UN SDG #1: No Poverty
Intro: Welcome to season two of 1000 Ways Green! The show where we are going to give busy people like you easy ways to help save the planet for our future generations, and try to save you money along the way. This season we are going to be focusing on The UN Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, which are a set of 17 goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all and how you can enact them in your day to day life.
I’m Patrick Shipway and I want to welcome you back! We are going to talk about the United Nations 1st Sustainable Development Goal: Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere.
According to the World Bank, nearly 700 million people still live in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.90 a day. This poverty is not only a lack of income, but also a lack of access to basic needs such as clean water, education, and healthcare.
So, how can we as individuals help to end poverty? There are many ways, but here are 3 in our 1000 ways green color coded scale.
Mint Green: Support businesses that support ending poverty around the world. I’m linking to 10 great organizations that you can use to support this goal but 3 of them you are likely familiar with are:
Warby Parker - They are an eyewear company that also operates on a "one for one" model. For every pair of glasses purchased, they donate a pair to someone in need. They have a program called "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" which helps provide access to glasses for people living in poverty.
Bombas - They are a sock company that donates a pair of socks to someone in need for every pair purchased. They have a specific program called "Socks for the Homeless" which helps provide socks to people experiencing homelessness.
TOMS - They are a shoe and accessory company that operates on a "one for one" model, meaning that for every product purchased, they donate a product to someone in need. They have a specific program called "TOMS Shoes for a Better Tomorrow" which focuses on giving shoes to children living in poverty. I’m also linking to the book that Blake Mycoskie (the owner of TOMS) wrote called Start Something That Matters. It is a phenomenal book showing how business, profits and good for the planet can all go together.
Shamrock Green: Your Shamrock Green challenge this week is to look at the list of 25 Organizations dedicated to fight poverty linked in the show notes, find the one that speaks the most to you and make a donation to them. To make a bigger impact, make it a recurring donation to help feed people every month!
Forest Green: Be an advocate for policy change. Contact your elected representatives and urge them to support policies that will reduce poverty, such as increasing the minimum wage or providing more funding for social safety net programs. I’m leaving a link HERE in the show notes for you to be able to find your representative along with a template you can use to let them know you’d like them to focus on fixing poverty within your state.
Finally, and additionally, practice empathy and kindness in your daily life. Poverty can be isolating and dehumanizing, and small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of those who are struggling as not having enough money is never easy to deal with and we never know what others are going through. Remember that we have the power to make a difference in the fight against poverty. Let's work together to achieve the first UN Sustainable Development Goal and end poverty in all its forms everywhere. That is all for this week, until next time, Be Green and Be Seen.
Links from the show: