About Us |
|
We are a grassroots, community-based 501(C)(3) charitable organization founded by like-minded residents of Newton County in Georgia.
Our Vision:
We strive to create a world where people and planet are as important as profit -- and where future generations matter.
Our Mission:
We drive solution-oriented local responses to the global issues of Climate Change and sustainability by building awareness with, engaging, and enabling fellow citizens, businesses and local governments to take positive, meaningful steps. You will find examples below.
Our Vision:
We strive to create a world where people and planet are as important as profit -- and where future generations matter.
Our Mission:
We drive solution-oriented local responses to the global issues of Climate Change and sustainability by building awareness with, engaging, and enabling fellow citizens, businesses and local governments to take positive, meaningful steps. You will find examples below.
Creating Awareness, Engaging a Community, Enabling Action
Awareness
Engagement
Enablement
Awareness
Meaningful action starts with awareness. Sustainable Newton focuses on informing Newton County residents, business owners, and government leaders about issues and opportunities impacting the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of our community.
|
We've hosted in-person and virtual screenings of documentary films, including:
|
|
Several Sustainable Newton board members have been trained through the Climate Reality Leadership Corps sponsored by the Climate Reality Project.
Through the project, we have hosted in-person (2019) and virtual (2020) presentations for the project's "24 Hours of Reality" event. |
|
Through our Resources page, we connect members and supporters of Sustainable Newton with partner organizations doing great work on environmental action and sustainability. We also catalog and share useful data and climate-related stories on that page and through our Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.
We round that out with our own local perspective through our Blog. |
Engagement
After awareness comes engagement. We founded Sustainable Newton with desire to unite individual efforts into a coordinated program to take climate action and promote sustainable living in our community. We engage our neighbors in activities that accomplish those objectives.
|
Since 2019, Sustainable Newton has promoted the UGA Extension Service's annual Great Georgia Pollinator Census by hosting public events around the county each August. In 2020, we hosted a webinar with the Extension Service to provide resources for socially distanced counting. For 2022, we partnered with Newton College & Career Academy, City of Covington, and City of Oxford on public counting events.
|
|
In conjunction with our virtual film screenings and other events, we hosted a series of panel discussions bringing together students, subject matter experts, elected officials, and community members to explore important topics around environmental sustainability. Replays are available on our YouTube channel.
|
|
To support Drawdown Georgia and engage Newton County residents in that statewide effort to crowdsolve climate solutions for Georgia, we hosted a "virtual civic dinner" in December 2020. Attended by 32 participants, the evening included local Newton County farmers and recipes featuring their food.
|
|
For Earth Day 2021, we worked with the Newton County School System and parents in our community to shine a spotlight on the young people taking steps to learn more about sustainable living and leave a positive impact on our county.
See the videos they created in our blog. |
|
Through our "Conversations" video series, we're engaging with local residents and young people in our local schools and universities to share their stories and learn from their personal journeys in sustainable living and climate action.
We all have stories to tell and opportunities to learn from one another. |
Enablement
Seeing needs and not knowing how to address them is frustrating. When a problem seems too large -- the solutions too difficult -- it's easier not to think about it. We tune out. But the Climate Crisis is an urgent reality we can't ignore. We solve complex global problems by taking effective local steps that are within our reach. To enable action, Sustainable Newton focuses on programs that provide people access to resources and expertise necessary to achieve meaningful results.
|
Through our Solarize Newton-Morgan campaign, we vetted contractors, provided access to experts, and helped 16 area households install solar energy systems totaling 85 kilowatts capacity and reducing CO2 emissions by ~160,000 pounds per year. We also worked with Oxford and Covington officials to eliminate or reduce fees impacting financial payback from solar.
|
|
Through the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business in the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, Sustainable Newton sponsored a research project to analyze the City of Covington's vehicle fleet and recommend alternative fuel vehicle replacement to reduce the city's carbon footprint by 40% and save 75% on fuel and maintenance.
|
|
In 2022, working again with students from Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business, we facilitated a project with the Newton County Solid Waste Authority and the City of Covington to bring drop-off glass recycling back to Covington residents. Expected to be implemented in late 2022 or early 2023, the program will provide a drop off location that will be serviced by the Solid Waste Authority.
|
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-- Margaret Mead
Our Board
Sustainable Newton is governed by a board of directors elected by the membership and officers elected by the board. Our 2025 board members and officers are:
|
Maurice Carter, President
Florian Pohl, Vice President Sara Vinson, Secretary Chris Martin, Treasurer |
Juanita Carson
JJ Hayden Lois Upham |
Request a Speaker
By far, the most import thing Sustainable Newton does to address climate change and promote sustainability in our community is to facilitate conversations right here in Newton County.
Several of our board members are trained members of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. As such, we have been taught to understand and communicate realities of climate change and the practical solutions communities everywhere are undertaking to address those realities. We would love to talk with your group and further that conversation here in Newton County. 
|
|
As a man changes his own nature, so does the nature of the world change toward him... We need not wait to see what others do.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Action speaks louder than words, but not nearly as often.
-- Mark Twain
