Environmental Groups

Environmental groups associated with KU and the regional area. Environs has coordinated with many of these groups on events in the past. There is almost certainly an environmental group that matches you interests. Find one and get involved!

The Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP) assists the campus community develop and implement waste reduction and recycling programs. We strive to make a positive impact on campus through our service performance and our efforts to encourage waste reduction and recycling.

The Center for Sustainability promotes and facilitates research and other learning opportunities that address environmental improvement, economic prosperity, and social responsibility. The Center helps develop interdisciplinary research teams, supports student research projects, sponsors service learning courses, coordinates a campus-wide network of sustainability ambassadors, and promotes sustainable practices at KU.

The vision of The Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC) is to generate technologies that will transform the catalytic manufacture and use of chemicals into inherently safe and ecologically responsible processes , while retaining their economic viability. The chemical industry is vital to this nation's economy. It provides nearly one million jobs. Its 70,000 products are worth nearly $340 billion and comprise about 10 percent of the total values of U.S. exports. Environmental issues cost the chemical industry about 3 percent of its sales revenue or $10 billion each year. Additional regulations will increase the cost and will adversely affect the industrial competitiveness in the global marketplace.

KU Environmental Health and Safety is committed to aiding in the protection of human health, safety and the environment in a manner that enhances the quality of education, research and public service on our campus.

The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) is a Science and Technology Center established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2005, with the mission of developing new technologies and computer models to measure and predict the response of sea level change to the mass balance of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. NSF’s Science and Technology Center (STC) program combines the efforts of scientists and engineers to respond to problems of global significance, supporting the intense, sustained, collaborative work that is required to achieve progress in these areas. CReSIS provides students and faculty with opportunities to pursue exciting research in a variety of disciplines; to collaborate with world-class scientists and engineers in the US and abroad; and to make meaningful contributions to the ongoing, urgent work of addressing the impact of climate change.

The Kansas Biological Survey (KBS) is a non-regulatory agency of the state of Kansas, and a non-degree granting research and service unit of the University of Kansas (KU). KBS is a nationally recognized leader in several fields of environmental research and has maintained a strong tradition of natural history studies. Our mission is to gather information on the kinds, distribution, and abundance of plants and animals in Kansas, and to compile, analyze, interpret, and distribute this information. Our programs and activities focus on environmental and biological issues that extend beyond the state of Kansas to include the Great Plains, the United States, and the world.

The Ecumenical Christian Ministries is open to all, from various faith traditions and walks of life! If you are compassionate, open-minded, interested in active learning about issues of social justice, sexuality, environment, spirituality and other topics, the ECM offers a wealth of resources and support.

Lawrence Waste Reduction and Recycling offers residential recycling, household hazardous waste recycling, solid waste services, computer and electronic recyling, lawn care and composting, business recycling, and reuse opportunities for the city of Lawrence.

The City of Lawrence Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) is a 10-member Board appointed by the Mayor to serve a three-year term. The mission of the Sustainability Advisory Board is to promote environmental protection, and advocate for policies which support sustainability (including environmental protection, waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation and natural resource conservation) in the City of Lawrence and to enhance the quality of life by enhancing the City’s efforts in these areas.

The Great Plains Alliance for Clean Energy (GPACE) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization incorporated in Kansas in December 2007. GPACE is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas and was formed in the context of legislative attempts to overturn the historic Kansas Department of Health and Environment denial of air quality permits for a coal-fired power plant expansion.

The Land Institute has worked for over 20 years on the problem of agriculture. Our purpose is to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops. We have researched, published in refereed scientific journals, given hundreds of public presentations here and abroad, and hosted countless intellectuals and scientists. Our work is frequently cited, most recently in Science and Nature, the most prestigious scientific journals. We are now assembling a team of advisors which includes members of the National Academy of Sciences. These scientists understand our work and stand ready to endorse the feasibility of what we have come to call Natural Systems Agriculture.

The Climate and Energy Project (CEP) supports lively, informed conversations about our energy future. Our goal is to help halt the Midwest’s contributions to global warming and climate change. We support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency and developing renewable energies in a sustainable manner. The Climate and Energy Project is a project of the Land Institute.

We are about protecting and enjoying our Kansas environment. We educate. We hike. We organize. We canoe. We litigate. We meet. We lobby.

The Lawrence Sustainability Network (LSN) promotes ecological sustainability, including local food production, resource conservation, and renewable energy. Our efforts towards sustainability encompass community self-reliance, localized economy, biological diversity, social justice, and grass-roots democracy. We invite the community to network as we learn and share ideas, knowledge, skills and resources. LSN aims to inspire respect and mindfulness of how our actions affect all species including people, today and into the future.

2020 Vision and 2020 Vision Education Fund are dedicated to solving global challenges where international security, energy and the environment come together. We see that today's great global challenges are linked, and we strive to find overarching solutions. To achieve our goals, we work with Congress, the media, on college campuses and in communities across the country.

On the ground, Films for Action is working to create information channels in Lawrence that will inform, connect, and inspire action at a community level. We screen documentaries at Liberty Hall regularly throughout the year. With each film we launch an accompanying educational and action-oriented campaign to address the issues presented by the films. We air films on our local public Access TV channel, Sunflower Cable channel 99. And over the last two years we've bought over 50 educational films, which we make available to everyone in Lawrence to watch and screen in their own neighborhoods for free. People can browse what films we have in our Lending Library section. All in all, through the screenings, public access TV, this website, and our Lending Library, we hope to provide an information and resource network that will reduce the Lawrence community's dependence on corporate media, providing more meaningful and reliable ways to stay informed on the issues that matter.