By Hannah E. Jones
Root Local, an Atlanta-based environmental nonprofit, is celebrating its one-year anniversary this month. The organization’s name reflects its mission — with its efforts rooted in making a global impact locally.
Liz Lapidus. (Photo courtesy of Root Local.)
Root Local aims to serve as the connective tissue for conversations around conservation and collective impact planning. Founded by Johanna Ellis Reisinger, Butch Whitfield and Liz Lapidus, the team works to convene environmental allies, pinpoint opportunities for impact, link stakeholders and educate communities.
“How can we really have an impact on climate change here in our metro area?” Executive Director Tabitha Schwartz said. “There are so many wonderful organizations doing the boots-on-the-ground work, but it seems like there’s really negative climate news on the global scale. There’s also some really wonderful news and projects happening on the local scale, but there’s a disconnect between the two.”
Through this work, Root Local aims to help strengthen and support the local network of individuals and entities working towards a more sustainable Atlanta. One example of this is the Network Map, which Schwartz identified as one of the organization’s main focuses in its first year.
The Network Map is a visual compilation of about 50 environmental allies around the city and metro area, including transit groups, farm-to-table initiatives and park nonprofits. Schwartz aims to eventually have at least 300 groups plugged into the online resource.
To that end, Root Local also created The Pollinator Network, a space for community leaders and members to learn about local environmental concerns and efforts, convening to develop a shared vision to help guide the region’s conservation efforts. Currently, about 160 people have signed up.
“The key to what we’re doing and what we help with is [asking] ‘What’s your issue? Where are you siloed, and how can we help you break through that?’” Schwartz explained.
The leadership team also crafted five committees, including:
- Food systems
- Sustainable buildings, products and practices
- Travel and transportation
- Air and water quality management
- Canopy and land management
Each committee has crafted a 2023 project that reflects the needs of a local community. For example, the Travel and Transportation Committee launched ATL Bikes, a celebration of Atlanta’s biking world and promoting micro-mobile infrastructure around the city.
“These projects [are] for you to take back to your community, in a way that works for the community,” Schwartz said. “We’re not going into a community and saying, ‘Hey, you need to divert your wasted food.’”
She continued: “We want to be that platform where people can access resources for their own community and what they need. We’re not really about eco-shaming, we’re about meeting you where you are, pushing you and getting you to that place that’s more sustainable — if that’s what you need and what you want.”
In its second year and beyond, the Root Local team will continue to lay the groundwork for collective impact by convening environmental changemakers and stakeholders, identifying opportunities within that group and connecting the public with local groups doing the work.
If you’re interested in learning more about Root Local or want to get involved, click here.
A useful piece of information. There should be more businesses like this.