About the Organization
Sustainable Lafayette is a network of residents located in
Lafayette, California, about 20 miles east of San
Francisco, who are actively sharing ideas and solutions for
how to make their homes and community more sustainable.
Many cities, towns, and counties across the country have
created citizen groups to pursue sustainability.
Lafayette's approach is unique--to grow a "network" of
residents who are focused on sharing real world success
stories and best practices that will contribute to our
community's sustainability. In the future, we also
plan to organize gatherings and free workshops.
About Sustainability
"Sustainable" means to live in a way that can be continued
indefinitely without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. The essence of this is
a stable relationship between human activities and the
natural world, which does not diminish the prospects for
our children and their children to enjoy a quality of life
at least as good as our own. This requires that we take no
more from the environment then it can replenish, and give
no more then it can absorb. In other words, adopting
lifestyles that respect and work within the earth's natural
limits and maintain the health of the eco-system that we
all depend on.
About the Coordinators
Sustainable Lafayette was started by Steve Richard and Bart
Carr in early 2007. Steve and Bart were sharing
stories about pursuing sustainability over coffee and
thought that it might be very useful to share stories
across the entire community in hopes of being inspired and
learning from each other's efforts. Steve Richard is a
Lafayette homeowner who's been working to reduce his
family's carbon footprint by 50% since Fall 2006.
He's had his house professionally audited for energy
efficiency, made a wide range of changes to conserve
energy, and recently installed solar panels. Bart Carr
is a Lafayette homeowner who is a solid waste management
consultant specializing in organics diversion
(composting). Bart also started the Lafayette Bike
Network and has worked to promote biking as an alternative
to automobiles in Lafayette. Both Steve and Bart
are part of Lafayette's Enviornmental Task Force, which is
actively working on measures to reduce the city's
overall footprint, and also involved in organizing
Lafayette's annual Earth Day celebration.
