Environmental Cooking 101
Common Ingredients:
While many of the recipes in this cookbook are different, there are
a number of ingredients common to all. These ingredients and utensils are
essential to good results:
- a desire to find flexible, low-cost solutions
- a shared commitment to cleaner air
- participation of business and industry leaders, regulators, and the public
- an open process for consensus building
- an understanding of community resources
- positive project planning.
Trying a Demonstration Project
Do you like to experiment? Make up your own recipes!This shows you how it's done. Start with an idea... Ask yourself these questions:
- Will it make the air cleaner?
- Will it be reasonably simple to implement?
- Will it require changes in the law?
Keep these tips in mind:
- Focus on a sources of emissions and a single idea.
- Keep the program as simple as possible, and think it through.
Write a concept paper
Try to explain how your idea will work in less than two pages. Then, send
it to a group of industry representatives, plan a meeting to discuss how
the idea might help them and ask for a budget and staffing plan. If you
got this far, your idea is a good one. Now, prepare a program plan.
Ask these questions:
- Who will need to be involved?
- What will they have to do?
- How will they evaluate the results?
- Who will pay for the program?
Once your plan is ready, just follow your own instructions. It's easy!
Some tips for success:
- Get a politician excited about your idea. Let the regulators know what you are planning. Get them involved.
- Set a time limit, but make sure you give your idea a fair chance.
- Keep the media involved and informed.
- Don't create false hopes or expectations.
Once you've finished, evaluate your results honestly. If it works, congratulations! You found a new way to clean the air.