ECO-Action helps Georgia communities organize against air, land, and water pollution. They focus on low-income communities and communities of color. They give organizing and technical help, connect groups with experts and agencies, and run learning programs for adults and teens.
The Sierra Club Georgia Chapter is the state branch of the Sierra Club. It works to protect Georgia's air, water, land and climate. It leads outdoor trips such as hikes, bike rides and birding outings. It also runs campaigns on clean energy, transit and state laws, and it welcomes volunteers.
Georgia Interfaith Power & Light helps faith communities across Georgia work on climate change, environmental justice, and community resilience. It coaches Green Teams, offers energy, solar, water, and waste assessments or audits, and helps congregations with native gardens, invasive plant removal, and tree planting. It also speaks up on clean energy and water policy and runs nonpartisan get-out-the-vote text banks.
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is a nonprofit that protects the Chattahoochee River, its lakes, and nearby streams. It tests water, investigates pollution, removes trash, and runs outdoor learning and volunteer activities. Its metro Atlanta office has moved from Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard to Smyrna.
Southface is an Atlanta nonprofit that works to make buildings use less energy and be healthier. It teaches classes for building and trade workers, and it offers grants and discounts to help nonprofits cut their energy bills. It also shares free energy code guides and runs an energy code helpline.
Partnership for Southern Equity is an Atlanta nonprofit that works for racial fairness across metro Atlanta and the South. It trains youth and community leaders, brings neighbors and organizations together, and uses research to push for fairer energy, housing, health, and economic policies.
Root Local is an Atlanta group that helps people take part in caring for the environment. It runs EMMA, a free online map of businesses and groups that have been reviewed for green practices. It also holds community events and brings neighbors and partner groups together for volunteer work.
SONG is a membership group for LGBTQ people across the South, with a focus on people of color, immigrants, rural people and working-class people. It runs organizing campaigns, member-led projects, working groups and gatherings. Members build skills and community together.
West Atlanta Watershed Alliance is a community nonprofit that works to protect and restore nature in West Atlanta. It runs the Outdoor Activity Center, a forest and nature center, with youth camps, field trips, hikes, and volunteer service days. It also speaks up for neighborhoods hurt by pollution and other environmental problems.
Southface Institute is an Atlanta nonprofit, started in 1978, that works on energy-saving and healthy buildings. It trains trade workers and builders, offers green building certification and consulting, and runs grants and discounts that help other nonprofits cut energy bills. Many of its services and courses cost money.
Emory Law is the law school of Emory University. Students there learn by working in legal clinics on real legal needs of clients. One example is the Barton Center, which gives legal help to children and teens involved with the courts.
Generation180 is a national nonprofit that helps people take action on clean energy at home and in their communities. It makes reports, guides, comedy projects and newsletters, and it trains volunteer-style ambassadors who spread the word about solar power and electric cars. Its mailing address is in Virginia, and the pages we read do not name a program run in Atlanta.
Black Voters Matter is a Black-led group that builds political power in Black communities. It works with local groups, runs one-day warrant clinics with a partner, and leads campaigns on health care, young leaders and more. Volunteers can help by texting, writing postcards and joining events.
MicroPlasticsJO is a Georgia nonprofit based in Woodbury. It leads hands-on workshops that mix science and art to teach about single-use plastic and other environmental problems. It also trains other groups on how to talk with their communities about plastic pollution.
This Georgia nonprofit works for clean air, clean water, and fair energy bills. It teaches and organizes people to speak up on energy, the environment, and voting. You can volunteer, join the People's Power Union, or come to its events.
Georgia Rivers (also called Georgia River Network) is a statewide nonprofit that works to protect Georgia's rivers and get people out on them. It runs guided paddle trips, kayaking and water safety classes, and a free phone app for planning river trips. Its office is in Athens.
This is the Department of Environmental Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta. It teaches college and graduate students about the environment and does research. It also holds events that are open to everyone, like weekly Waffle Wednesday gatherings and a public lecture series.
The South River Watershed Alliance works to restore and protect the South River. It speaks up for cleaner water and leads beginner-friendly guided paddle trips on the river. People can join as members and can ask how to volunteer.
Girl + Environment is a national nonprofit started in 2019. It helps young Black and Brown women learn about climate and environmental justice and speak up in their own communities. It does this through monthly social media campaigns, a healing program for women after climate disasters, and events and webinars.
Defend the Atlanta Forest is a loose, grassroots movement and website working to protect the forest in southeast Atlanta. It opposes the planned police training center and a movie studio project there. The site shares news and updates from people on the ground and lists ways to get involved. It says it does not organize protests or events itself.
