April is my favorite month because it includes “Earth Day” on April 22.
For green businesses like mine, April is really more like “Earth Month” – a month-long celebration of all things green and sustainable.
Check out the Earth Day events going on worldwide, and decide where you’d like to participate. Or start an event of your own. You’re likely to find food, fun and friends wherever you go.
When the Crimson is Proud to Be Green
As part of my Earth Day celebration, I’m giving a special shout-out to my alma mater – Harvard University – for its ongoing efforts to create a more sustainable world. These efforts range from leading-edge research to offering students over 200 courses on energy, sustainability and the environment, to greening the actual operations of all of Harvard’s schools. This happens all year long.
Given that Harvard’s official color is crimson, the idea of a green.harvard is both wonderfully ironic and exciting.
Learn about sustainability from Harvard’s experts – for free
You don’t need a Harvard degree to understand what sustainability is. Check out their page of Topics to see the breadth of what’s involved. Click on any one of them for details on how Harvard is approaching it.
For example, pick “Food” as a topic, and see how they’re thinking about new ways of growing it, distributing it, and avoiding food waste.
There are no tests or grades! Just information that – with a little creativity – you can use in your own life.
Divestment – Come On, Harvard…
While I salute Harvard for all it has done and is doing, I wish they would also divest from fossil fuels. The size of Harvard’s endowment is the stuff of legend – $36.4 billion in 2014. Divestment from fossil fuels would be a major statement from one of the most famous universities in the world.
It’s the kind of action that’s needed to grab the attention and shape the thinking of millions of people. It’s no silver bullet, but Harvard could add its weight to the positive momentum around sustainability issues.
Harvard is helping build a greener future for everyone
Two things I appreciate about Harvard are (1) they maintain a wonderful sense of history as they go about inventing the future AND (2) they ask their students, teachers and alumni to be their best selves and bring that to the rest of the world. That sense of responsibility for making the world a better place was palpable in my time there.
I can think of no better way to uphold that tradition than to “make a ruckus” – as Seth Godin says – about sustainable living, working and learning. And I salute Harvard’s efforts to do that every day.
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