environment

Activities For The Civic Geek: Be A Green Geek

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We’ve got to live on this planet (even if some of us want to explore beyond it), and that means a keeping a healthy environment.  Geeks can do their part to make sure we keep Earth livable.

If you’re at all informed about environment science, you’re probably a bit concerned about the environment.  From global warning to the effects on fracking, it’s a bit hard not to come to the conclusion we could manage our use of the planet much better.  As we geeks are usually quite enthused about science, we’re also painfully aware of the problems we face.

Fortunately there’s no small amount of people out there you can help, get involved with, or donate too.  Everyone’s got the same idea as you, and there have been organizations dedicated to helping us preserve the environment around for a long time.

It’s also hard to know where to start.  Here’s a few suggestions to get you going:

  • Donate or get your geeky club/group/convention to donate to appropriate causes.
  • Donate time.  This is great if you’re particuarly oriented towards either STEM (and the hard science of the environment), have the skills needed by the various groups (such as web work or speaking), or both.  Time is often more valuable than money
  • Spekaers.  Run a convention?  Get speakers from appropriate organizations to discuss the science and issues of the environment.  If you’re part of a fiction-writing geekdom, you can combine good world building with good awareness of how our world has structural problems.
  • Do citizen science – From dedicating time to local citizen science groups, you can often find people focused on daily, hands-on scientific activities from recording to explaining issues.

There’s problems.  Maybe we geeks can do what we can to help out.

Resources

  • Engineering for Change – A community to connect engineers, governments, social scientists, and more to share knowledge and solve problems in a sustainable way.
  • Engineers Without Borders Canada – A nonprofit Canadian organization that supports sustainable community engineering projects around the world.
  • Engineers Without Borders USA – A nonprofit US organization that supports sustainable community engineering projects around the world.
  • Marine Conservation Institute – An organized, sustainability-oriented institute focused on protecting marine ecosystems. Heavily driven by partnerships, alliance, and outreach.
  • Nerds For Nature – And all-volunteer organization that brings together communities, scientists, and technologists to understand and preserve nature, including hands-on projects. Located in California.
  • Oceana – An international organization focused on sealife preservation and marine issues
  • Project Noah – A software platform that brings citizen scientist together in various projects to record and preserve biodiversity and understand nature.
  • Skeptical Science – A site dedicated to explaining the science of global warning. Always looking for help in donations or paper review.
  • World Wildlife Fund – Focuses on preserving and protecting wildlife and related environmental and pollution issues.

 

Activities For The Civic Geek: Electronic Recycling

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Most geeks love their electronics.  Electronic waste and disposal presents quite an environmental problem – and ignores how other people can use technology others casually throw away.  Getting into electronic recycling as a civic geek gives you many ways to help out.

If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re probably awash in technology.  You either have a lot of it, use a lot of it, or both.

The problem is a lot of this technology is pretty hard to dispose of – and is useful when reused.  Deadly chemicals have to be handled in recycling, valuable metals have to be reclaimed.  At the same time there are people that can reuse technology that you might throw away.  For technical geeks, this is a chance to do some good by getting involved in electronics recycling.

Here’s a few ideas:

  • You can get involved in collecting and donating old cell phones or computers.  There’s many places that gladly take old technology.
  • You could get your geeky friends, club, or whatever to refurb old computers before donating them.
  • There are groups that do refurb of technology you could join.
  • Run a drive at a con or club event to collect old technology
  • If you’re a science-heavy geek, you can arrange viewings on films on recycling or speakers at your events.  Just the dangers and methods of recycling electronics alone is fascinating (and a bit scary).

The benefits of this are threefold: you make recycling easier, many electronic recycling efforts help people out, and you become aware of the impact of electronics on the environment and more.  It’s not just helpful – it’s broadening.

A few groups to look into:

Computing

  • Close The Gap – Takes computer donations from european countries and refurbishes them for emerging nations. Also works to recycle unusable equipment safely.
  • Computers With Causes – Takes donated computers and either gets them to charitable programs, or sells them for funds used to go to programs
  • PCS For Schools – Refurbishes and upgrades donated computer equipment and uses it to bridge the technology gap in schools
  • World Computer Exchange – A US and Canadian non-profit that reduces the digital divide with education, donated computers, and more.

Technology

  • AZ StRUT – Arizona chapter of Students Recycling Used Technology, an organization that supports learning, refurbishing and donation of electronics, and proper recycling of electronics.
  • Cell Phone Bank – Takes donations of cell phones and recycles them for use as emergency phones.
  • Cell phones For Soldiers – Provides refurbed cell phones and more to soldiers so they can keep in touch.
  • Green Electronics Council – A nonprofit focused on environmental leadership in electronics
  • Hope Phones – Outfits global health care workers (part of Medic Mobile) with donated cell phones
  • Komputers4rkids – Focused on Southern California, the goal of Komputers4rkids is to bridge the digital gap in technology, and they accept electronic donations to help do it.
  • National Center For Electronics Recycling – A nonprofit that works to build and coordinate initiatives to improve electronic recycling.
  • Silicon Valley StRUT – California/Silicon Valley chapter of Students Recycling Used Technology, an organization that supports learning, refurbishing and donation of electronics, and proper recycling of electronics.
  • Step Initiative – The Step Initiative takes a long-term view of understanding, planning for, recycling, and avoiding e-waste.
  • The Christina Foundation – Promotes technology reuse and helps connect people with local organizations and individuals that need their donations.
  • Wireless Foundation – Recycles used cell phones and focuses on stopping family violence

Civic Geek Catalog Update 11/15/2014

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First of all, the Geek Catalog is now the Civic Geek Catalog AND it has it’s own website at CivicGeek.Com – still sorted by Geekery And Category – with more to come!

General

STEM

  • Environment
    • Skeptical Science – A site dedicated to explaining the science of global warning. Always looking for help in donations or paper review.
  • General
    • Engineering for Change – A community to connect engineers, governments, social scientists, and more to share knowledge and solve problems in a sustainable way.
    • Engineers Without Borders Canada – A nonprofit Canadian organziation that supports sustainable community engineering projects around the world.
    • Engineers Without Borders USA – A nonprofit US organziation that supports sustainable community engineering projects around the world.

Video Games

Writing

  • Books
    • Book Aid – Supports African Libraries with books and librarian training.
  • Literacy
    • ProLiteracy – Focuses in safe, strong, sustainable socieities by building literacy around the globe with a variety of initiatives.
    • Tracy and Clerenda McGrady Foundation – Founded by the NBA All-Star and his wife, the foundation focuses on multiple, world-wide literacy projects.