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"The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, particularly in the industrialized countries. Developed countries must take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption."
—United Nations Agenda 21
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A Sustainable Future... It Starts Where You Live
Americans – as 5% of the world’s population – consume 33% of the planet’s resources and waste up to 75% due to inefficiency and lack of awareness.
Households directly consume one third of these resources, and indirectly use much of the rest through the purchase of products and services.
How we live is a big part of the problem. It can also be a big part of the solution, if we adopt more environmentally sustainable lifestyles. That means exercising more care, or stewardship, in our use of the Earth’s finite resources (trees, water, energy, minerals, land) to ensure that there will be enough left for our children and their children.
Empowerment Institute’s Green Living Program helps individuals lower their environmental impact through adopting more resource efficient lifestyle practices.
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Green Living Program
If one or more of the following categories fit your situation, participating in the Green Living Program will be helpful.
- You have a vague sense of what you should do for the environment, but beyond recycling, you don’t know what to do or how to do it.
- You are well informed, but need motivation translating this knowledge into action.
- You are doing many sustainable lifestyle practices, but need help achieving better consistency for each practice.
- You are practicing a consistently sustainable lifestyle, but wish to go to the next level.
The Green Living Program will assist you in translating your desire to do the right thing into a program of environmental action that will make a difference. 5 or 6 households – an EcoTeam – meet 7 times over a 4 month period and use a step-by-step workbook to create a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle. Choosing from a series of practical actions, the team supports one another to reduce waste, use less water and energy, buy "eco-wise” products and encourage others to get involved. More than increasing awareness, the Green Living Program enables people to change the way they live – measurably.
Depending upon the community, participants in the Green Living Program, on average achieve the following yearly resource savings:
- 41%-51% less garbage sent into the waste stream
- 25%-34% less water used
- 9%-17% less energy used
- 16%-20% less fuel used for transportation
- $227-$389 saved through more efficient use of resources
All while improving the quality of life right where they live!
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How The Program Works
- Using this handbook, you take action to develop sustainable lifestyle practices in five areas: garbage, water, energy, transportation, and consumption. The sixth action area, empowerment enables you to help others take action for the planet.
- You can do this program either with your household family members or as part of a peer support group of friends, neighbors, co-workers, or members of your faith community or civic organization – an EcoTeam. A good size for an EcoTeam is 5 to 8 households. Doing it with other households is recommended as it strengthens motivation to complete the actions and is a lot of fun.
- In either format, the program is designed to be completed in 7 meetings that take place every 14 days to 2 weeks. Different team members run the meetings using scripts located in the support section of this handbook. Meetings last 1.5 to 2 hours, with several hours needed between meetings to take the selected actions. If you do the program as an individual household and live with others, turn your household members into an EcoTeam and adapt the meeting scripts accordingly. If you live alone and choose to do this on your own, use the program’s suggested time sequence to keep you motivated.
- In the team program, the first meeting – Team Building Meeting – you review each of the program elements, build a team, schedule the remaining meetings and choose people to lead them. During meetings 2 to 7, team participants report on actions taken and describe their action plans for the next section. The team provides support and inspiration for everyone to carry out their plans.
- Before each meeting, read all the actions from the related handbook pages, fill in that chapter’s Sustainable Lifestyle Assessment (Section 7) and decide which actions you will take. Then transfer your “will do” actions to the Action Log in the beginning of each section and decide when you will take the actions. If you live with others, discuss your plan with them to get their ideas and participation.
- Each action you take has a point value based on effort or resources saved. To keep track of your accomplishments, after you have done each action, check it off on your Action Log and fill in the “after program” column of the Sustainable Lifestyle Assessment.
- Participate in our Green Living on-line community to exchange ideas with others doing the program, add your results to our sustainability scorecard, and take advantage of additional program resources. Visit www.greenopolis.com/glh
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What People are Saying
About the Green Living Program
"The potential resource savings are tremendous... and what's truly exciting about the EcoTeam approach is that it can serve as a catalyst to creating a more sustainable community."
Ava Frisinger, Mayor, City of Issaquah, WA
"This program is the first step-by-step plan for turning environmental concern into action.”
The Chicago Tribune
"I feel this program is superb, not only because of what it has done for me, but because it has the potential to do so much for the community.”
Krista M. Schauer, Portland, OR, EcoTeam member
"The Green Living Handbook is the most practical and well implemented program to help people create environmentally sustainable lifestyles.”
Daphne Gemmill, Exec. Dir., Project Earthlink, NOAA
U.S. Dept. of Commerce
"I've lived in the neighborhood for 21 years, but getting to know my neighbors started three years ago with an EcoTeam. We knew a lot of people by sight, but now we know them much better. There is a lot more friendliness on the streets now. It's given us the feeling of being embedded in the community and having roots. I highly recommend the neighborhood EcoTeam process.”
Sarah Conn, West Newton, MA, EcoTeam member
"The Green Living Program has demonstrated results... it can make a real difference. In our work with communities across America this is exactly the sort of tool for which they are searching.”
Molly Olson, Executive Director,
President’s Council on Sustainable Development
"After doing the Green Living Program I now clearly understand the specific ways my lifestyle impacts the earth. It has allowed me to align my actions with my ideals and live with greater integrity.”
Joseph Jastrab, New Paltz, NY, EcoTeam Member
"I had thought about all the things I should do and talked about doing them before the Green Living Program; but it took the handbook and group support to turn my thinking and talking into specific and concrete actions. And the changes were relatively easy.”
Pat Spindel, St. Louis, MO, EcoTeam Member
"This is no frivolous undertaking. It's not just a matter of getting new information... A lot of citizens already know things they could do to reduce the toll they take on the environment, but [EI's] structured group meetings help people put that knowledge to work and actually change their lifestyles.”
The Chattanooga Times
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Green Living Handbook
Table of Contents
Under construction—Coming soon!
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Green Living Handbook Sample Actions
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