Liz Forrestal St. Louis Feb 23, 2007 7:02 am

Im investigating the possibility of launching a broad-based green resource guide for my community, as a way for the general public to find out about the growing plethora of vendors, contractors, shops, agencies, etc. that provide sustainable products and services in our area. Ideally, this guide would cover the entire gamut of the local environmental arena, e.g., vendors of renewable energy systems, green architects and builders, carpooling and flex-car programs, area recyclers, hazardous material collection events, sustainable garden dealers and contractors, local farmers markets and organic farmers, sources of sustainable wood products, lenders that offer energy-efficient home mortgagesyou get the idea. I envision this as a quarterly (or maybe biannual) publication created in hard copy -- like one of those free periodicals you see in grocery stores, libraries, and coffee shops -- as well as online. (No, I dont want to kill trees with a printed version, but I think it has to catch the publics eye in order to get noticed. And a web presence doesnt do this as effectively.) Id love to know about other similar hard-copy publications that exist in other communities, including the following:

How do you distribute your green resource guide as a stand-alone publication distributed to stores/libraries or piggy-backed onto an already existing publication, like part of a local newspaper that already has a fixed distribution network?

Is it targeted mainly to homeowners or also to small businesses?

And did you do any front-end evaluation (like focus groups) to learn what your audience needed?

How is your guide funded by private donors, as part of an existing non-profit agency, as a city or county service, or other?

Is it partially supported by advertising and if so, do you have criteria for what kind of ads youll accept?

How often do you update your guide?

What are the staffing needs?

Have you studied its impact and use?

In fact, are there any studies that analyze whether green resource guides are effective tools to stimulate sustainable behaviors in the general public?

Thanks for any help and advice you can give!
Liz Forrestal

Interpretive Planning & Development
8 Aberdeen Place
St. Louis, MO
63105 314-726-1168
[email protected]