Research Question

For my research project in this class, I want to address the following question:

What environmental non-profits are addressing the issue of global warming and exploitation of our planets limited resources, and how are they doing so?

I am personally very interested in the answering this question because I hold the issue at hand close to my heart. I am an environmentalist who strongly believes that the way humans continue to grow in numbers and economically is being done in a way that is extremely detrimental to our planet. Our Earth only has a certain amount of natural resources available to be used up at the wanting hand of humans. These natural resources are not renewable, and will be gone in the near future if we do not stop and change our ways of consumption from exploiting these precious resources. The Story of Stuff is a film I have seen four times now, and yet the facts blatantly laid out never fail to both shock me and scare me at the same time. Being an Environmental Studies major I am forced to come face-to-face with statistics and facts about what has and is continuing to happen to our environment. This knowledge has become depressing in more than one way. I have indeed studied the counter actions being taken to stop this mass destruction of our world, and future pro active plans that could be put in place to stop the chaos we are in, however I do not feel like it is enough. Our government can often have other agendas of more importance in their opinions, and that most for-profit businesses care more about their profit (and therefor consumerism) that the don't have the time or just simply don't care what happens in years to come to our planet. In studying environmental non-profits who work towards bettering our environment, our lack of natural resources, and our Earth; I hope to gain some hope for an even better future than that I can imagine now.

The Conservation International non-profit addresses this exact issue on a world wide level as seen in their description of 'about us'.

"People depend on nature for many things. A stable climate. Clean air. Fresh water. Abundant food. Cultural resources. And the incalculable additional benefits the world’s biodiversity provides. Conservation International (CI) works to ensure a healthy and productive planet for us all. Yet economic and infrastructure development, which are so necessary for human well-being, can also have serious impacts on nature. That is why CI is working at every level – from remote villages to the offices of presidents and premiers – to help move whole societies toward a smarter development path.”

Some other websites of non-profits that have been helping me include the following:

• Resources for the Future that conduct research in economics and other social sciences on the environment and natural resource issues.
• Friends of the Earth who focus on protecting the Earth from environmental degradation and encourage economic and sustainable growth.
• Container Recycling Institute does research and promotes "increase in recovery and recycling of beverage containers, and shift the social and environmental costs included with manufacturing, recycling and disposal of container and packaging waste from government and taxpayers to producers and consumers."
• Second Nature deals with universities and colleges and encourages and supports them in creating environmentally sustainable spaces to learn in.
• Next Step Recycling is a local organization here in Lane county that collects recycled items, especially electronic items.