Throwing a block party? Creating a community garden? Building a playground? Helping an ailing neighbor with a food circle? Jill Doucette, founder of Synergy which works to catalyze the green economy, helps you strengthen your community with sustainable ideas to environmentally improve where you live.

Introduction xi
1 Rethinking Our Communities:
People, Planet, Prosperity 1
1. How Others Interpret a Green Community 3
2 Taking Action 6
1. Starting Small 7
2. Mobilize Change 7
3. Outreach Tools 11
3 Food Security 13
1. Growing Food Locally 14
2. The Environmental Impact of Meat 15
3. The Environmental Impact of Seafood 16
4. Food Waste 19
5. Community Gardening 21
5.1 Guerilla gardening 22
iv Greening Your Community
5.2 Sharing backyards 23
6. Urban Agriculture 24
7. Urban Livestock 24
8. Farming Food Instead of Manicuring Lawns 26
9. Stop Using Pesticides 27
4 Green Events 29
1. Community Events 30
2. Family Events 31
3. Zero-Trash Events 34
4. Environmental Action Events 36
5 Using Green Transportation 40
1. The Cost of Vehicle Ownership 41
2. Transportation Alternatives 42
2.1 Bicycling 43
2.2 Walking 45
2.3 Car- and bike-sharing programs 46
3. Drive Greener 46
3.1 Electric vehicles 47
6 Foundations of a Green Home 49
1. Home Size and Location 50
2. Evaluating Your Home 52
2.1 Heating your home 54
2.2 Electronics, appliances, and lights 56
3. Living Green in an Apartment or Condo 57
4. Daily Practices Make a Difference 59
7 Water Systems 60
1. Watershed Areas 62
2. Water Use in Our Communities 63
3. Reducing Water Pollution 66
4. Reducing Water Use in Our Homes 67
Contents v
8 Renewable Energy: Seeking the
Net-Zero Community 70
1. Why We Care about Climate Change 71
1.1 Sea-level rise 71
1.2 Increased forest fires 71
1.3 Natural environment impacts 71
1.4 Food impacts 72
1.5 Water supply 72
2. Renewable Energy in Your Community 72
2.1 Photovoltaic solar panels 73
2.2 Solar hot water systems 74
2.3 Geo-exchange systems 74
2.4 Biomass or bioenergy 75
2.5 Wind power 75
2.6 Hydro power 76
3. Do-It-Yourself Solar Collector 76
4. Carbon Offsets 77
5. Purchasing Renewable Energy 79
9 Recycling, Composting, and Trash 80
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 81
1.1 Composting 83
1.2 Plastics 84
1.3 Batteries 84
1.4 Styrofoam 85
1.5 Mattresses 86
2. Set a Lofty Goal: Zero-Waste Work, School, and Home 86
3. Consumer-to-Consumer Selling and the
Sharing Economy 87
4. Upcycling 88
5. Circular Economy 88
10 Natural Environment and Green Spaces 90
1. Integrating Nature into Our Communities 91
2. Preserving Natural Areas 94
vi Greening Your Community
11 Arts and the Environmental Movement 98
12 The Green Economy and Entrepreneurship 101
1. Local Economy 102
2. Green Business Practices 104
2.1 Encourage the local business community
to go green 106
3. New, Green Businesses and Jobs 107
3.1 Innovative business 109
13 Sustainable Cities and Helping Yours Become One 111
1. Cities That Lead 112
1.1 Vancouver 113
1.2 San Francisco 113
1.3 Portland 113
1.4 Seattle 113
1.5 Toronto 114
1.6 New York 114
1.7 International cities worth watching 114
2. What Makes a Community a Green Leader? 115
2.1 Green champions 115
3. Working with City Hall 117
14 Measure Success 119
1. Measuring at the Project Level 119
2. Measuring at the City Level 121
Checklist
1 Planning Considerations for a Green Event 32
Tables
1 Aspects of Your Community 2
2 Determine the Barriers and Take Action 11
3 Examples of Green Business Programs and Criteria 107
4 Environmental Ventures 108
5 River Cleanup Project SMART Goals 120
6 Key Performance Indicators: Local Business Example 122