Building community and sharing experiences to learn from each other is what will move us all in a positive direction.
Here in New England we are fortunate to have lots and lots of small non-profits advocating for everything imaginable. I sometimes work with local land trusts that strive to save farmlands and watersheds in our little valley. There are 27 land trusts listed on the New Hampshire Land Trust Coalition website. Without a doubt there are many more beyond that coalition. There are plenty of reasons to work locally, and I love the way everyone knows someone somehow when it comes to local projects.
The value of local organizations is tremendous, and hard to argue with. Where we can all grow and increase our effectiveness is by collaborating and working with small groups together to leverage our collective strengths and audiences. To grow outside of our regular audience and reach people that may never have heard of our group or cause. That starts by reaching out and inviting others to join a common cause.
How can we work to connect seemingly unrelated organizations to other organizations? is it through art, food, a common goal. Maybe our goals have gotten too specific and too narrow? Perhaps we should all peak our heads outside of our silos and look for people working in the same direction but in different ways. There's too many good people doing great things our there for us not to collaborate and celebrate our small victories together.
As the mountains are connected to the ocean in small and large ways we can all use that analogy to form new connections with others. Mountains play a crucial role in capturing moisture from ocean-evaporated water. As air masses from the ocean encounter mountain ranges, they're forced upward, cool down, and release precipitation as rain or snow. This water then flows back to the ocean through rivers and streams collecting sediment and minerals, completing the cycle. But also building beaches, nurturing rivers and streams, making places for migratory fish to spawn and rear their young.
Mountains affect ocean currents and weather patterns. They can block or redirect air masses, influencing precipitation patterns that affect ocean temperature and salinity. Conversely, ocean temperatures influence the climate of nearby mountain regions. Our snow pack is called Maritime. Our biggest snow storms are fueled by the moisture provided by the Gulf of Maine. Eventually that snow melts and returns to the Atlantic along with the good and the bad in our rivers, valleys and farmlands. What we do to our rivers, farms, and forests eventually impacts our mountains and our oceans. It's all connected for the good and the bad.
Our small efforts in the mountains, oceans and everywhere in between do stack up, these small changes help tip the momentum towards a cleaner, healthier and more vibrant world. The more we celebrate each other and the work all these other, supposedly unrelated organizations the better and stronger we all become.
Let's all push a little harder to collaborate with each other, and other groups working in the same general direction, let's celebrate the small changes we are all making as we work somedays in our small worlds, other days on a grander stage. Each movement done by some many adds up to real change, lasting, foundations that can be built upon.
Out collaborations can be inspired by how Earth's systems work together as one dynamic whole, with water, rock, air, and life constantly cycling between these seemingly separate environments. Small efforts making big changes.
