Environmental Community Action

ECO-Action was founded in 1989 with the understanding that environmental problems that threaten the health and quality of life of many communities are symptoms of larger problems rooted in political and economic inequalities. To this end, ECO-Action teaches people how to get solutions to their problems through education on the issues, skills development, organization, and community action.

Community: Social Justice & Environment We helped the Taylor County Environmental Task Force, an African-American led group which ECO-Action helped form, to restore the community’s voting rights. Our work on hazardous waste highlighted the community’s lack of representation in local (city) governance. Working in collaboration with the local NAACP and civil rights attorneys, ECO-Action helped citizens exercise their right to vote after being denied an election for 10 years. The group also succeeded in stopping the harmful waste proposal.

We worked with the Newtown Florist Club in Gainesville Georgia to transform complex chemical data into a useful educational instrument that identified and mapped toxic sites, and substantiated racially disparate toxic siting patterns. The model was used to educate citizens and public officials, in conducting toxic tours and as evidence in a voting rights lawsuit. Their story is documented in the book, The Newtown Story: One Community’s Fight for Environmental Justice, is available for purchase through the Newtown Florist Club, Gainesville, GA.