LITE: Living In Touch with The Earth
Initiatives: Specific programs, activities, projects or actions organizations undertake in an effort to meet performance targets

A sustainable practices group. LITE's mission is to motivate individuals, groups, businesses and even whole communities to live lightly and more efficiently. Founded as Car-Lite in 2000 and incorporated as a 501c3 in 2002, our programs raise public awareness, promote commonsense and safety and offer numerous positive reinforcements - all of which are known to be effective ways to get individuals to change their behavior.

Initially focused on driving less, in 2004 we decided to change our name and broaden our scope to address the areas we regularly work in. Our programs now include Car-Lite - the controversial Sebastopol Car-Free Day and the Drive-Less Pledge, Community Bikes, the Green Mentor and Zero Waste Sonoma County. Our activities include a well received sustainable film and lecture series, a community bike shop, technical assistance, green plan development and green team management, motivational articles and transportation and zero waste activism.

Organized around the Do It Yourself (DIY) principle and the Ecological Footprint Quiz, LITE creates a wide variety of opportunities for people of all ages and walks of life to practice new ways of doing common tasks. These folks are often surprised how small, seemingly minor changes improve their quality of life - like intentionally not driving a few days a month, taking part in a zero emission parade entry, teaching someone how to repair a flat tire, giving a talk about your passion or organizing a zero waste party.

Our board of directors includes the two founders who also serve as the executive director and the program coordinator. A core group of about 10 volunteers participate regularly and a large number of occasional volunteers flow in and out depending on the activity and time of year. To date LITE projects have been funded from small grants from Whole Food Market's EnviroCents Program, Bread for the Journey - Sebastopol, a series of anonymous donations and mostly by our volunteers.

Best known for our Car-Lite and Community Bikes Projects, LITE is a member of the Sonoma County Air Quality Resource Team and  the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, and collaborates with many groups including GreenMary.com, Redwood Empire Clean Air Coalition, Association for Creative Endeavor , North Bay Electric Auto Association, the Sonoma County Bio-Diesel Coop and the Veggie Oil Coop.  The majority of our projects have been in  the San Francisco Bay Area, though we have enjoyed helping with projects in Utah, England and Holland.

Programs
Car-Lite:             Driving-less and more efficiently, alternative vehicle expos and transportation activism
Community Bikes: Bike repair, community skill building and resource development
Green Mentor:      Technical advice and programs for individuals, groups, businesses and communities
Zero Waste:         Zero waste or darn close - leadership of local and international initiatives Top

Background

Founded in 2000 and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit in 2002, we are evolving from a weekend volunteer group to a processional team working with committed volunteers.  Initially focused on driving less and more efficiently, we have also been educating the public on biking safely, eating lightly, waste reduction, reuse and recycling and all things green - careers, business and personal practices and events.  In 2004 we decided to update our charter to reflect this work and use DIY and the Ecological Footprint as organizing tools.

From Wikipedia: The DIY Ethic (do it yourself ethic) refers to the ethic of being self-reliant and doing things yourself as opposed to paying others to do it. The term can indicate "doing" anything from home improvements and repairs to healthcare, from publication to electronics. DIY questions the supposed uniqueness of the expert's skills, and promotes the ability of the ordinary person to learn to do more than he or she thought was possible.

The Ecological Footprint uses a lifestyle quiz to calculate an individual's impact on the Earth. It asks 14 simple questions  - where you live, what you eat, the waste you generate, the size of your home, your energy use and how you get about, and then calculates how many acres of land and surface water are needed per year to maintain your lifestyle. (To calculate your own footprint or to find out about this important work, go to www.myfootprint.org.  Click here to read Portia's article on shrinking your Footprint.) Top

Board of Directors
A consensus based group, the Board consists of five members:

Executive Director and Co-Founder, Portia Sinnott is a sustainability consultant, a waste management specialist and a community activist. The former Chair of the Sonoma County Conservation Council (2000 - 2005), she works closely with many local and regional environmental groups. Current or recent consulting projects include the Berkeley/Albany Reuse Directory, the Berkeley Ecology Center's Multi-family Outreach Project and Mixed Waste Paper Drive and the Eco-Ring: Russian River Economic and Environmental Sustainability Project. Part of the team that organized the 2004 International Dialog: Proper Discard Management In the New Millennium, she edited more than eight papers for a zero waste reader for the Grassroots Recycling Network. A fellow of the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy, she is part of the team planning the continuing education program.  District 5 Alternate Representative to the Sonoma County Task Force for Solid Waste, she has served as the Vice-Chair for more than three years and is the Initiator and Chair of the Zero Waste Sub-Committee.

Treasurer/Secretary, Program Coordinator and Co-Founder, Sammy Nasr, is a businessman activist who previously owned and operated an ecological-as-possible printing company. Appointed by Supervisor Mike Reilly, he is the District 5 Representative to the Sonoma County Task Force for Solid Waste. Chair during one of the group’s most active periods, he helped plan how the County will recycle more then 50% of their waste stream and is now working to maximize diversion and keep Sonoma County's trash under Sonoma County's control.

Jim McGreen, the President of Dloo Software, Inc., is the Founder and former President/CEO of Zap Power Systems and inventor of the ZAP electric bike.

Kathryn Ackland is a Living Foods Chef, the owner of Raw Food Central and a Strategic Marketing Consultant specializing in Brand Promise Development and Management whose list of former clients includes 3M.  While the Director of Client Services for The Middle Way (TMW), a training facility for developmentally disabled adults, she initiated Community Bikes, a bike repair training program and community bike shop, of which LITE/Car-Lite was a strategic partner.  In late 2004, TMW closed the training program and transferred the project to LITE.

Manuel Mejia, a multi-media web developer and a job coach, Manuel specializes in working one-on-one with developmentally disabled adults. Previously the Bike Shop Manager and Job Coach for The Middle Way, Manuel also had worked for No Barriers and Zap Power Systems.  Top