At Nevada Outdoor School we are consistently analyzing our actions, evaluating our impacts, and working hard to choose wisely. This is not only our overarching outdoor ethic philosophy that we teach to others, but also how we choose to run our organization. Utilizing our Action. Impact. Choice. model is a powerful way to maneuver through life, because it helps each of us realize how our behavior matters and impacts others: other humans, and nature too.
Every day, in the news cycle, are stories of environmental impact linked to human actions. Complex issues often times oversimplified, and tugging on our emotional strings to move us into action. It can certainly get depressing if there is no appearance of hope.
The good news is, there is hope! How? Because if each of us do one or two small things, over time those small things can become big things! So often we get hyper-focused on the big, that we forget to remember the power of the small. Small changes lead to big results. Small actions can have big impacts.
It was that thinking that moved Nevada Outdoor School to its latest major aha! moment. If you have attended any of our community events, you will know that we love two things: s’mores and hot chocolate! One day, at the end of an event as we served hot chocolate in Styrofoam cups, filling up a trash, we stopped to analyze our actions, evaluate their impacts, and then opted for a different choice.
The realization that as an outdoor education organization we were not “practicing what we preach” was a stark wake-up! One of our favorite Leave No Trace principles is “Dispose of Your Waste Properly” and we are great about keeping it in a bag, but the spark was, “what if we worked to reduce our waste?” That is the next step thinking that we like to have here at Nevada Outdoor School. Hence our newest initiative, BYOR, bring your own reusable.
In Nevada there are approximately 3 million people. Just think, what would happen if even only one-third, or 1 million people chose to use a reusable water bottle instead of a disposable water bottle? That would be 1 million less water bottles in the trash! It is that kind of thinking that can give us hope, and remind us that our actions matter. Small actions lead to big impacts.
As temperatures rise, staying hydrated is important. Think about your actions and then choose to reduce your plastic use and utilize a reusable instead! Looking for a cool new cup? Text NOSreuses to 41444 to get your own cup, and choose what you use! Good for hot chocolate or water. Do you need help getting outside? We can help with that! Find our current events at nevadaoutdoorschool.org Get outside, it is good for humans everywhere!
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