Resources: Keeping You Connected and Informed

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General Information
Conservation Federation of Missouri The purpose of this organization is to educate, inspire, and empower individuals and organizations to take action to conserve and to support the sustainable harvest and wise use of fish, wildlife, forest, and other natural resources, to help protect our planet’s environment, and to nourish an ethic of stewardship and enjoyment of our natural wonders.
Co-op America Business Network The Business Network is the green business program of Co-op America, the nation's leading non-profit educator on socially and environmentally responsible consumption and investing.
Co-op america’s mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, businesses and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
Cutting Paper This site provides practical information about how to reduce the amount of office paper you use.
Earth Share of Missouri Earth Share of Missouri enables more people to support environmental causes in an easy, highly efficient way. It is a federation that represents more than 71 local, regional, national and international organizations -- familiar names such as The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Missouri Parks Association, National Audubon Society, Ozark Regional Land Trust, Sierra Club Foundation, and BTG!. Earth Share’s #1 mission is fundraising via workplace giving campaigns on behalf of these organizations, and an important secondary accomplishment is general awareness building of important environmental work. The federation enables employees to make a single donation that will benefit the full spectrum of environmental causes, addressing issues from protecting the Mississippi and Amazon rivers to Missouri prairies and Brazilian rainforests. All of the Earth Share affiliated organizations are doing something that works to improve the health of ecosystems on planet earth, and thereby is beneficial to the health and welfare of human beings.
EarthWorks Imagine scientists in a circle, discussing the fate of an animal's release into a Missouri or Kansas habitat, collecting data to support their stand and documenting their recommendations to the Missouri Department of Conservation. Our scientists are eight and nine years old. Their assistants are parents and adult vounteers who have been trained to facilitate teamwork. And classroom teachers are observing their work, carefully noting each student's reactions to the process. This scenario is just one of many that play out every day at EerthWorks - a Learning Exchange experiential learning program that transforms the way teachers teach and the way students learn about science, nature and the environment.
Elmwood Reclaimed Timber Selling Reclaimed Building Supplies! Elmwood has developed a unique company culture comprised of talented individuals who come to work every day to do what they love to do, work with reclaimed building supplies. Centrally located in Kansas City, Missouri, they provide reclaimed timber and stone products for interior and exterior projects including original and remilled wide plank flooring, remilled cabinet lumber, custom millwork, antique barn siding, antique dimensional lumber, hand hewn beams, rough sawn beams, bricks, pavers and antique limestone.
EnviroLink The Online Environmental Community
Environmental Protection Agency The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment — air, water, and land — upon which life depends.
The Frugal Environmentalist The Frugal Environmentalist is a new quarterly magazine dedicated to empowering people to make affordable, eco-friendly lifestyle choices, choices that rely more on individual ingenuity and action, and less on consumption. Each issue of The Frugal Environmentalist contains 20 pages and is 100% advertising free.
Center for the New American Dream Center for the New American Dream is "helping people consume responsibly for our families and the environment."
Green Works in Kansas City Young adults are educated about local environmental issues, provided an opportunity to actively participate in environmental work, and exposed to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the field.
Habitat for Humanity's ReStore Habitat For Humanity/KC's new & used building materials center
Hallmark, Inc. An active and supportive partner of Choose Environmental Excellence and a founding member of the Environmental Excellence Business Network.
Heartland All Species Project Environmental education that combines arts and sciences into neighborhood and school Earth Days and other programs that build a sustainable community. This Web site is an invitation to take personal responsibility for making the world we find ourselves in a better place in which to live.
Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council The Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council is the neighborhood association for over 10,000 of Kansas City's inner city residents. The Council's mission is to build a clean, beautiful, safe and thriving neighborhood. The partnership with Bridging The Gap and Keep Kansas City Beautiful help make that mission possible.
Kansas City Food Circle The KC Food Circle is an all-volunteer, grassroots organization created to make connections between small, family farms in the KC region and local consumers - local farmers who use ecologically responsible growing methods and people who want to eat fresh, delicious, and nutritious food grown by farmers they can trust to care for the land. We do this through the Directory which we publish each spring, our annual Farmer Exhibitions, and various other forms of educational outreach.
Kansas City Power & Light Visit the web site of an active Choose Environmental Excellence member and sponsor of Earth Day 2003.
Keep America Beautiful Keep America Beautiful - engaging individuals to take great responsibility for improving their local community environment since 1953.
League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters is the bipartisan political arm of the national environmental movement. LCV works to elect a pro-environment majority to Congress.
The Local Government Environmental Assistance Network The Local Government Environmental Assistance Network is a forum and clearinghouse of environmental information or local government. It provides 24-hour access to regulatory and pollution prevention information, message boards, regulatory updates, grants and financing information, and much more.
Mid-America Regional Council The Mid-America Regional Council serves as the association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region. MARC seeks to build a stronger regional community through cooperation, leadership and planning.
Missouri Department of Natural Resources The Missouri Department of Natural Resources serves all the state's citizens through its involvement in environmental and resource related issues of the day. It's mission is to preserve and protect the state’s natural, cultural and energy resources and inspire their enjoyment and responsible use for present and future generations.
Missouri Recycling Association The Missouri Recycling Association (MORA) supports waste reduction and recycling efforts in Missouri by providing information, educational opportunities, and technical support in partnership with state, national and regional organizations.
The Natural Step The Natural Step (TNS) is a non-profit environmental education organization working to build an ecologically and economically sustainable society. TNS offers a framework that is based on science and serves as a compass for businesses, communities, academia, government entities and individuals working to redesign their activities to become more sustainable.
Recycler's World Recycler's World was established as a world wide trading site for information related to secondary or recyclable commodities, by-products, used & surplus items or materials.
Rocky Mountain Institute Rocky Mountain Institute is an independent, nonprofit research and educational foundation with a vision across boundaries. Seeking ideas that transcend ideology, and harnessing the problem-solving power of free-market economics, its mission is to foster the efficient and sustainable use of resources as a path to global security.
Sierra Club The Sierra Club: Protecting the Environment... For Our Families, For Our Future
The Simple Living Network The Simple Living Network is an on-line service containing thousands of pages of information about publications and tools for those wanting to learn how to live a more conscious, simple, healthy and restorative lifestyle.
Small Business Environmental Home Page Helping small businesses access environmental compliance and pollution prevention information.
Sustainable Communities Network Linking citizens to recourses and to one another to create healthy, vital, sustainable communities.
SustainLane SustainLane green collar jobs board contains hundreds of job listings, targeting employment opportunities that enhance sustainability from alternative energy specialists and LEED building construction workers to landscape architects and administrative positions at green companies or environmentally-focused non-profits. SustainLane’s green job board also features tips and in-depth articles on: breaking into the growing green job sector, greening the job you have, and emerging trends in the green collar economy.

 

Business Resources
The following links include technical assistance resources, compliance information, and beyond compliance information specifically for small businesses. Resources are organized by topic and type.

Compliance Assistance

Federal
EPA National Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse This website provides quick access to compliance tools, contacts, and planned activities from EPA as well as other compliance assistance providers.
Compliance Assistance Centers The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with industry, academic institutions, environmental groups, other federal and state agencies, and local governments, has established nine sector specific Compliance Assistance Centers.
Small Business Assistance Program Information This site has been developed to allow State and EPA programs to share information about their small business assistance materials and activities.
State
Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR)

  
Missouri Department of Natural Resources Small Business Assistance Program

 MDNR provides assistance to small businesses through the Small Business Ombudsman, Small Business Technical Assistance, and the Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee.
Kansas Department of Health and the Environment

  
Kansas Small Business Environmental Assistance Program (SBEAP) SBEAP emphasizes assistance designed to diminish the burden of compliance, and the SBEAP staff will work with you to implement pollution prevention practices such as material substitution, process optimization, waste minimization, and recycling.

Regulatory Information
EPA Audit Policy for Different Media This web site includes policy and guidance on enforcement and compliance issues which are applicable to all statutes.
OSHA Small Business This page provides one-stop shopping for the most popular materials for small businesses from free on-site consultation to interactive computer software to technical information to easy-to-follow guides for specific OSHA standards. It also includes links to OSHA local offices and the Small Business Administration.
Major Environmental Laws This site includes a summary and full text of more than a dozen major statutes or laws that form the legal basis for the programs of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Tools
EPA Small Business Resources This site includes a brief overview of a variety of compliance assistance and tools to assist you in complying with federal and State environmental laws. These resources can help you understand your environmental obligations, improve compliance and find cost-effective ways to comply through the use of pollution prevention and other innovative technologies.
EPA Small Business Gateway The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) gateway to environmental information and contacts for small businesses.
Best Management Practices for Hazardous Waste Containers This handbook is a user-friendly training tool or reference that identifies and explains the regulations for managing hazardous waste containers safely in lay terms. The handbook also provides “Best Management Practices” (BMP) -- real world methods, examples, and tips for meeting and exceeding regulatory requirements.
OSHA Handbook for Small Businesses The handbook should assist small business employers to meet the legal requirements imposed by, and under, the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (P.L.91-596).
EPA Small Business Training This national outreach effort provides industry-specific telecasts, videotapes, and manuals on air rules affecting small businesses.
EPA Terms of the Environment This site defines the more commonly used environmental terms in non-technical language appearing in EPA publications, news releases, and other Agency documents.
How to Select an Environmental Consultant (an Illinois resource)
 The guide was designed to provide the basic questions to ask, issues to be identified and approach to take as you seek the expertise of environmental consultants.
National MSDS Search MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) Search provides free access to over 1,350,000 MSDS.
Publications for Small Business The following list of Publications has been compiled to help small businesses and other interested parties understand environmental trends, requirements, and regulations.
Missouri Publications Publications to assist companies and individuals with environmental compliance.
Solvent Alternatives Guide SAGE is a comprehensive guide designed to provide pollution prevention information on solvent and process alternatives for parts cleaning and degreasing.
EPA Small Business Frequently Asked Questions  

Other Programs
The Center for Small Business and the Environment The Center’s goals is to promote small businesses and entrepreneurs that are succeeding by developing and using new technologies and processes to dramatically increase efficiency and resource productivity and exploiting lucrative opportunities in environmental protection, pollution prevention, energy and materials efficiency, and resource conservation.
Green Kitchen Education Center This is a resource designed to fully educated owners and managers about energy efficiency, water savings, pollution prevention, waste reduction, and green cleaning. Information on Green Commercial Kitchen Certification is available with third party criteria for energy-efficiency and environmentally-preferable practices relevant specifically for the kitchen. This program is designed so that it will get restaurant owners halfway through the upcoming LEED for Retail (New Construction) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) MEP is a nationwide network of not-for-profit Centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose purpose is to provide assistance to small and medium-sized manufacturers. Each Center has the ability to assess where your company stands today, to provide technical and business solutions, to help you create successful partnerships, and to help you keep learning through seminars and training programs.
Small Business Environmental Home Page This site has numerous small business resources including small business assistance, environmental compliance, performance measurement, pollution prevention, and specific sector information.
Tellus Business & Sustainability Tellus’ Business & Sustainability (B&S) Group provides strategic thinking and management tools to advance corporate sustainability. Through collaboratives and partnerships, Tellus works with business and its stakeholders – policymakers and regulators, NGOs, labor – to design and test new strategies and tools that strengthen business’ contribution to sustainable development.
US EPA's WasteWi$e Resource Management Unlike traditional solid waste service contracts, resource management (RM) compensates waste contractors based on performance in achieving your organization's waste reduction goals rather than the volume of waste disposed. As a result, RM aligns waste contractor incentives with your own goals as you both explore innovative approaches that foster cost-effective resource efficiency through prevention, recycling, and recovery.

Beyond Compliance Resources
Environmental Management Systems (EMS): An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium Sized Organizations This revised Guide is offers a plain English, common sense guide to organizations interested in implementing an EMS, using the basic Plan-Do-Check-Act model.
Wisconsin Small Business Waste Reduction Guide This book contains a number of sections of reproducible materials: brief tip sheets, case studies, check lists, and other information sources that can help businesses begin to understand opportunities related to waste reduction or elimination.
EPA Energy Star Program for Small Business This Web site will help you perform energy efficient upgrades. Here you can find financial resources, ENERGY STAR products and services, potential savings opportunities, free technical help, and recognition for your efforts.
Pollution Prevention Guide for Small Business The Small Business Guide is provides pollution prevention approaches and innovative technologies for small business.
Cool Companies The Center helps companies design and implement strategies to cut energy use and pollution. The information on the websites explains how to develop institutional ‘best practices’ for greenhouse gas reduction, and provide neutral, credible verification of emissions baselines and reductions. The centers partners with outside organizations to promote these approaches using performance-based data and contemporary case studies presented through a variety of channels.
Design for the Environment The Design for the Environment (DfE) program is one of EPA's premier partnership programs, working with individual industry sectors to compare and improve the performance and human health and environmental risks and costs of existing and alternative products, processes, and practices. DfE partnership projects promote integrating cleaner, cheaper, and smarter solutions into everyday business practices.
EnviroSense Enviro$en$e is a source for pollution prevention, compliance assurance, and enforcement information and data bases.
GreenBiz.com This site serves as an information clearinghouse on sustainable business practices and resources from a wide variety of entities, including companies, nongovernmental organizations, trade associations, government agencies, and academic institutions.
Lowell Center for Sustainable Production The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production develops, studies, and promotes environmentally sound systems of production, healthy work environments, and economically viable work organizations.
The Natural Step The Natural Step in the United States conducts multidisciplinary research, provides tailored consulting and training services, and offers networking and educational opportunities for leaders, organizations, and communities interested in creating sustainability agendas and initiatives.