David Suzuki Foundation

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The David Suzuki Foundation is an environmental organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a non-profit organization that is incorporated in both Canada and the United States. Its current membership is approximately 40,000.

The Foundation describes its goal as to:

Work towards balancing human needs with the Earth's ability to sustain all life. Our goal is to find and communicate practical ways to achieve that balance.

Its origins lie in a 1989 "think-tank" retreat on Pender Island, British Columbia that was organized by David Suzuki and Tara Cullis. A dozen concerned individuals were invited, and inspired by those discussions the Foundation was incorporated on September 14, 1990. It officially opened its doors on January 1, 1991.

It is a federally registered Canadian charity supported entirely by Foundation grants and donations. It does not accept any government funding. It is also not a funding body for other organizations. Currently the Foundation employs roughly three dozen staff members.

The Foundation focuses its work on four major projects and issues. They are:

As part of its work the Foundation publishes newsletters, scientific studies, research reports, books, information kits, brochures, and news releases. It also has two ongoing programs to help reach its goals, the first is the Nature Challenge and the second is Sustainability Within A Generation.

Nature Challenge

As a mechanism to promote public awareness and action with regard to the Foundation's four focuses, the Foundation created the Nature Challenge program. In consultation with the Union of Concerned Scientists the Foundation researched the 10 most effective ways to help conserve nature and improve our quality of life, and invited the public to choose to live at least three of them in their daily lives. Their list is:

Reduce home energy use by 10%
Choose an energy-efficient home & appliances
Don't use pesticides
Eat meat-free meals one day a week
Buy locally grown and produced food
Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle
Walk, bike, carpool or take transit
Choose a home close to work or school
Support alternative transportation
Learn more and share with others

As of December 2004, over 140,000 individuals had taken the Nature Challenge. Many famous Canadians are taking the Nature Challenge, including musician Nelly Furtado, musician Sam Roberts, author Margaret Atwood, author Robert Munsch, Mayor of Vancouver Larry Campbell, and Mayor of Toronto David Miller.

Sustainability Within A Generation

In an extensive OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) study, Canada finished 28th out of 29 developed countries in categories such as water, air, waste, and climate change. The Foundation created a report that addresses Canada's capacities to improve sustainability and environmental conservation. The Foundation believes this can be best accomplished by improving efficiency, eliminating waste and pollution, and building sustainable cities.

In February 2004 David Suzuki met with the Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin to present the Foundation's report on how sustainability could be achieved within a generation.

External links

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