Over the past 20 years, the Chatham Environmental Forum (CEF) has addressed complex issues, such as air quality in the Savannah area and its potential impact on community cancer rates, and the long term protection of the Floridan aquifer as the area’s primary drinking water source. For each issue undertaken by the CEF, the final analysis has been a consensus product based on the best available science with recommended solutions that all sectors within the community could support.
JoIN ECO Partners
ECO = Environmentally Conscious Organization
The Chatham Environmental Forum wants to help recognize the local businesses, non-profits, and governments that are making efforts to establish Chatham County as the Greenest County in Georgia.
You’re doing the work, let us help you spread the word by:
- Listing your organization in the ECO Partner Directory
- Providing ECO Partner sticker and certificate for display in your business
- Press release on your organization’s behalf
- Inclusion in the pool of eligible winners of the JoIN Champion Award
JoIN ECO Partners will meet at least one criterion in five categories, and will commit to achieving at least one more criterion per category within a year.
Fill out the online form to get the process started, a Chatham Environmental Forum staff member will contact you to schedule an on-site verification of the form. Water
What: Conservation of potable water, model management of stormwater, pre-treatment of water used
Why: Southeastern aquifers face rising demand and finite resources, stormwater becomes river water, and river water provides ecological, recreational and cultural value to Savannah residents.
Energy
What: Energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the purchase or production of renewable energy
Why: Energy consumption is a primary driver of global climate change and mitigating actions often translate directly to significant cost savings.
Alternative Transportation
What: Encouraging and accommodating active transportation, public transportation and carpooling
Why: Single occupant vehicles contribute substantially to total greenhouse emissions, traffic congestion, and auto-centric street design, all of which contribute to global climate change and diminish the livability of our community.
Environmentally Preferred Purchasing
What: The preference to purchase goods and services that have a reduced environmental impact compared to goods and services that serve the same function
Why: Purchasing decisions have economic and environmental costs, environmentally preferred purchasing systems incorporate both costs into the purchasing decision.
Waste Management
What: Reduced purchasing, reuse of obsolete items, and recycling of waste
Why: Waste produced in Chatham County fills shared landfills, businesses have an opportunity to help reduce the waste as purchasers of inputs and distribution of service and goods outputs