March 30, 2012
By Christopher Olsen, Intern, OurEarth.org

EarthCorps, a Seattle non-profit organization, is creating environmental leaders and "building global community through local environmental service.” EarthCorps operates a variety of volunteer and service programs in the greater Seattle area, with the largest component of the organization being its Corps program, which brings together a group of 20-25 year olds to participate in environmental restoration work, education, and training. EarthCorps’ impact is also far reaching, with participants from across the United States and abroad. To date, volunteers from 75 countries have participated, which has resulted in an international network of young environmentalists as well as environmental knowledge and leadership being spread throughout the world.

Many participants take the experience and skills that they attained from EarthCorps and apply them to projects in their home communities. For example, a Japanese volunteer created his own conservation corps to work on environmental restoration projects. In the wake of the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster, his conservation group helped those in Japan who were affected by the tragedy. Another alumnus from EarthCorps returned home to Nigeria and began working on his own projects to preserve urban and rural forests and raise awareness about sequestering carbon.

EarthCorps also has partnerships with many schools and summer camps. Steve Dubiel, Executive Director of EarthCorps, believes that it is important to involve youth in environmental work because they will soon be society’s leaders. EarthCorps programs are not limited to certain ages though, it tries to involve all generations of people in environmental restoration. According to Dubiel, “From a stewardship perspective, all of us need to work together. It’s not just a young or old problem, it’s everyone’s problem.”

In the last year, EarthCorps has had a multitude of successes. The organization worked with over 15,000 volunteers to remove invasive plant species from Seattle parks and encourage stewardship among the residents of Seattle. Currently, EarthCorps is working on the Green Seattle Partnership, an initiative to restore all forested parkland in the city within 20 years. The program is in its seventh year and is on its way to meeting the projected goal.

Dubiel believes that leadership is a combination of personal understanding, teamwork, adaptability, and community; and he offers advice for aspiring environmental leaders: "Figure out what you as an individual are passionate about and how you as an individual want to change the world, and then commit. Committing means not just acting today, but committing for your lifetime to make a difference within your abilities to change the world and stick with it for life. There will be moments where it's hard, moments where it feels like you failed, moments of success, but true leaders stick with their passion."

EarthCorps is an organization that empowers its participants and volunteers to become leaders in the environmental field. Enabling youth to believe they can make a difference in the world is a central tenet of EarthCorps’ philosophy. EarthCorps then equips these young people with the environmental skills and knowledge they need to positively make changes on the issues to which they feel committed. By improving the capabilities and dedication of tomorrow’s leaders, EarthCorps is working towards sustainable, long-term solutions to improving environmental stewardship on our planet.

To learn more about EarthCorps and their variety of programs visit their website: http://www.earthcorps.org/.