It was "Avatar" all over again: I was in an unfamiliar world, trying to glean the trust of a people I'd never known, doing my best to allay suspicions that I was a human plugged into the 3D IMAX body of a — telemarketer.It can feel like that, anyway — working as a student intern for the "How Green Is My Town?" Project. I've been calling mayors, school superintendents, and chamber of commerce presidents throughout Westchester County asking them to participate in a program that will highlight their commitments to the environment and human health. I ask them about the criteria on our survey, and from their responses we calculate their "green" score. From their perspective, I must look like some telemarketing environmental watchdog. They're probably worried that I'm about to wave their potentially sub-par score in front of the media.
But there's no such thing as a sub-par score here. "How Green Is My Town?" is a positive assessment, which means we give points for the great strides citizens and local leaders are taking already. When there are advancements that towns haven't looked into yet, they can check out our website and see how towns across the country are taking some really innovative next steps. (One of my favorites is right here in the business community of Pocantico Hills, where one restaurant designs its menu around and serves locally-grown food.)
Scheduling the interviews with busy officials always takes some work, but showing people we're doing something really new and different is a challenge unto its own. So here are some James Cameron directing tips to dispel some of the preconceptions and ease the transition into the new ideas of HGIMT:1. Make sure you communicate the primary message from the get-go: we're here to recognize the environmental strides towns have already made.
2. Our science-driven criteria were developed by Grassroots Environmental Education in accord with the EPA, the Dept. of Energy and others, but HGIMT is NOT a science experiment. We have no hypothesis; we just want to see towns succeed.
3. We're not pointing fingers. We want towns to score as high as possible, and we want people to see how much their towns are doing. HGIMT is a positive assessment.
4. We also want people to get excited about the points their towns haven't gotten to yet. Seeing where there's room for progress will help citizens set their sights on new and higher goals.
5. Yes, the results of our surveys will be made public. No, it's not so the media can play the blame game. It's so residents will have a way to take a stake in their towns' environmental progress.
6. In the end, the survey is just the first step of the HGIMT program. It is one part of a larger educational process. It is a stepping stone to show individuals where they can go next, as well as bring whole towns into conversation with neighboring areas to share ideas and help each other grow.
In short, we're doing four things: recognizing success, fostering education, building pride, and getting people fired up about environmental change. On the surface, what we're doing can seem like the blame game to people who are used to being subject to that. But we're all friends on this planet, and we're out to honor not just the greenest towns, but every town.
It is only the beginning of an ecological success story with a promise more real than 3D IMAX could ever deliver.
Rob Bellon
HGIMT Intern, Grassroots Environmental Education
Student, SUNY Binghamton
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