7. Conclusion

7. Conclusion

Although not coherently organized and still in an early stage of development, a sustainable community "movement" does exist in the United States. It manifests itself in hundreds of communities across the country, which are developing and implementing projects to create more sustainable communities for future generations by addressing social, economic, and environmental issues. Such projects occur in all types of communities--in large, medium, and small cities; in towns; in counties; and in rural communities. They are addressing a wide range of issues, as varied as urban sprawl, new economic development, inner city and brownfield redevelopment, local small businesses, a strong local economy, watershed planning, environmental justice, ecosystem management, agriculture, biodiversity, community spirit, and green buildings. This trend is likely to continue as more communities learn about sustainability practices and begin to apply them in their own communities.

Sustainable community efforts have an integrated and synergistic relationship to pollution prevention activities. Many communities consider P2 a building block toward sustainability. P2 may be part of the sustainability effort's goals and is often a main emphasis in the implementation of specific sustainable community projects. Sustainable community efforts also can create an overarching vision for P2.

Because of this relationship, sustainable community activities provide a great opportunity for local government and other pollution prevention practitioners to strengthen their programs. By exploiting the close relationship between sustainability activities and pollution prevention, P2 practitioners can

• Leverage scarce resources;

• Integrate P2 principles and practices into other key environmental efforts;

• Expand and integrate P2 activities throughout the community, including other local agency activities;

• Focus P2 efforts on difficult long-term, diffuse, and/or multi-disciplinary environmental problems that interrelate with social and economic problems;

• Create a community-wide vision for P2;

• Provide a broader perspective on the need for P2;

• Generate more community support and interest in P2 activities;

• Educate and motivate less-accessible audiences to participate in P2 activities;

• Develop new innovative partnerships; and

• Help industry, government, community groups and the general public work together to solve their community environmental problems.

A wealth of information and resources exist for a P2 practitioner and other individuals who want to implement more sustainable practices in their communities. Resources for sustainability projects include information, funding, political and community support, man-hours, materials, expertise, and labor. These resources are available from many different sources including federal, state, and local governments; industry; professional associations; universities; and NGOs.

Individuals have many ways to take advantage of such sustainable community sources and opportunities. By prioritizing their individual needs and objectives, and exploring the relationships between these items and sustainable community activities, P2 practitioners and other individuals can identify priority areas to target in sustainable community efforts. Then they can contact the appropriate organizations to help them implement specific ideas. Regardless of the choice of action, state and local P2 practitioners should fully explore the sustainable community "movement" to help promote pollution prevention as a tool for sustainability.

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When making comments about this document please remember to include the publication number MR-855-OSTP and the title: Linking Sustainable Community Activities to Pollution Prevention: A Sourcebook. This document is also available as a printed RAND report.

Document created April 1997

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