From leading an initiative that resulted in 40 miles of new trail to teaching kids about recycling and helping fight off invasive species, environmentalist Judy Gibbs has worn many hats over the years.
The Duluth News Tribune tells Gibbs' story of activism in Duluth, Minnesota. She's been involved in just about every environmental effort in the city in the past four decades.
Though she grew up in Pennsylvania, Gibbs was first inspired by the region when she was young during a month-long canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is around 100 miles north of Duluth. Later, she chose environmental education as her vocation and returned to the Duluth area for an internship with an environmental center.
Since then, Gibbs has served in countless roles, including running nature programs for children out of her car, serving on various committees, leading 750 volunteers to build 40 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail, developing a children's recycling program that would become a statewide model, helping to eradicate invasive species like bamboo and emerald ash borers, and more.
Gibbs received an award for her efforts at the Great Lakes Outdoors Summit. The inaugural Judy Gibbs Unless Award pays tribute to a famous line in Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax": "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Gibbs uses a short version of this — "Unless" — in her e-mail signature, and she also chose the word to adorn her car's custom license plate.
Community activism like the work done by Gibbs can have a meaningful impact. For instance, recycling helps us conserve natural resources. Meanwhile, having access to trails can help more people get out into nature, which can improve mental health. One expert touts "forest bathing" as a way to lessen stress, boost your immune system, and increase levels of anti-cancer proteins.Â
Though Gibbs is retired, she still continues her environmental advocacy through involvement in groups like the Izaak Walton League and Duluth's Natural Resources Commission.
She expressed her passion for getting involved on a local level to make a difference.
"I don't get concerned much with the big stuff on the national level because I can't do anything about that," Gibbs told Duluth News Tribune. "But, if you show up, you can make a difference in your own community. That's what I've tried to focus on."
You can take local climate action to make a difference in your community, too.
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