The North Carolina Climate Action Corps is an opportunity for AmeriCorps members to focus on helping the state achieve its climate goals, while also strengthening community resilience and offering participants opportunities for personal and professional growth. North Carolina deals with hurricanes and flooding annually and is ranked second in the Southeast for federally declared disaster by FEMA. The Governor’s NC Climate Action Corps will support 25 Climate Corps members across the state. The three AmeriCorps NC programs participating in the NC Climate Action Corps are Conserving Carolina with the AmeriCorps program Project Conserve, Conservation Corps NC, Conservation Trust for NC’s AmeriCorps program Resilience Corps NC.

Service Activities

The NC Climate Action Corps will expand service in areas through a public data driven process selecting the areas of our state most affected by climate change. AmeriCorps members will advance climate actions that engage communities, cultivate change, and leave a lasting impact on North Carolina. NC Climate Action Corps Members will:

  • Support Host Partners throughout the state, principally in underserved communities. 
  • Learn real-world volunteer engagement and climate action skills through organizing community climate action projects.
  • Serve with a public agency, tribe, nonprofit, or educational institution committed to engaging their community in climate action. 
  • Focus on climate action around resiliency, flood risk, land management practices, healthy food systems, local food production and more.

 

Opportunities to serve in the NC Climate Action Corps 


 

Ways To Take Action from Home

  • Plant trees-Trees provide crucial shade, pollution protection, and groundwater benefits.
  • Donate unused food-Don’t throw it away! By donating unused food, you’re helping feed people and reduce landfill emissions. 
  • Compost your food waste-ReFED estimates 63 million tons of food waste ends up in landfills annually, generating potent greenhouse gas. Follow these steps from composing NC DEQ on how you can compost your food waste at home.
  • Assess your home energy consumption. This simple home energy audit can be completed through your electricity provider and offers tips on changes to improve its efficiency.
  • Hack your thermostat. Setting your thermostat 7 to 10 degrees from its normal setting in warmer and cooler months, you’ll save money and reduce your pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. This can reduce your heating and cooling emissions by 10%, saving money every year.
  • Unplug electronic devices when they aren’t in use. From 4 to 9 PM, energy demand is high, and fewer clean energy sources are available. By unplugging idle electronic devices during these hours, you are using less polluting energy sources.
  • Save energy through water conservation. Turn your water heater down to 120ºF (if health permits) to save energy.
  • Switch to LED bulbs. LED light bulbs can last 25 times longer, while using 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs. That adds up to more than $100 in savings for most families each year.
     
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