The Get It! Guide’s mission is to help all of us “Get It” — by offering locals and visitors a readily accessible introduction to the many ways we can engage and have a stake in building vibrant, sustainable community in Western North Carolina by promoting the organizations that underpin, inform and help organize a sustainable community.
Sow True Seed was founded in 2009 to serve home gardeners, market growers and the seed-saving community at large. The company seeks to promote and foster community sustainability by helping to preserve our shared botanical heritage and “seed” a new era of sustainable culture and ecological wisdom. We work with regional growers and independently owned […]
By Mountain BizWorks Kudzai Mabunda is a native of Zimbabwe who has dedicated her career to providing assisted living and social services to her community. Several years ago, Kudzai noticed a growing trend in her field — “family care homes,” which provide elderly or disabled Medicaid beneficiaries with living facilities in a home environment. After […]
By Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project Because choices matter. Buying local helps us to…. Celebrate our Character and Heritage Buying local ensures that our farms and local businesses remain vibrant and productive and contribute to preserving our scenic landscape and unique culture. Keep Value in the Local Economy Buying local is about more than how we […]
By Asheville Grown Sustainability is a beautiful thing — and so is sustainably crafted fashion. When we wear upcycled clothing — meaning clothing that would otherwise be discarded, including unique vintage pieces or custom-crafted looks from leftover fabrics — we reduce waste and environmental impact. When we buy clothes from locally owned businesses, we support […]
By Western North Carolina Green Building Council Service your heating/cooling system: Like a tune-up for your car, this should be done annually. Clean the unit and replace the filters to ensure that the equipment is running at its most efficient. Do it yourself or hire a service technician. Install a programmable thermostat: Automatically adjust your […]
By Mountain Area Information Network Increasingly, people hope to eat and shop consciously by being aware of the origins and production of the goods they buy and use. But many people don’t know that we can do the same thing when we use our computers. Conscious computing is an effort to bring that same awareness […]
By Jon Christie, Wild Mountain Bees Bees and other pollinators are an essential component to the health and function of our environment. Managed honeybee colonies alone contribute over 16 billion dollars of economic value to agriculture in the US. It is estimated that 30 percent of the food we eat is entirely dependent on bee-pollinated […]
The Asheville Tool Library is basically like a regular library — but instead of books you get to rent out tools. We provide low-cost access to a wide range of tools, literature and knowledge. The community-driven project empowers individuals through affordable access to resources that encourage rehabilitation, creativity, entrepreneurship and livability. Here’s how it works: […]
By Mudluscious Pottery & Gardens Herbs work as pollinators: At least a third of what we buy in the market is dependent on pollinators, but our pollinators (including honey bees, wild bees, butterflies, wasps and flies) are having problems due to pesticides, disease, climate change, loss of habitat and more reasons. Some great herbs for […]
The construction industry provides the basic human need of shelter. Like other fundamental industries, such as the food industry, economic/social shifts such as the recent recession have spurred our industry to evolve and reinvent ourselves around current conditions. Due to this changing economy and industry, many training and re-training opportunities are needed. The latest version […]
Asheville Green Drinks is proud to be one of the most consistent events in Asheville, NC. Part of the self-organizing, international, grassroots networking event series, Green Drinks, we connect our local community to environmental consciousness, green endeavors, sustainable media and social justice action. All over the world people who are interested in environmental issues and […]
The Lenoir-Rhyne University Sustainability Studies master’s program is beginning its journey close to home by taking a look at the university’s sustainability practices on its Asheville campus. A Reese Institute Fellowship is providing students the opportunity to make change happen. Lenoir-Rhyne shares a building with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce where this year’s Reese […]
Ujamaa Freedom market is a worker-owned, cooperative mobile market that sells fresh local produce, healthy prepared foods and other household necessities in communities throughout Asheville on a weekly basis, particularly focusing on communities experiencing poverty and food deserts. The mission of Ujamaa Freedom Market is to feed and nourish the whole community through access to […]
Transition Asheville is part of a growing international transition movement that provides a model for communities to engage in a co-creative process for building local resilience. We’re joining cities and towns from around the world to face the challenges of economic instability, climate change and fossil fuel dependency. There are hundreds of transition initiatives worldwide […]
Western North Carolina Alliance is the only grassroots environmental advocacy group focused solely on conserving Western North Carolina’s natural heritage. We were founded in 1982 by citizens in Macon County who organized to successfully protect their local national forests from oil and gas leasing. Utilizing a combination of policy advocacy, scientific research and community collaboration, […]
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters and build healthy communities through connections to local food. Our vision is of strong farms, thriving local food economies and healthy communities where farming is valued as central to our heritage and our future. As an organization, we […]
The Green Restaurant Association is a national nonprofit that provides the only official Certified Green Restaurants mark in the country. For 23 years, the GRA has pioneered the Green Restaurant movement and has been the leading voice within the industry encouraging restaurants to listen to consumer demand to “green” their operations using transparent, science-based certification […]
Did you know you can source hops locally? Using locally grown hops to brew your beer means that you can enjoy the freshest hops available without the energy waste of transporting them across the country. Blue Ridge Hops is a small family farm, located in Marshall, North Carolina, where spectacular long-range views surround the hops […]
At Biltmore, sustainable thinking has been the centerpiece of our efforts to serve as a model in our community regarding environmental stewardship. Our emphasis on sustainability has been inspired by George Vanderbilt’s vision of Biltmore as a working estate. Our current projects include solar panels to generate our own renewable energy source. We now have […]
Downtown Asheville boasts one of the oldest public fruit forests in the world. For this reason, the Buncombe Fruit and Nut Club started in 2008 to care for The George Washington Carver Park, an edible park about an acre in size that contains 40 different varieties of edible fruits and nuts. BFNC is a place […]
The asheville-Buncombe Food policy Council (ABFPC) is a community-based advisory group that identifies and proposes innovative policy solutions to improve local food systems, spur local economic development and make food systems environmentally sustainable and socially just. ABFPC members include nonprofit organizations, local government representatives, community advocates, farmers, local businesses, students and others. The organization formed […]
