How to Turn Naples Green

How to Turn Naples Green

Sabrina Sadaty

 

Although Florida is known as a home for older people, many young people have also taken residence here. There are people here that can see a future for the state, but that’s going to take longer.  Today, I’m going to outline multiple ways to turn Naples into a green city. The most important thing is to start local before moving to state level.

1. Turn your house into a zero-waste zone.

Before telling other people how to be green, we must start within ourselves. Change products in your house that promote waste, and replace them with Mother Nature-approved alternatives. If you garden, you can start a compost to help lessen food waste and give added nutrients to your plants. If gardening isn’t your forte, you can do research on alternatives to toothpaste that come in plastic tubes, toilet paper and paper towels that come wrapped in plastic, laundry detergent that comes in a plastic jug, and many other things. If you’re hesitant to branch out and try new products, you can always start smaller by using a reusable water bottle and opting out of using plastic bags when you go grocery shopping.

2. Make an effort to pick up and throw away litter.

It might not sound like a lot of fun, but spending time on your weekend to go pick up trash with someone is a great way to unwind and relax. It also allows you to bond with someone you care about, and it makes you feel great about doing something for our environment. To not create more waste while picking up trash, choose to use a bucket to put the trash into and use a  hand-held grabber instead of gloves to pick up the trash.

3. Educate others on the environment.

Let’s face it: unless you’re a raging environmentalist, you probably don’t know much about environmental stuff. This is due to the fact that there’s a lack of education on topics such as the environment. However, teaching someone about what’s bad for the environment and what they can do to help will increase the likelihood of the population having substantial knowledge on the topic.

4.  Contact our mayor.

There comes a point where the first three above recommendations aren’t enough. When this is the case, it’s imperative that we place pressure on our elected officials to create policies and do more for the causes we care about. After all, they represent the people and should have our best interests at heart. Take time to contact our mayor about turning Naples into a green city.

5. Pressure big companies to become eco-friendly.

A lot of big companies do a tremendous amount of harm to the environment, but they won’t  change until the consumers stop allowing it to happen. Contact them, stop buying from them, and tell people why they should also stop using those products. Big companies can do a lot of harm, but they can do a lot of good too. It’s important that we as consumers show them why they need to change. It all comes down to supply and demand.

6. Invest in clean energy.

In 2020, 28% percent of the world used renewable energy. It’s only going to go up, so let’s help those numbers increase and invest in it. Telling politicians that we care about clean energy is a start, but try to turn your house into a place that uses clean energy. Electric cars are another way of helping the movement. Renewable energy also creates 5 times as many jobs as fossil fuels, and getting people to work for clean energy plants can help boost  our economy. 

7. Bike when possible.

Biking instead of driving a car has massive benefits. It doesn’t emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and doesn’t contribute to the air pollution that will inevitably get inhaled by us. It forces you to slow down the pace of life and appreciate everything around you, which in turn lowers your blood pressure and stress levels. It unites you with nature and ultimately will make you feel happier. It also counts as physical exercise to keep you healthy!

 

8. Protest and know that you are not helpless.

Set up protests around Naples to raise awareness about the environment. Do everything you can to make yourself heard, and you will be heard. There is a lot at risk with our environment here in Florida. We have the Everglades, amazing wildlife, well-maintained beaches, and our economy relies on tourism. If we continue to ruin our environment, all of the aforementioned things will be gone.

Naples has the potential to be an awesome place, but the reality becomes darker and bleaker every day that we don’t act on saving our environment. 4 in 10 Americans identify as environmentalists, which is a good start. Let’s keep increasing that number until we get to 10 in 10.