Conservation Highlights

Celebrating over 15 Years of Environmental Progress

Sustainable Conservation turned 15 last year.

The environmental community was quite different when Sustainable Conservation opened its doors in 1993. The use of "sustainable" was still in its infancy. And, our approach of collaborating with business received a fair amount of skepticism. Few yet understood the power of working with the private sector, not against it, to achieve lasting benefits for our planet and people.

Turning skeptics into believers over the last 15-plus years has been extremely rewarding. We're even more excited about the next 15 as we work to make California a leader in environmental and economic sustainability.

Check out some our major accomplishments.

  • Climate Change

    • Reduced California agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 tons. That's like taking 40,000 cars off the road. We did this by promoting methane digesters - proven technology for converting cow manure into renewable energy.
    • Generated enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 3,000 homes and offset $2 million in energy costs to farmers.
    • Through our renewable energy efforts, diverted 500,000 tons of manure that could have contaminated drinking and irrigation water.

  • Clean Air

    • Cut dust pollution by 70% and diesel emissions by 45% on California farms practicing conservation tillage. This farming method requires fewer tractor passes to prepare fields for planting and saves farmers money.
    • Encouraged the adoption of conservation tillage across 80,000 acres in California. That's a breath of fresh air for communities in the San Joaquin Valley, which has some of the dirtiest air - and highest rates of asthma - in the nation.
    • Saved farmers $2 million in fuel, maintenance and labor costs.

  • Clean Water

    • Improved water quality and fish habitat by expanding our permit coordination program, Partners in Restoration, across millions of acres in California. The program earned a 2004 Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, the state's highest environmental honor.
    • Partnered with California automobile recyclers to keep polluted runoff out of waterways. Safely disposed of 63,500 car and truck convenience switches - containing nearly 150 pounds of mercury - before they had a chance to harm people and wildlife.

  • Biodiversity

    • Helped cut the more than $85 million California spends to control and eradicate invasive species. The PlantRight campaign (PlantRight.org) engages the horticultural industry, landscape professionals and home gardeners to prevent the spread of damaging invasive plants and promote safe, beautiful alternatives.
    • Enabled landowners across 800,000 acres in California to protect endangered wildlife like the kit fox (above) through innovative conservation tools.

> More Sustainable Conservation highlights.