Adding Environmental Information
to Your CN

What content could you provide on a community information page about the environment?

To decide upon content, first ask what purpose the community information page will serve. Typically, in the realm of the environment, citizens need information resources to help them solve an environmental problem; become informed, and learn what they can do to protect the environment; or learn about ways to enjoy the environment. So the purpose of an environmental information page is to provide the resources to help citizens achieve those goals.

What might those resources be?

Resources for problem solvers

Consider the following hypothetical scenario:

Lately, your child has been coming home from school with a headache. You soon learn that other kids in the neighborhood have headaches and more frequent asthma attacks. Your child's school is located next to an industrial complex -- four companies that pre-date the school. Recently, you noticed a large cloud over one of Company X's buildings and often smoke from their smokestack.

First, define the problem by gathering the facts. Ask whether the problem is related to the air, water, solid waste, or hazardous waste. Does the problem have a health component? What is creating a threat to your child's health? Is the company activity legal -- are they allowed to do what they are doing?

To gather some answers, talk to school officials and other parents to learn what they know. Call your state environmental protection agency and local health department to ask questions. Contact the company to at least learn what their public relations person says about the situation. Research the problem. For example, learn what could be in the smokestack from a certain manufacturing process and the potential adverse effects of exposure to what is being emitted from the smokestack. Finally, consult legal resources.

A community information page can help a fact-finder by providing the following resources:

• links to research resources on various topics such as air and water
• state agency contact information
• a directory of state agencies
• local health department contact information
• local information about who to contact in case of an emergency, such as who to call when you witness someone dumping wastes into a river
• links to environment law sites

After learning more about the problem, a concerned citizen would seek information about what he or she might do to help remedy the problem. Ask: What are the solutions? What can he or she do to influence the company to change its behavior? Who could help? What are the company's and state and federal agencies' reponsibilities?

To work towards a remedy, a citizen should contact state and federal environmental protection agencies to request that they initiate an investigation. If health issues are involved, contact the local health department to solicit their involvement. Also, contact the company, since sometimes they want to be good neighbors and do the right thing. If local, state, and federal agencies do not respond favorably, then contact the heads of those agencies, and local, state, and federal legislative resprentatives who can become involved by exerting pressure on agencies to act. If unsatisfied with the progress being made towards solving the problem, then organize a grassroots campaign to influence the company and agencies to act. Learn which neighbors are similarly affected. Utilize media outlets by writing letters to the editor of local papers and contacting local reporters. Solicit the help of local environmental groups. Finally, if he or she still has unsatisfactory results, then the citizen could consider hiring an attorney.

Given this scenario, a community network could help with finding remedies by providing the following information:

• local agency & health department contact information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons in charge
• links to directories of state, federal and local agencies
• contact information for local, state, federal legislative representatives
• links to pages on activism & how to organize
• a directory of local environmental groups
• contact information for local media outlets

These resources would help citizens discover facts, understand what activities may or may not be legal, learn what can be done, and what to do to remedy a problem situation.

Resources for those who want to protect the environment

Citizens also visit community information pages to learn what they can do to protect the environment. Concerned citizens seek to become informed to help make the world a better place for successive generations.

The following information would help them to achieve their goals:

• links to environmental news sites
• directory of local organizations with which to become involved
• information about living simply (i.e., "treading lightly")
• links to recycling & composting tips
• directories of national organizations to contact to learn more about topics of particular interest. For example, for information about overpopulation contact Zero Population Control
• links to environmental pages for kids because kids are the key to our future

These resources would help citizens stay informed and learn what they can they do to protect the environment.

Resources for those who want to recreate

Finally, one reason people work to protect the environment is so that they may enjoy it. A community information environmental page (or a separate outdoor recreation page) could provide:

• local, state, and national park information
• profiles of recreational activities, such as canoeing
• listings of local recreational activities
• listings of local outdoor clubs, such as a cycling club
• listings of local outfitting or wilderness supply stores
• contact information for local recreation departments

These resources inform citizens of ways to enjoy nature and thus develop an appreciation for the environment. With such appreciation, citizens are more likely to seek to solve environmental problems and work to protect natural resources.

Summary of recommendations

The previous discussion suggests that a complete environmental information page provide the following resources:

• information about how to contact government agencies: provide name, address, phone numbers directly and provide links to pages about those agencies
• directories of government agencies and environmental organizations
• legal information
• links to sites for kids
• links to sites on activism and organizing
• information about local media
• specific instructions on who to contact regarding an emergency related to the environment.

The Environment and Sports and Recreation community information pages of this site suggest many useful links that provide environmental information, and some examples of CNs' own local environmental pages. The listings of those links to environmental resources and examples of some CNs' pages might provide a good start towards building your own environmental page. If you know of one--or create one--you would like us to add to our Community Information page on the Environment, please email us the address below.