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United States community action
US topics with their own wiki page: see right hand side bar
Sustainability initiatives
Local sustainability initiatives
Information can be found or shared via our state, city and other local pages, listed in right hand sidebar
Indigenous peoples
Honor the Earth - Indigenous Environmental Network - Seventh Generation Fund
Biodiversity
AMC's Mountain Watch, Citizen science and phenology monitoring in the Appalachian mountains
Butterfly Conservation Initiative
Center for Biological Diversity
Project Budburst, Citizen Science for Plant Phenology in the USA
USA National Phenology Network, Citizen science and research network observations on phenology in the USA
Coasts
Blue Frontier Campaign, marine conservation activist organization which has established a nationwide network of grassroots (the marine conservation community or Blue Movement calls this 'seaweed') lobbyists. It is campaigning for an American Oceans Act to protect what the members call "our public seas" and is working to improve ocean policies in the 23 coastal states of the United States. Blue Frontier supports maritime community activists by distributing model policies and practices. W
Community and voluntary action
United We Serve, an official website of the U.S. Government - Volunteering and Civic Life in America
Community currencies activism
Commons Currency Project, Imagining a Great Lakes Commons Currency
Community safety
Mothers Against Senseless Killing
News and comment
Chicago: Come for the fun, stay for the revolution, Nov 16 [1]
The Unsung Role That Ordinary Citizens Played in the Great Crime Decline, Nov 9 [2]
Cycling activism
League of American Bicyclists, The League’s Bicycle Friendly America℠ program - PeopleForBikes - Stolen Bike Registry
Education for sustainability
Center for Ecoliteracy - Safe Routes to School National Partnership
Environment quality
Open Government Homepage, United States Environmental Protection Agency (government)
Drought National Drought Mitigation Center - U.S. Drought Portal
Wikipedia: Drought in the United States, 2010–13 Southern United States drought, 2012–14 North American drought
News and comment
2017
Seattle Stopped Sucking—So Can You, Oct 26 [3]
Study: Pollution Kills More People Than War, Smoking, Hunger, and Other Causes of Death, Oct 20 [4]
Ethical consumerism
Center for the New American Dream - ConsumerProtect.com - GreenerChoices.org - Wikipedia: List of Fairtrade settlements in the United States
News and comment
2020
Apr 23 Towards sustainable economies US: Accessible local alternatives to Amazon Prime [5]
Free stuff
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary economic system. Since the practice was de-criminalized in the post-war years, the potlatch has re-emerged in some communities. [6]
Health
Active Living By Design, creates community-led change by working with local and national partners to build a culture of active living and healthy eating.
Change Lab Solutions, nonprofit which offers legal information on public health issues. The website states:
- ‘It can be difficult—if not impossible—to find fresh, affordable healthy food in many urban and rural low-income communities. One way to make fresh produce more accessible is to encourage alternative retail outlets, such as farmers’ markets, farm stands, and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, where farmers can sell their produce directly to consumers.’
- Their report entitled ‘California Certified Farmers’ Markets and Farm Stands: A Closer Look at State Law’ argues for more flexible regulations. Change Lab Solutions has written a fact sheet entitled ‘Creating a Permit Program for Produce Cart Vendors.’ W
CDC's Climate-Ready States & Cities Initiative, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Health Care Without Harm US / Canada, press room
News and comment
2017: Economic Inequality and Health Inequality Are Inextricably Linked, Dec 5 [7]
2015: Surgeon General’s Prescription for Health: Walk More, September 28 [8]
Localism
BALLE, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies - Community-Wealth.org, a project of Democracy Collaborative - Institute for local self reliance, nonprofit organization and advocacy group that provides technical assistance to communities about local solutions for sustainable community development in areas such as banking, broadband, energy, and waste through local purchasing. The organization was founded in 1974. ILSR has two main offices, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- The 1990 edition of the Whole Earth Catalog summarized ILSR's mission as follows: “ILSR specializes in urban community economic development that isn't dependent on welfare handouts. Unlike many similar organizations, they develop clever technical solutions to problems - they've been particularly successful in material recovery and other schemes to reduce waste. Their experience and thoroughly professional demeanor, together with a Washington DC location, has enabled them to be influential in policy decisions.” W
News and comment
2020
Nov 8 Joe’s not sleepy, but he should wake up to American localism [9]
Apr 23 Towards sustainable economies US: Accessible local alternatives to Amazon Prime [10]
Open spaces
Great Old Broads for Wilderness - Land Trust Alliance - ParkGrades.com, find a great park near you
Community Greens
- Communities nationwide are taking down their backyard fences; backyard commons already exist in numerous cities including Boston, Sacramento, Baltimore, New York, and San Francisco.
- Community Greens are multi-functional spaces for gardening, recreation, and leisure which provide social, economic, and environmental benefits to urban residents. Communities that create backyard commons have increased interaction with neighbors throughout the planning and implementation process, which results in a stronger overall sense of community. Other social benefits include decreased crime from having more eyes on the street and having safe places for children to play and adults to relax. Community Greens, like other types of urban green spaces, significantly improve the ecological functioning of urban habitats. Vegetation and permeable pavement slows stormwater runoff and allows for groundwater recharge. This in turn reduces pollutant loads being carried to nearby waterbodies during storm events. Urban environments are often significantly warmer than outlying suburbs, mostly due to the prevalence of low-albedo concrete surfaces. City trees mitigate this heat island effect and cool the urban microclimate through shading and evapotranspiration. When neighbors take down their fences, backyards are transformed from fragmented habitats to connected corridors for urban wildlife. City dwellers recognize value in green space, often simply from an aesthetic standpoint, and this is reflected through increased property values. W
Road safety
National Complete Streets Coalition, Smart Growth America
Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
Drop Box Finder - earth911.com - The Swap-o-matic - US Composting Council - Post-Landfill Action Network, national movement of student leaders working towards a world without waste. - GrassRoots Recycling Network - The Repair Association - The Truth About Plastic
Wikipedia: Recycling in the United States: In 2012 the recycling rate in US was 23.8%. Since there is no national law that mandates recycling, state and local governments often introduce recycling requirements. A number of U.S. states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have passed laws that establish deposits or refund values on beverage containers while other jurisdictions rely on recycling goals or landfill bans of recyclable materials.
News sources: Northeast Recycling Council Blog
Sharing
Pets to Share - City Dog Share
Cohousing
Cohousing Association of the United States, site includes a Cohousing Directory
Resources
- Creating Cohousing, Building Sustainable Communities, by Kathryn McCamant & Charles Durrett, newsociety.com
- How To Start A Tool Library (or any other type of Lending Library), Share Starter
- Local Tools, rental and tool library software
Maps
Find an Existing Tool Library, localtools.org
Comment
- S400: Bringing Community to the Micro-level – The Opportunities of Urban Cohousing, 2012 March 5, citytank.org
Social inclusion
Strike Fast Food, Low Pay Is Not OK - We Are Visible, empowering the homeless via social media
Sustainable livelihood
Resilience Circles are small groups where people come together to increase their personal security through learning, mutual aid, social action, and community support.
News and comment
2019
Mar 26 The benefit workers want most is less work [11]
2015
Feb 17 Can We Earn a Living on a Living Planet? [12]
Trees, woodland and forest
ACTrees, Alliance for community trees - Tree City USA
Wikipedia:
- List of U.S. National Forests: The United States has 155 protected areas known as National Forests covering 188,293,938 acres (762,000 km2/294,208 sq. mi). The National Forests are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Tree City USA is a tree planting and tree care program sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation for cities and towns in the United States. List of Tree Cities USA
Urban sustainability
Better Block, nonprofit that educates, equips, and empower communities to reshape built environments
OpenPlans (Wikipedia) non-profit technology based advocacy organization which aims to help to open up government and improve transportation systems.
Reimagining the Civic Commons - Civic Commons - Reimagining Our Cities’ Public Assets
Small Scale Developers & Builders, information from Congress for the New Urbanism
KaBOOM!, national non-profit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids, particularly those growing up in poverty
News and comment
2018
Texas: Dallas non-profit creates bike share docks for neighborhoods, Feb 19 [13]
2017: Small Towns Can Be Resilient, Too, Mar 29 [14]
See also Barcelona
Resources
see separate article: Resources USA
Events
see separate article: US sustainable community events
News and comment
see separate article: US news
See also
- Climate action USA
- Community energy USA
- Community involvement USA
- Food USA
- Sustainable transport USA
- Towards sustainable economies US
- Resources USA
- US sustainable community events
local information can be found, or shared, via our many location pages
Interwiki links
Wikipedia:
- United States
- Sierra Club, environmental organization in the United States, founded in 1892, in San Francisco; article includes section on Criticism and Controversy