinking in our family about the war on “Resource Deficiency” will battle for the future generation’s needs. To win the war, we must be pro-active instead of reactive..that is why we are recycling.
Nadine Gonzalez—AFS – Carson Operations.
Emission Free Vehicle
When I ride to work, not only do I save money in gas, and take care of the environment by reducing emissions, I also feel energized, healthy and have a chance to enjoy the outdoors on a daily basis.
Cool Cats Recycle
My family has been recycling for over 20 years now, since my kids were toddlers. They used love making the monthly trip to the local recycling center with me. It's exciting for small kids because they get to help separate the cans, plastic and bottles ... but the really exciting part for them was giving them a portion of the money as a thank you for helping. My kids are both young adults now and they both still recycle. The impact on the future is that I taught them to recycle, they do it and they will teach their kids someday and so-on. The Cool Cat in the photo with me is Willow. She's normally docile but when my daughter and I tried to set this picture up, Willow had a fit! But we got it done!
Mark Grindle
Keep Air Clean
We like to ride our bikes to the park or to work in order to keep the air clean from pollution.
Celia Rodriguez
No Idling Zone
My decision to reduce idling has had a positive impact on my life because it affects both myself and the community. By turning off my engine whenever possible, for instance when carpooling and waiting for a friend, there is less exhaust released into the environment which means cleaner air. This also reduces wear and tear on my car's engine and wastes less fuel. I hope that in the future fewer buses and large vehicles would idle. School buses especially create harmful exhaust which is a health hazard to children whose lungs are still developing. If school buses would turn their engines off at the end of a day, the school district would save money on fuel, reduce the health risks for the kids and result in cleaner air and environment for everyone.
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Before starting my internship at the Reynolds Boys and Girls Club in Las Vegas, I knew I wanted to take the initiative to do something that would better the community. It wasn't an easy task to get the teens excited about reducing their use of non-friendly earth products, reusing materialized possessions, and recycling plastic and paper. Fortunately to my surprise, throughout the experience of reusing, reducing, and recycling products - the students were changed. After just one day of being aware of how easy it can be to better the planet, the Reynolds teens were enthused and excited about the project as a whole. So excited, that they have decided to transfer these duties into the Keystone club for the entire summer. The Keystone club is a group of dedicated students who daily partake in bettering the earth by helping the community in varies ways. This has been a great experience and one that I am proud to have been a part of. In the words of David Orr, "When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves," so always remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle!
Moving Forward Together
Being green can be spontaneous. When a group of friends and I were exploring Dallas during the Key Club International Convention we stumbled upon a patch of green littered with trash. We made our impact on the city together by having an impromptu clean-up. It was rewarding to know that during our short stay we were able to leave a positive mark on the city.
Kill The Lights
Howdy there! Living on my large open ranch, electricity is quite expensive. We live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but grasslands and horses, longhorns, and bulls. This means that we have to pay more to connect to the grid for electricity and the pipes for water. Here on our ranch, we seek to conserve energy whenever and wherever we can. We use the manure as fertilizer so we can remain self-sufficient, since we are so far from the big city. Whenever the bulls feel like running, we can hook ‘em on up to a treadmill to generate electricity. Once the scorching summer heats come, our bulls are too lazy to run. This means we really have to watch what we do around the ranch. After riding my prized wild Mustang home from school, I usually study for a few good hours. Once the dinner bell rings, I am always sure to turn off the lights behind me. You see, even if you step out the room for a few minutes, your lights are burning kilowatts on the meter. Why pay for electricity you haven’t even used? Heck, this is Texas- we do everything differently down here. Yes, even though I ride my horse around town and always enjoy myself a good rodeo, I love to conserve energy. Energy powers everything, including our own bodies. To generate electricity, coal is usually burned in Texas which releases terrible greenhouse gasses which pollute our environment. In fact, just getting the coal involves a loss of biodiversity, disruption of habitats, and pollution. I live out our calling to save energy, save our planet, reuse, reduce, and even recycle.
Due to the terrible consequences of our use of energy and not respecting the Earth that I have learned about while in Environmental Science, I have made it my mission to be green. Whenever I see trash on the ground, I pick it up. Whenever something can be recycled, I recycle it. Whenever I am not in my room or in the house, I turn the lights off and unplug appliances and electronics I don’t need. I even try to conserve water, turning it off when I am not needing it while I brush my teeth. As a family, we try to carpool wherever we go. At school, I made sure every classroom had a sign that said “Seek to Conserve,” a play on words of our school motto, “Seek to Serve.” Each week, I went around with other members of my Student Council to collect recycling. Being green has allowed me to care for our planet and for future generations who will inhabit it. Saving the planet should be the top priority of every citizen of the world, but for me, Richard Paul Joubert Jr., I live it twenty-four/seven. Yee haw!
