Here are many of the local organizations that support sustainability.

ACEnet is a not-for-profit economic development and business support organization, funded primarily through grants, that serves 29 counties in Appalachia Ohio. ACEnet has been working since its incorporation in 1985 to build the foundation for a stronger, sustainable economy in Appalachian Ohio that has opportunities for those who want to start or grow their own business. Their mission is to build the capacity of Appalachian communities to network, work together, and innovate to create a dynamic sustainable regional economy with opportunities for all.

The people at ACEnet specialize in assisting individuals with small business development, particularly in the food, agricultural, and artisan areas. Services include different types of training and resources, small business loans, networking opportunities, and an E-commerce site to promote and sell locally made products. ACEnet also offers commercial kitchen facilities, warehouse space and shared office services at competitive rates.

ACEnet's vision is to be recognized as the region's most effective catalyst of entrepreneurial and community creativity. Their activities aim to identify and develop under-utilized and untapped resources through collaboration, partnerships and innovation. It is their hope that these activities will result in expanded impact and scale of operations, enabling large numbers of people to fully participate in the economy.

Contact:
ACEnet
94 Columbus Rd.
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: (740) 592-3854

The Sierra Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. The Appalachian Ohio Group (AOG) of the Sierra Club was formed in January of 2005. Their mission is to focus attention on environmental and conservation issues in southeastern Ohio and to cultivate appreciation of its local natural heritage, the great Eastern Forest. We live in one of the most diverse and biologically rich regions on the earth.

AOG offers the opportunity to get together with like-minded people for day hikes, conservation-oriented walks, and forays into the special natural areas of southeastern Ohio, both rural and urban. Sierra Club outings are a great way to find out about local conservation issues while enjoying the great outdoors.

In September 2007 Athens signed on to the Cool Cities Initiative. The city committed to reach 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 and 80% by 2050. Since the signing, Sierra Club has worked on energy issues and also developed an energy audit team in collaboration with other organizations.

The group meets the first Thursday of each month at the Athens Community Center room C at 7pm.

Contact:
Loraine McCosker
mccosker1@yahoo.com
740-589-4070

The Athens Farmers Market takes place in the parking lot of the University Mall on Saturdays from 10am-1pm. From April-December, there is a second market each week on Wednesdays.

Local farmers, artisans, and bakers set up booths in the University Mall parking lot and customers can purchase fresh produce, baked bread, teas, meat, milk, cheese, soaps, and many other items.

The Athens' Own provides individualized marketing and distribution for quality, ecologically balanced, and community-made merchandise. Constantine Faller is founder and manager and first began piecing ideas together for this project in 2000. Athens' Own began as a marketing and distribution tool with Dawn Chorus Coffee as the first product. Since then, Athens' Own has taken on several other clients and continues to work toward building a stronger community while providing local businesses and entrepreneurs with the necessary support to get their goods and services to the public. Additionally, Athens' Own works with sustainability-minded businesses from other communities to provide high quality merchandise that would otherwise be unavailable to the Athens Area.

Contact:
Constantine Faller
athensown@lycos.com
740-448-2696

The Blue Rock Station is located in Philo on 38 acres of beautiful wooded and pastureland in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It began in 1996 as a 1,650 square foot single family home made out of 1,200 rubber tires from an illegal dumpsite. The home, dubbed an "Earthship" by designer/architect Michael Reynolds, is part of a larger mission to demonstrate a variety of alternative building techniques.

In addition to offering tours, workshops and publications for the public to take advantage of, Blue Rock Station encourages communities and people to grow their own food and flowers and save their own seeds. Other passions include raising rare chickens and llama.

The Buckeye Forest Council is a membership-based, grassroots organization dedicated to protecting Ohio's native forests and their inhabitants. They seek to instill in Ohioans a sense of personal connection to and responsibility for Ohio's native forests and to challenge the exploitation of land, wildlife and people.

The BFC focuses forest protection efforts on Ohio's 20 state forests and the Wayne National Forest. Their work emphasizes long-term forest preservation and low-impact recreation. The BFC halted almost all timber sales in Wayne State National Forest and also coordinated a national effort that led to the prohibition of coal stripmining on all federal forestland, including Ohio's Wayne National Forest.

Contact:
Buckeye Forest Council
1200 W. Fifth Ave., #103
Columbus, OH 43212
614-487-9290
1-866-OH-TREES

Community Foods Initiatives (CFI) is a local non-profit organization that teaches individuals and groups how to create greater independence and sustainability in their personal and family food production. CFI relies almost solely on the work of volunteers within the community. The Executive Director Ronda Clark, who holds one of only two paid positions within CFI, says "What we do is incredible. It's a hunger issue, a health issue and a sustainability issue. We teach about food security, we teach about eating healthy and we deal with all those issues through gardening. We help local people in Athens County get the tools they need to plant, maintain, harvest, cook and preserve the food from their gardens, as well as composting and seed saving."

CFI's programs include the Gardening Angels people to garden and the Edible Schoolyard Project where children are taught to grow food in their school yards. CFI is also running a composting project. Volunteers pick up compost from participating area restaurants and bring it to the Unitarian Church to be composted. CFI also teaches about and keeps inventory of locally saved vegetable seeds and hosts seed swaps with the community each spring. They maintain two community gardens where locals can utilize plots of land to grow the healthy and fresh food their families need.

Contact:
Ronda Clark
740-593-5971
cfi@frognet.net

Healing Heart Herbals is a retreat center located in Rutland, Ohio in Meigs County. They offer weekend healing retreats and teach visitors about gardening, cooking, medicine making, green cleaning, wild foods, kitchen cosmetics, and aromatherapy. Recycling, composting, organic gardening, cooking with local foods, and non-toxic cleaning are part of daily living and maintenance at the facility.

The Monday Creek Watershed drains a 116 square-mile area, with streams winding through portions of Athens, Hocking, and Perry Counties. Large portions of Monday Creek and its tributaries are dead due to acid mine drainage (AMD) left behind from a century of coal mining. The project identifies water quality problems and then works to address them. Project leaders and volunteers seek to restore the watershed for the benefit of local communities.

The Ohio Energy Project is a nonprofit organization that promotes an energy-educated society and facilitates leadership through effective partnerships with schools, businesses, government, and communities.

Paramount to OEP's work in education is their program entitled "Kids Teaching Kids." This program helps develop leadership, teamwork, and presentation skills by taking students from grades 8-12 to present at Energy Fairs and Workshops in their school districts and local areas.

Another part of the Ohio Energy Project is the Energy Bike. This is one of the primary tools used to teach students about energy. The bike is connected to a zero pollution generator and an electrical board that produces electrical current when pedaled. This current can run a TV, radio, and other small electronics.

A grassroots effort in the 1980's to preserve Southeastern Ohio's Raccoon Creek and educate those who lived within the watershed has developed into a nonprofit organization. Racoon Creek travels through six counties-- Athens, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, Meigs, and Gallia--and members from all six counties are involved in the stream restoration project. Their mission is to work toward conservation, stewardship, and restoration of the watershed for a healthier stream and community.

Rural Action is a non-profit dedicated to economic, environmental, and community renewal in southeast Ohio. Their vision is to create model strategies for the region that involve a broad base of citizens in building environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

Rural Action has been working with the people of Appalachian Ohio to build healthy, sustainable communities since 1982. Their approach to community development is based on the strengths, talents, and vision of its members, neighbors, and friends. Rural Action has projects in 14 counties.

The Sunday Creek Watershed covers 139 square miles, stretching from southern Perry County in the north to Athens and Morgan Counties in the south and east. The group is committed to restoring and preserving water quality through community interaction, conservation, and education. Various activites include teaching students about local water ecology, cleaning up streams, and planting trees.

Contact:
Kaabe Shaw
shaw@sundaycreek.org
740-767-2225

Here are many of the local businesses that support sustainability.

Serving all of Ohio and the surrounding states, Appalachian Renewable Power is a general contracting company specializing in the design and installation of solar power systems, helping their customers tap into the unlimited resource sunlight provides, while increasing the value of their home, reducing energy costs, and making an investment in their community's sustainable energy future.

An eligible installer with the state of Ohio Department of Development, ARP can register their systems for renewable energy credits and apply for solar grants on the homeowner's behalf.

Contact:
Appalachian Renewable Power Systems ltd.
10131 Haga Ridge Rd.
Stewart, Ohio 45778
(740) 277-8498
info@arp-solar.com

With 45 choices of pizza toppings, Avalanche Pizza has a pizza for everyone. They are an independent pizza shop committed to being an integral part of the local community and economy. They also are environmentally conscious, using local ingredients whenever possible.

Casa Nueva, located on West State Street is a workers owned restaurant. Casa, founded in 1985, consists of a bar (Casa Cantina), a restaurant (Casa Nueva) and a newly built deli and appetizer kitchen (Casa Bodega).

Casa reduces, reuses and recycles much of what they use in food production. They recycle plastic, paper and newspaper, cardboard, clear and brown glass, aluminum and steel. Green glass and wax-finished cardboard boxes (both not accepted by Athens City recycling) are donated to the community to be reused. The bottles are used by a local artist to make furniture and the boxes are reused by local farmers. Casa also has a number of compost buckets throughout their kitchen area to dispose of food waste. These buckets of compost are given to locals to use to fertilize their gardens. The used cooking oil from the kitchens is saved and donated to be used as bio-diesel.

In addition to their extensive recycling and reuse, Casa sells sustainable organic goods produced by people in the community and patronizes many local farms and producers. Some of these local producers are Shade River Farms, The Village Bakery, Companion Plants, and Sticky Pete's Maple Syrup. Casa sells bottled salsa, salad dressing, honey, granola and many other things. All of these products are either produced in-house, or made by local producers. The Casa Nueva t-shirts are 100% organic cotton and sweatshop free.

Donkey Coffee and Espresso offers a more sustainable way to get your daily caffeine fix than the average coffeehouse. Besides selling Fair Trade coffee and espresso drinks, Donkey also sells organic tea, local baked goods, day-old pizza from Avalanche Pizza and Fair Trade Donkey t-shirts. Donkey encourages customers to recycle all plastics, glass and aluminum. Reusable stirrers are used instead of plastic one-time use stirrers and coffee grounds are composted.

Donkey is an Athens Recycles Business and also promotes local and international social justice issues. Artwork by local artists dons the walls of the café which is a hot spot for local poets and musicians. Open mic nights for poetry, prose and spoken word take place on Tuesdays and open mic nights for music take place on Thursday.

Contact:
Donkey Coffee and Espresso
17 ½ W. Washington Street, Athenso
Phone: (740) 594-7353

Dovetail Solar and Wind is a full service provider of renewable energy systems. They have been bringing renewable technology to homes and businesses in Ohio since 1995. They specialize in solar and wind, integrated photovoltaic arrays, and solar hot water systems. Whether you want to add renewable energy to your existing home, business or farm or you're planning new construction, they will help you determine the best options for your project.

Dovetail has four Ohio locations to support clients. Their Southeastern Ohio office is located in Athens. Dovetail services all of Ohio, northern Kentucky, eastern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, southern Michigan, and West Virginia. They also support remote, independent renewable power for events with their mobile solar trailer.

Contact:
Southern Ohio & Corporate
16675 Canaanville Hills Rd.
Athens, OH 45701
740-592-1800
info@dovetailsolar.com

New to You Thrift Shoppe sells second-hand items that may otherwise end up in Athens landfill. They sell used clothing, shoes, books, magazines, electronics, exercise equipment, linens, dishes, suitcases, furniture, and many other items. All proceeds from the thrift store go to one of the following organizations: Athens County Children's Services, My Sister's Place, Good Works, Fire Victims or the Department of Human Services.

Contact:
New To You Thrift Shoppe
90 Columbus Rd.
Athens, OH
740-592-1842
Hours: Mon – Sat 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

ReUse Industries is a community-based, non-profit organization that channels reusable items out of the waste stream. Their mission is to protect the environment by reducing waste, boost the local economy by creating jobs, and provide an affordable shopping option for area residents.

All merchandise at ReUse Industries has been donated by community businesses and households who are protecting the environment and supporting local jobs with their tax-deductible donations. Free pick-up of furnishings and appliances is available in Athens, Albany, McArthur, Hamden, Wellston, Jackson, & The Plains. ReUse also has a thrift shop in Athens, Ohio located at 100 Columbus Rd.

Contact:
ReUse Industries Main Facility
74815 U.S. Highway 50
Albany, Ohio 45710
740-698-8200
Fax: 740-698-4014

Third Sun Solar and Wind is a Full Service Supplier and Installer of Solar and Wind Power Systems that serves all of Ohio and adjacent states. Third Sun is also available to do more distant installations and workshops, and has experience on overseas projects.

Third Sun Solar and Wind Power, Ltd. has been installing solar and wind power systems independently and as a subcontractor since 1997. The company is a full service renewable energy system dealer, installer and service provider. We provide consulting, system design, service and installation for wind and solar electric systems and solar thermal systems. Third Sun's owner and founder, Geoff Greenfield, is a NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™. Geoff and another of Third Sun's chief installers are also certified Photovoltaic Integrator/Installers by the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association.

Third Sun's projects include new construction and retrofit projects for residential, commercial and institutional customers in the United States and worldwide.

Contact:
Third Sun Solar and Wind Power, Ltd.
340 West State Street, unit 25
Athens, Ohio 45701
740-597-3111
info@third-sun.com

The Village Bakery & Cafe is committed uses all local, regional, organic, and Fair Trade ingredients. Foods created on-site include (but are definitely not limited to) French baguettes, homemade corn tortillas and salsa, Polish bialys and Italian wheat bread. Also available are soups and sandwiches, daily specials, other breads, and a large variety of sweets.

At the Undercover Market, located beside the village bakery, you can choose from a specialty selection of beer and cheeses, produce, ice cream, eggs and other locally made and Fair Trade products.

Owner Christine Hughs says she wants the bakery and market to be a learning experience. "There are large and small choices we make everyday that impact the quality of life on earth. Eating with awareness is a matter of choosing to live with instead of against our environment and humanity."

Contact:
Village Bakery & Undercover Market
268 E. State Street
Athens OH 45701
740-594-7311
Hours of Operation:
Tue-Sat 7:30am-7:00 pm
Sunday brunch 9:00-2:00 pm