Moab Solutions

As You Sow is one of the nation's leading practitioners of corporate responsibility through shareholder activism. It has successfully pressed Apple Inc. and Dell to set computer recycling goals; Best Buy to recycle electronics at its stores; and Coca-Cola and Pepsi to commit to using 10 per cent recycled PET plastic in all plastic bottles sold in US markets. It has also convinced Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond to phase out many products and packaging containing polyvinyl chloride. Check out their informative reports on the state of recycling in the United States.
http://asyousow.org

Canyonlands Community Recycling

Moab's recycle center, once called Canyonlands Community Recycling (CCR) and run by the non-profit is now called the Community Recycling Center and is run by the Solid Waste District of Grand County, Utah.  This changeover has allowed for proper funding and staffing of the center.  The non-profit group has evolved into an education and outreach entity.  To see what they are up to, and for information about what the recycle center accepts, please visit the website created by CCR.
http://moabrecycles.org/

The Container Recycling Institute has a wealth of information on the recycling of plastic,
glass, and aluminum containers. They are a non-profit organization that studies and promotes policies and practices that shift the social and environmental costs associated with manufacturing, recycling, and disposal of container and packaging waste from government and taxpayers to producers and consumers.
http://www.container-recycling.org

For specific information about beverage container deposit systems in the U.S. and worldwide, please visit their project website:
http://www.bottlebill.org

Since 1990, the David Suzuki Foundation has worked to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us. Focusing on four program areas – oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy, sustainability, and the Nature Challenge - the Foundation uses science and education to promote solutions that conserve nature and help achieve sustainability within a generation.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org

EarthJustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent
places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. EarthJustice brings about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations and communities.
http://www.earthjustice.org

Earth Sanga
Peace within Our Lives, Conservation of the Wild, Restoration of Our Lands.

The Earth Sangha is a nonprofit charity based in the Washington, DC, area and devoted to ecological restoration. They work in the spirit of Buddhist practice, but their members and volunteers come from a wide variety of religious and secular backgrounds.

In the Washington area, they operate an ecological restoration program to restore native forests and meadows, stabilize streams, and control invasive alien plants.

On the island of Hispaniola, along the Dominican Republic – Haiti border, they operate the Tree Bank, which helps impoverished farmers improve their incomes and restore forest.

In addition to their environmental work, they host regular meditation sessions in the Washington area, along with discussions of the Dharma (the traditional Buddhist teachings). These sessions are free and open to all.
http://www.earthsangha.org/

Ecolution believes in a sustainable natural economy for our future. In order to develop a sustainable economy and provide a healthier standard of living for the future, these folks work with plants and develop agricultural and processing methods that don't harm the environment. They have dedicated themselves to working with hemp fiber to produce natural textile products in an environmentally-sound way.  Hemp is the fastest growing agricultural crop and is gentle on the land, requiring no chemicals in its cultivation. Since hemp is biodegradable and natural, it does not become part of the rubbish that fills landfills or pollutes the world.
http://www.ecolution.com

Get paid for your old electronics. If your item still has value, this company will make you an offer, send you a box, and pay for shipping.
http://www.gazelle.com

Here is what Gazelle says on their site:

What Does Gazelle Do With My Used Electronics?
Gazelle believes that electronics recycling starts with reuse. After we buy electronics and gadgets, we evaluate their condition. When we receive items that are still in working condition, we extend their lives by removing all personal data from them, and selling the electronics through a variety of retail and wholesale outlets. Items without market value are recycled responsibly.

A fun and rewarding program, Grand Area Mentoring matches a carefully screened adult volunteer (mentor) with a child (mentee).They meet weekly for one hour in a school environment. Building a positive, new friendship helps to strengthen a mentee's self-esteem and school performance. It provides a mentor with the chance to re-experience the adventure of childhood while contributing to the well-being of a child. A mentor selects to meet with a student between kindergarten and tenth grade.
http://www.grandschools.org/mentor/

The mission of the Grand Canyon Trust is to protect and restore the Colorado Plateau - its spectacular landscapes, flowing rivers, clean air, diversity of plants and animals, and areas of beauty and solitude.

From their home page:
A vast land of canyons and mountains, the Colorado Plateau is the heart of the American West. Reaching 130,000 square miles along the Colorado River in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, it’s an iconic landscape filled with unique wildlife and ancient cultures. The Grand Canyon Trust is grounded in this place, working tirelessly since 1985 to protect the air, water, and wildlife of its slickrock canyons, fragile deserts, and forested mesas
http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/

Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. (We went by the name "Co-op America" until January 1, 2009.) Our mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.

Our Vision

We work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.

What Makes Green America Unique

• We focus on economic strategies—economic action to solve social and environmental problems.
• We mobilize people in their economic roles—as consumers, investors, workers, business leaders.
• We empower people to take personal and collective action
• We work on issues of social justice and environmental responsibility.  We see these issues as completely linked in the quest for a sustainable world.  It’s what we mean when we say “green.”
• We work to stop abusive practices and to create healthy, just and sustainable practices.

http://www.coopamerica.org

Growing Power is a national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by helping to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities. Growing Power implements this mission by providing hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner.
http://www.growingpower.org

Make sure you click on their link for the "Potomac River Watershed Cleanup." The results of their annual cleanups are posted on their website, with photos. Since 1989, more than 60,000 volunteers have teamed with 375 partner organizations to tug over 3 million tons of trash from the watershed’s streams, rivers and bays. Last year's haul of over 250 tons included more than 15 tons of recyclables, 21,597 plastic bags, 1,844 tires, 14,802 cigarette butts, 3 canoes and 2 couches!
http://www.fergusonfoundation.org

Animal care in the Moab area has come a long way since 1999, when 45% of all dogs and 88% of all cats picked up or brought in to Animal Control were euthanized.  A small group of concerned and compassionate citizen got together and formed the Humane Society of Moab Valley (HSMV).

HSMV is a non-profit organization, started in 1999, and is not affiliated with any government entity or other humane organization.  Funding comes from donations, membership fees, grants and fundraising events.  All money sustains the day-to-day costs of saving the lives of animals needing forever homes.

HSMV is run primarily by volunteers, with limited staff, and operates a no-kill foster program where every adoptable animal finds a new, loving home.  Volunteer foster families support, train and foster dogs and cats until a suitable permanent home can be found.  

Other programs offered by HSMV include low-cost spay and neuter clinics several times each year, free or discounted spay and neuter programs year-round for low-income families, public education on the humane treatment and training of animals, assistance to those who need dog or cat food, help to families who can no longer care for their animals, and the feral cat program.
http://www.moabpets.org/

Who We Are: Activists for a Plastic Free Planet We launched Life Without Plastic (“LWP”) in 2006 after several years of daydreaming about how to make a contribution to reducing the large quantities of plastic that are consumed every second of every day around the world.  We played with ideas for raising awareness about the issue.  We wanted to address the environmental disaster that the consumption of plastic is causing, and the damage that leaching plastic can cause to human and animal health.  We quickly realized that before we could effectively help people reduce their plastic consumption, we had to be able to point them toward non-plastic alternatives that could replace the plastic items currently used in day-to-day life.  When Life Without Plastic was created, very few alternatives existed in the North American market, especially for food and drink containers.  Our son was born in 2003, and he was the catalyst.  He made us look more actively for alternatives in North America and in other countries around the world.  This is how Sanctus Mundo, our unique product brand, came into existence.

There are now many more alternatives to plastic products available thanks, for example, to the tremendous media attention on bisphenol A over the past two years.  Yet one thing we are noticing is that the quality of these alternatives varies significantly.  There are some wonderful new products created with a real concern for quality, health, the environment, and worker conditions.  But there are other products out there that are unsafe and unethically manufactured.  For example, not all stainless steel is created equal, and as with many things, price is often an indicator of quality. Where a product is made can also provide clues about its quality, that is why we indicate the country of origin in the description of every single product we sell.

As we continue to fulfill our goal of making available more and more high quality alternatives to plastic products, we are now able to begin focusing increased attention on an equally important element of our mission:  raising awareness about plastics issues by providing solid science- and experience-based information and showing people, one person at a time, the beauty and simplicity of a life without plastic.

Chantal & Jay
Co-Founders & Co-Owners
http://lifewithoutplastic.com/en/home

From the Rocky Mountains through seven states and Mexico, the Colorado River is the artery of the desert southwest. Its canyons, ecology and heritage render an international treasure. However, ignorance, greed and complacency are robbing the Colorado of its ability to sustain life.

Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper empowers a movement to instill a new ethic of achieving ecological restoration, balanced with meeting human needs. We work to:

• RESTORE inundated river canyons, wetlands and the delta
• REPEAL antiquated laws which represent the river's death sentence
• REDUCE water and energy use and their impacts on the river
• RECRUIT constituents to aid in reviving the Colorado

Please join us!

Note
Living Rivers is funded entirely by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. Living Rivers is recognized as a charitable/educational organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Code. Donations to Living Rivers
are tax deductible as allowed by law.
http://livingrivers.org/

The Million Letter March aims to send a million letters to lawmakers to encourage them to take steps to enact legislation that will stop climate change.  Here is information from their website...

Creating the Political Will: Demonstrate support for real climate solutions, including carbon fees and green checks, smart regulation and public investment. For Effective Climate Change Legislation: Fight false solutions like cap-and-trade-with-offsets.
http://www.millionlettermarch.org/

The Moab Community Action Coalition is a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to strengthening our community by decreasing risk factors and increasing protective factors to ensure healthy lives and a healthy community.

MCAC is dedicated to providing and sustaining effective prevention services for our community through comprehensive collaboration. Using the Strategic Prevention Framework model, MCAC addresses locally determined risk and protective factors and works to promote and achieve changes in substance abuse and other social problem behaviors in our community.
http://www.moabcac.org/

Rocky Mountain Institute is an entrepreneurial nonprofit organization that fosters the efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining. They do this by inspiring business, civil society, and government to design integrative solutions that create true wealth.
http://www.rmi.org

SIMPLE LIVING WITH WANDA URBANSKA offers thoughtful ideas to inspire each of us to make adjustments to possession-cluttered, time-starved lives. Whether it’s suggesting that you commit to writing one letter every week, replacing disposable coffee cups with a travel mug, buying a seasonal share of a local farmer’s crop or volunteering for a worthwhile cause, the show will provide you with small steps that, taken together by all of us, can make a large impact on your own life and on society as a whole. Make sure and check out the Tips Archive.

SIMPLE LIVING WITH WANDA URBANSKA examines what people can do to make their lives easier and more stress-free, from buying products that will last a long time to managing budgets more responsibly. The show focuses on four themes: environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement and financial responsibility.

When you make these simple lifestyle changes there are multiple and overlapping benefits. All of these benefits and changes are little changes, but they add up to a lot when taken together. They are ways for people to become more thoughtful about the way that we live, and to lessen our environmental footprint. From Wanda’s home base in Mount Airy, NC to your home base wherever you live, remember our mantra: Nothing’s Too Small to Make a Difference.
http://www.simplelivingtv.net

Check out this website for information about the recycle center, the landfill, and special collection days.  This site is a work in progress, so check back often.
http://www.solidwastessd1.com/index.html

The mission of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is the preservation of the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau, and the management of these lands in their natural state for the benefit of all Americans.

SUWA promotes local and national recognition of the region's unique character through research and public education; supports both administrative and legislative initiatives to permanently protect the Colorado Plateau wild places within the National Park and National Wilderness Preservation Systems, or by other protective designations where appropriate; builds support for such initiatives on both the local and national level; and provides leadership within the conservation movement through uncompromising advocacy for wilderness preservation.
http://www.suwa.org

TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. With over 50 products available at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market, TerraCycle is one of the fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers in the world. Our hope is to eliminate the idea of waste by finding innovative, unique uses for materials others deem garbage.

Founded in 2001 by a 19 year old Princeton University freshman named Tom Szaky, TerraCycle started as an organic fertilizer company and has grown into a multi-category, eco-friendly powerhouse. Tom’s dream was to find a new, more responsible way of doing doing business that would be good for the planet, good for people and good for the bottom line! TerraCycle has won many awards and accolades for its environmentally responsible business model from Inc. Magazine, Red Herring, The Home Depot, The Environmental Business Journal, The Social Venture Network, Zerofootprint and many other highly regarded organizations.

TerraCycle also runs free national collection programs that pay non-profits and schools. TerraCycle has exclusive partnerships with major companies such as Kraft Foods, Frito Lay (Pepsi), Stonyfield Farm, Mars Wrigley and many more. The partnerships create free collection programs that pay schools and non-profits nationwide to collect used packaging such as drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, yogurt cups, cookie wrappers, chip bags and more! The collected materials are upcycled into affordable, high quality products ranging from tote bags and purses to shower curtains and kites. In addition, TerraCycle works with these partners to find innovative uses for all of their waste streams and, by making products from these various waste streams, TerraCycle prevents 1000’s of tons of waste from going to landfills.
http://www.terracycle.net

WabiSabi operates two thrift stores plus a recycled building material store, all located in downtown Moab. These stores offer quality clothing, accessories, household items, furniture, books, and toys at great prices. And the sale of these items supports area nonprofit organizations. You get great stuff at a great price while our community nonprofits thrive and make Moab a better place to live. Both stores are open seven days
a week.
http://www.wabisabimoab.org

The interest in the concept of the water footprint and the accompanying methods and tools is overwhelming. This interest is rooted in the recognition that human impacts on freshwater systems can ultimately be linked to human consumption and that issues like water shortages and pollution can be better understood and addressed by considering production and supply chains as a whole. It is increasingly acknowledged that local water depletion and pollution are often closely tied to the structure of the global economy. Many countries have significantly externalised their water footprint, importing water-intensive goods from elsewhere. This puts pressure on the water resources in the exporting regions, where too often mechanisms for wise water governance and conservation are lacking. Not only governments acknowledge their role in achieving a better management of water resources, also businesses and public-service organisations increasingly recognize their role in the interplay of actors involved in water use and management.

The mission of the Water Footprint Network is to promote the transition towards sustainable, fair and efficient use of fresh water resources worldwide by:

1. advancing the concept of the ‘water footprint’, a spatially and temporally explicit indicator of direct and indirect water use of consumers and producers;


2. increasing the water footprint awareness of communities, government bodies and businesses and their understanding of how consumption of goods and services and production chains relate to water use and impacts on fresh-water systems; and


3. encouraging forms of water governance that reduce the negative ecological and social impacts of the water footprints of communities, countries and businesses.

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/WFN-mission

This is the only national conservation group in the U.S. that specifically targets off-road vehicle abuse of public lands and actively promotes wildland restoration, road removal, the prevention of new road construction, and limits on motorized recreation. Learn more about them on their website.
http://www.wildlandscpr.org

The Youth Garden Project sits on two acres of land next to Grand County High School. They offer the following programs: High School Science Class, High School Apprenticeship Program, Canyon Country Outdoor Education (a partnership with the National Park Service), after-school garden-to-table classes for elementary and middle school children, Youth Garden Summer Camp and Pluggin' In, a community service project affiliated with the 7th District Juvenile Court. They also put on a variety of community fundraising events during the year, like the annual Chocolate Lover’s Fling and they help with composting at major events!
http://www.youthgardenproject.org