22 Actions Communities Have Taken to Protect the Earth

With global problems as huge as climate disruption, most of us want to do more than get our own households in order and wait for laws to be passed. At ISC, we think the answer lies with communities.

Since 1991, ISC has helped communities across the globe—many with few resources or little history of citizen engagement—find creative solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the earth, and safeguarding public health.

So for this year's Earth Day, we counted down to April 22nd by sharing just some of what they've done. We're so inspired by these communities that we're keeping our list up so you too can inspired by what people can accomplish by working together. Share your story of what your community has done, sign up for email updates, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Together—as individual people, as communities, as nations, as a planet—we can halt climate disruption and protect the Earth.

April 22—Happy Earth Day!

Healthy Communities, Healthy Food System: What do Milwaukee and Macedonia have in common? An interest in making fresh, healthy foods available in poor communities. Macedonian farmers visited Will Allen's Growing Power in Milwaukee and are now piloting similar production and education sites in two locations.

April 21

Innovation Leads to Policy: In Dzerzhinsk, Russia, the local government and university created an energy efficiency training center and sparked upgrades across the district. When regional officials saw how they funneled savings into further improvements, they adopted the reinvestment formula as energy policy for the Nizhny Novgorod region.

April 20

Energy Efficiency: A consortium of community groups in Yekaterinburg, Russia worked with city officials to install two automated heating systems in one of the city's schools. One year's savings: the equivalent of 11.5 tons of greenhouse gases and $4,875—30% of the school's heating expenses. The community invested these savings into further energy efficiency improvements and social projects.

April 19

Green Jobs: The Kosiv region of western Ukraine has long faced the problem of illegal waste dumps. Local authorities encouraged a local company to work with citizen volunteers to eliminate six large and 20 small illegal waste dumps in the region. Nearby villages followed this example and in the process created 13 new jobs for locally unemployed people.

April 18

Learning through Exchange: After visiting Vermont, an organization from Nishinomiya, Japan adapted the Vermont Institute of Natural Science's Hands-On Nature workshops that have involved tens of thousands of Vermonters for 30 years. As a result, parents in Nishinomiya worked with teachers to develop their own programs, a collaborative process that has led to better community-school understanding.

April 17

Increasing Tourism, Decreasing Impact: A municipality near Lake Baikal, Russia joined forces with a state nature reserve and a community group to boost tourism while reducing its environmental impact. More than 300 students and volunteers set up nature trails and rest areas and developed bird watching trails. Officials estimate that the drop in "wild" tourism will reduce human impact on the protected areas by 40%.

April 16

Saving Lives: Citizens in Nizhnii Tagil, Russia identified 4,700 sources of air pollution. To help address this, the city installed a "Dust Dragon" cyclone at a local mine facility—which captured 1300 tons of dust and prevented an estimated 28 deaths per year.

April 15

Replicating Efficiency: In Khabarovski Krai, where Russia meets the Sea of Japan, the community helped decrease a prison's coal consumption by 21 metric tons a year, cutting ash and solid waste, and slashing power consumption by 5,536 kilowatt-hours. The energy savings inspired the town administration to invest $2.2 million in weatherizing all the city's schools.

April 14

Education for Sustainability: In Nishinomiya, Japan, an educational group called LEAF turns children into community stewards through its Eco-Card program. As students take part in a range of environmental education activities—sponsored by local businesses, facilities, museums and community groups—they receive passport-like stamps. Ten stamps on their Eco-Card earns them the title of Earth Ranger.

April 13

Recycling = Revenue: In Bitola, Macedonia, a community group, Biosfera, studied the behavior of residents and, followed by a media campaign, launched a recycling program by placing bins in strategic locations. Recycling quickly caught on as a revenue-generator and sustainable business, transforming Biosfera into an influential advocate for its community.

April 12

Energy Efficiency & Social Impact: In the Mongolian ancestral homeland on Lake Baikal, a very poor community harnessed energy efficiency to create jobs and improve quality of life. They mobilized citizens, businesses and the local government to switch to cleaner energy; created 14 new jobs; and directed nearly $50,000 in savings from reduced power consumption to social improvements.

April 11

Saving Environmental Assets: Residents of Novi Sad, Serbia led a cycling demonstration to protest the plans for mining in nearby Ledinci Lake. More than 100 cyclers biked 12km from the city center to Ledinci Lake with police escorts and "Let's Save the Lake!" banners. The group's advocacy efforts resulted in the provincial assembly's designation of the lake as a national park and recreational area.

April 10

Efficiency and Equity: In Russia's Far East town of Korsakovo, near the Chinese border, the municipality replaced the heating system at an orphanage, cutting energy consumption by 58 percent and giving the children their first-ever steady supply of hot water.

April 9

Local Action, National Impact: Troyan, Bulgaria, sits on the edge of a natural reserve and national park but untreated wastewater, agricultural runoff, and an uncovered landfill polluted the Beli Osam River. The city, with citizen input, developed a solid waste plan to turn the situation around. The Minister of Environment was so impressed that he invited Troyan leaders to help develop national legislation that required a similar process in municipalities across the country.

April 8

Energy Efficiency: After conducting energy audits in all municpal facilities, the town of Manchester, Vermont is now installing energy efficiency upgrades—and hopes to install a solar hot water heater in its Town Hall. More modern, efficient street lights that lessen glare are being installed. And the town joined a pilot project where citizen volunteers install simple, effective efficiency upgrades in people's homes. Grant funding will allow for more intensive upgrades for low-income families. Submitted by Lee Krohn, Planning Director, Town of Manchester, Vermont

April 7

Environmental Health: When an outbreak of hepatitis struck 95 percent of the children in Labunista, Macedonia, a local doctor traced its source to the sewage that seeped into the streets after rains. Together, he and community members built support for a new sewage treatment plant. Citizens not only voted to assess a small tax to pay for new pipes, but picked up their shovels to dig the trenches.

April 6

Improving Health: Nizhnii Tagil, Russia was home to a 300-acre dump, a moonscape swept by winds that stirred toxic dust into a cloud that overhung the city. By planting vegetation, 150 tons of the dust a year were stopped from becoming airborne—cutting a major source of particulate contamination and improving respiratory health.

April 5

City Planning: Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the city of Moss Point, Mississippi decided to rebuild sustainably. All planning and action stems from a new green vision, including requiring new municipal buildings to be LEED-certified.

April 4

Youth Power: Today, environmental youth groups in Serbia begin a three-month clean-up of illegal waste dumps in rural communities. It will be followed by a cross-country bike ride in July, and end at Europe's famed music event, the Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, which is going green this year.

April 3

Saving Water: In Radom, Poland, a rapidly depleting aquifer propelled a community task force to install water conservation fixtures in 1,800 homes, reducing water use by 40% per household. This success—plus brochures, radio broadcasts, competitions, picnics, and bumper stickers—helped them gain support for a community-wide water conservation program.

April 2

Youth Power: In Pushchino, a windy city south of Moscow, teenagers weatherized 180 doorways in 45 buildings and 150 apartments of elderly residents and people with disabilities. Electricity use dropped by 130,000 kilowatt-hours, saving residents the equivalent of half their income each month.

April 1

Forging Partnerships: By assembling a task force of 20 community leaders, the city of Burlington, Vt. overcame years of rocky relations with the University of Vermont to pioneer affordable and green housing, including LEED-certified dormitories.

We invite you to share your story with us, too.