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Sustainable Works is a non-profit environmental education organization and a project of Community Partners. Our mission is to foster a culture of sustainability in cities, colleges, and businesses.
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| Our offices at 1744 Pearl Street, Santa Monica, CA |
We've been conducting our programs in the City of Santa Monica and at Santa Monica College for over six years. Participants represent the Greater Los Angeles area. We educate about environmentally responsible actions involving waste production, water, chemical, and energy consumption, transportation emissions, consumer habits and community development.
The 6-week residential program and 9-week student program assess the environmental impacts of individual lifestyle choices, educate about specific topics and provide recommendations and resources for action.
Our business program provides consultation services that include an initial assessment and environmentally friendly recommendations based on the assessment. We follow through by providing resources, assisting with implementation, and conducting staff training and employee education.
We provide a full-service, hassle free experience to interested cities, colleges, and businesses. An essential part of our program is the ability to offer our clients measurable statistics reflecting resource-use reduction associated with program implementation.
Sustainable Works looks forward to working with you to promote sustainable practices throughout the urban environment. For more information about our programs or to discuss involvement, please contact Sustainable Works at:
1744 Pearl Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 458.8716 x1
How Do Students and Residents Participate?
Sustainable Works offers a fun, friendly and informative 6-9 meeting program that shows participants how to adopt sustainable practices that improve quality of life, save money, and help the planet. Groups of 10-15 individuals participate together, resulting in friendships, community building, creativity and success. Plus, participants save money off their utility bills! In general, participants can save up to $200 a year by engaging in resource efficient activities!
Each week a trained Crew Leader facilitates an hour and a half meeting, with the help of the Sustainable Worksbook. Crew Leaders review participants' impact assessment, educate on the topic, demonstrate a variety of simple activities, and recommend specific changes that reduce participants' environmental impact. Each of the meetings engages participants in hands-on, interactive and educational experiences.
The Worksbook offers information and recommendations for the following topic areas: water and energy consumption, waste production, transportation impacts, chemical use, and consumer habits. Each chapter emphasizes resource-use efficiency, replacing toxics with less toxic alternatives and increasing one's understanding of the local, regional, and global environmental impact of their daily choices.
There is a one-time materials fee of $25, fee waivers are available, and all donations are tax-deductible.
How Do Businesses Participate?
Our business program provides businesses with the tools they need to implement environmental policies and actions company-wide. We assess each business, commend them for existing behavior, recommend new options, implement the options they select and follow-up to track success.
Pre-assessment questionnaires and on-site assessments give valuable insight about a business. Sustainable Works uses that information to make targeted recommendations. We then help the business to prioritize and implement the recommendations they choose. We provide resources and cost information throughout implementation, present the new procedures to employees and follow up with the business to ensure satisfaction and success.
How Do Cities Participate?
Cities can participate in one or all of our "Greening" programs. Additionally, Sustainable Works is trained in a variety of development strategies and social marketing approaches. We can develop programs specifically to meet the needs of your city or help improve the effectiveness of existing programs.
Our mission is to foster a culture of sustainability in cities, colleges, and businesses.
Sustainable Works exists to manifest the concepts of sustainability and the actions associated with living a sustainable lifestyle into the daily activities of individuals, institutions and businesses. We accomplish this by providing hands-on, interactive, educational experiences, serving as a liaison between governments, institutions, businesses and individuals and fostering community development. We turn knowledge into actions that improve quality of life by promoting sustainable practices in the urban environment. Our goal is to ensure a just society, a clean and healthy environment and a vibrant economy for present and future generations.
Sustainability can mean slightly different things depending on the context in which it is used. The United Nations' World Commission on Environment and Development Report, Our Common Future , first defined the term sustainable development as: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Since then many definitions have emerged. Other interesting definitions are listed below:
Meeting current needs - environmental, economic and social - without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. |
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Sustainable City Plan, Santa Monica |
Improving the quality of life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems. |
Sharing Nature's Interest, Mathis Wackernagel
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Long-term cultural, economic, and environmental health and vitality. |
Sustainable Seattle |
The integration of economic prosperity, environmental health and social equity into viable systems, which will function effectively in our common future. |
UCLA GSA |
Sustainability is characterized by an emphasis on preserving the environment, developing strong peaceful relationships between people and nations, and an emphasis on equitable distribution of wealth. |
Coop America |
a) A method of harvesting or using a resource so that resource is not depleted or permanently damaged . b) Of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods. |
Webster's Dictionary |
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Sustainability is related to the quality of life in a community -- whether the economic, social and environmental systems that make up the community are providing a healthy, productive, meaningful life for all community residents, present and future. |
Sustainable Measures |
sustainable business: a business that provides goods and services, and/or has incorporated into its daily operations practices that result in cleaner air and water, less waste and pollution, conservation of energy and natural resources, less traffic, improved quality of life for residents and workers, and contribute to a strong and viable local economy. |
Sustainable City Plan, Santa Monica |
Sustainable Works strives to implement the recommendations we provide to others. As a commitment to sustainability, our website is hosted from a solar powered site.