According to Roots and Shoots member Anna Kasper, the club plans to get more involved with businesses in the next few months, so they can gain support for the Climate Action Plan.

“Today we discussed reaching out to more businesses and following up with some businesses about the Climate Action Plan which we passed last year or early this spring,” Kasper said.

According to junior Maddie Lind, this will not be the first time Roots and Shoots has reached out to businesses about Climate Action Plan.

“(We’re talking) about business outreach because we’ve already reached out to a lot of businesses about signing on to the goals outlining the Climate Action Plan,” Lind said. “We just want to reinforce it and check in.”

Roots and Shoots president Katie Christiansen outlined their specific plan for gaining business support.

“We gather up materials —we have a CAP brochure, a ‘Climate Champions’ Pledge, which says they are interested in taking action regarding the CAP, and our contact info— and go into businesses around St. Louis Park. When we are there we ask for the manager and talk to them about getting in contact with whoever makes the energy decisions,” Christiansen said.

According to Christiansen, Roots and Shoots hopes to have a solid foundation of business support by the time they finish with the door knocking.

“Our goal with this is to compile a list of the businesses in St. Louis Park with the person for each of them who makes decisions regarding energy decisions and facility use. Eventually, we’d like to have that group of people attend an info session to talk about what each of the businesses can do to reduce emissions, waste, and more,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen also shared when they plan to follow through with the door knocking this year.

“We’ve already done two or three sessions of it. So we did one over the summer, we did a couple in November, and we’re doing two in January,” Christiansen said.

According to Lind, the door knocking has an integral role in supporting and maintaining the public recognition of the Climate Action Plan.

“It’s important we keep on rolling with the Climate Action Plan, and taking a leading role in its implementation and community outreach,” Lind said.

Christiansen reiterated not only is adding business support to the Climate Action Plan significant, but it is also important for businesses in St. Louis Park to hear what students have to say.

“Businesses in St. Louis Park are a huge portion of the emissions, so it’s really important to start getting them to look at all the different programs that the city has to offer,” Christiansen said. “It’s really cool to connect with them as students and just tell them that this is what’s important to us. We started this and it’s really cool because they get really excited.”

According to Kasper, the initiative’s goals are exciting and will likely do a lot for the Climate Action Plan as a whole.

“I am excited for next year, I am excited to see how many businesses so far that have committed to the Climate Action Plan,” Kasper said.

Door knocking of businesses will start in January of 2019. Check the The Echo for updates.