wfn.org | In environmental work, change happens slowly

[BethAH <BethAH@mbm.org>]

May 23, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>
May 23, 2001

In environmental work, change happens slowly, MVSers find

Grant Rissler is serving through Mennonite Voluntary Service as a
writer and photographer.  After spending a year as intern at the
Mennonite Central Committee United Nations office in Manhattan,
he is traveling for five months by bus to 20 other MVS and
Short-Term Mission sites, gathering the stories and experiences
of other volunteers and communities.  A weekly column by Grant
can be found on the web at www.MBM.org.

SEATTLE (CHM/MBM) – Seattle is nicknamed the Emerald City because
of the lush green that comes from lots of rain throughout the
year.  It’s also known as one of the most environmentally
conscious cities in the United States.

The MVS unit in the Emerald City is no exception, with three
volunteers providing extra staff time the nonprofit organizations
they work for otherwise could not afford.

For Rachel Geisinger, Becca Smucker and Derek Wentorf, all Goshen
(Ind.) College graduates, helping their organizations help the
environment has been challenging and rewarding.

Smucker provides computer, web and general office support for the
Washington Water Trails Association (WWTA, www.wwta.org).  WWTA,
a 9-year-old organization, encourages and facilitates the use of
non-motorized boats for outdoor recreation by providing education
and advocacy programs, and by setting up and maintaining canoe
and kayak camping sites on the Puget Sound.

“In creating access, we like to think we’re doing a little for
the environment because we’re preserving the area around the
access points and getting people to use the park system,” Smucker
said.

Geisinger coordinates volunteers and trail maintenance efforts
for Washington Trails Association (WTA), which provides trail
maintenance, education and advocacy programs for trails in
Washington State.  Geisinger also works on the organization’s
newsletter and periodically accompanies trail maintenance work
groups.

Wentorf works as a program assistant for the Puget Soundkeepers
Alliance, doing research on pollution permits filed by companies
on the Puget Sound and providing volunteer coordination for the
organization’s programs and fund-raisers.

The purpose of Puget Soundkeepers Alliance, a 15-year-old
organization, is “to make sure people know that there’s an
environmental presence out there on the water,” Wentorf said,
“like knowing cops are out there so you won’t speed.”

PSA does this through weekly “kayak patrols” where staffers keep
their eyes open for environmental violations and train volunteers
to do the same.

“We try to get more people involved,” Wentorf said.
“[Especially] the bikers and the paddlers, so they know that
there’s something they can do when they’re out there.”

PSA also reviews permit requests from industrial companies
seeking to discharge pollution into the Sound.

For Wentorf, for whom working on environmental-justice issues is
a lifelong goal, his MVS experience has created the opportunity
to work on such technical analysis.  “I’m learning a lot of
technical stuff that I wasn’t expecting to,” he said.  The
experience is “very valuable because I probably wouldn’t get
[hired for a position like this] because I wouldn’t have [had]
the experience before.”

Geisinger said her learning has also been valuable.  Now, she
said, she can identify “a whole lot of trees and plants.”  With
the job also comes a greater awareness of the human impact on the
environment.  “You hear all the things,” she said, “like what a
motorized vehicle will do to the environment, how much erosion”
it will cause, eventually resulting in exposed root structures
and toppled trees.

Smucker also found environmental work rewarding.  “I wanted to
stretch myself and definitely doing anything environmental would
stretch me,” said Smucker, an English major in college.  “Even
being immersed in the [environmentalist] culture has made me do
more on weekends, go camping, hiking.  And I have gained a
significant understanding about how the environment affects us
and how we need to care for it.”

“I find myself spending a lot of time at work because I like it,”
Smucker continued.  “It’s the first job I’ve ever had that I
didn’t want to skip every once in a while.”

Yet, environmental work has significant challenges, the
volunteers say.

“It’s pretty degrading on your environmental hopes every day,”
Wentorf said.  “It really wears on you.  You come in thinking
you’re going to make a big change.  But I’ve realized, just in
the eight months I’ve been here, how much energy it takes just to
make a little change.”

“It’s hard to see results,” Smucker agreed.  “It’s been really
hard working on environmental issues because it’s not as hands-on
as a social-services job.  We’re an advocacy group that tries not
to make too many waves beyond encouraging people to think about
alternative ways of doing water recreation.  We don’t save
forests or do much attention-grabbing, so most of the support we
get is from kayakers and others who know how hard it is to get
access to water areas.  It’s always a struggle feeling that our
jobs are important to others, but realistically, we know [our
efforts are making a difference].”

Despite the minimal recognition, the volunteers agree that their
work is ultimately important.
“I think of nature as an underprivileged person with all these
people taking advantage of it,” Wentorf says.  “That’s what I get
worked up about:  our interest in the environment and making sure
we take care of it.  It’s the social work of the world.”

Mennonite Voluntary Service is a joint program of the Commission
on Home Ministries of the General Conference Mennonite Church and
Mennonite Board of Missions of the Mennonite Church.
* * *
Grant E. Rissler       PHOTOS AVAILABLE