Watch this short video about our impact and mission at Sustain Charlotte!
The Leading Voice for Sustainability
Sustainability is an indicator of a community's long-term economic, social, and environmental well-being. However, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area lags other metro areas in many key sustainability measures, and prior to Sustain Charlotte's founding, there was no local organization raising awareness of the challenges to our sustainability and their solutions. Sustain Charlotte was founded in 2010 to fill this void, and has quickly become the metro area's leading voice for sustainability. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Download our most recent 990 here.
Our Mission
Our mission is to inspire choices that lead to a healthy, equitable, and vibrant community for generations to come.
Our Approach
To achieve our mission we focus on three key strategies:
- Educate – We educate the public about the value to our community of sustainability and how it is achieved, including the best ideas and practices from other cities around the country.
- Engage – We provide opportunities for increased public engagement in the discussions and decisions that determine our future’s sustainability.
- Unite – We unite citizens, businesses, nonprofits, public agencies and academic institutions to develop shared visions, goals, and strategies for a sustainable region.
Our Vision
A region in which everyone has the knowledge, resources and opportunity to make choices with a clear awareness of their combined social, economic and environmental impacts.
Our Logo
The three interwoven bands of color in our logo represent the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability and how they must be in balance to create the whole, as explained below.
The Definition of Sustainability
Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
Sustainability in an urban context recognizes that long-term economic vitality, environmental health, and social cohesion are interdependent: the health of one determines the health of all. An enduring economy depends on the sustainable use of natural resources. The sustainable use of natural resources depends on a strong social fabric of informed citizens, businesses and community leaders. And a vibrant society depends on a strong and resilient economy. Ultimately then, all efforts to lessen impacts to the natural environment and ensure a robust economy are efforts to secure a high quality of life for the community – that is, the people of the Charlotte region.