Giving Connection

Urban Green Lab

This nonprofit has verified the listed information.

Volunteer

1305 Clinton Street, Suite 230, Nashville, TN 37203, USA

EIN Number: 27-1011744

contact information

Phone: 615-442-7072

Hours: By Appointment Only

Mon 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM (EST)

Tue Closed

Wed Closed

Thu 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM (EST)

Fri Closed

Sat Closed

Sun Closed

Website: http://www.urbangreenlab.org

Email: connect@urbangreenlab.org

NTEE Code: C99: Environment N.E.C.

MISSION - WHAT WE DO

At Urban Green Lab, we teach communities how to live sustainable lives. Founded in 2009, we work to ensure all of us have access to sustainable living education, with an emphasis on preventing waste. Through a focus on classrooms, households, and workplaces -- places where culture begins -- Urban Green Lab transforms spaces into “labs” for rethinking what it means to live sustainably by training and certifying professionals, organizing and facilitating exchange of best practices, connecting institutions with services, and encouraging people to feel good about being part of the solution.

SERVICES - HOW WE DO IT

Sustainable Classrooms: The Sustainable Classrooms division aims to show that sustainable living can be a part of any classroom. Using our standards-aligned curriculum, a PBL project, and student-led home investigations as a base, we explore how to use a sustainability lens in any formal or informal K-12 classroom. Our professional development training provides educators with the confidence, tools, and community needed to empower students to make lifelong sustainable choices. Nashville Environmental Justice Initiative: The Nashville Environmental Justice Initiative (NEJI) works to educate community stakeholders on the tenants of environmental justice and collaborative problem solving that protects and empowers Nashville’s most marginalized communities from environmental hazards. Through a partnership between Urban Green Lab and Tennessee State University, the initiative is designed to grow a culture of systemic learning around environmental justice in the city by exploring the issues facing marginalized communities today, developing impactful educational solutions, and connecting thought leaders to better mobilize their collective impact so Nashville grows responsibly for its people, profit, and the planet. Urban Green Lab Certification: Urban Green Lab officially recognizes community institutions – like schools, businesses, and nonprofits -- as Nashville-approved “Urban Green Labs.” A lab is any workplace that proves its commitment to the practice and training of sustainable behaviors and explores new ways for making decisions that better protect our people, profit, and planet. We use an annual assessment to diagnose your needs, then work together to kickstart your green team, create a strategic plan, connect you with fellow workplaces and experts, and help better tell your story. Nashville Food Waste Initiative: Founded by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 2015 and in partnership with the Environmental Law Institute, the Nashville Food Waste Initiative (NFWI) drives citywide policies and strategies that reduce food waste by preventing wasted food, rescuing surplus food for those in need, and composting and recycling food scraps to build healthy soil. Through the NFWI, Urban Green Lab organizes, trains, and connects diverse food waste stakeholders year-round and offers training for how you can reduce food waste in your own institution. Nashville Sustainability Roundtable: The Nashville Sustainability Roundtable brings together professionals (including young professionals) from all corners of the city year-round to learn, exchange best practices, and act collectively on sustainability issues. Free and open to anyone, the Roundtable’s topics are based on Nashville’s own sustainability story, but grounded in the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Roundtable includes expert panels, networking with local vendors, workshop-style interaction, and the chance to join industry-specific committees. Students in Sustainability: Students in Sustainability matches Nashville high school juniors and seniors with local business green teams (including nonprofits) to learn how workplaces strive to become more sustainable. Each academic year, small cohorts of students work alongside green team professionals (now virtually due to COVID-19) to help them research and solve actual sustainability challenges, then formally present their solutions at semester’s end. It’s a great way to learn, network, build mentorships and professional skills, and discover how any job can be a green job. B-Tennessee: Urban Green Lab is the new home for B-Tennessee: Empowering B Corps and leaders in the emerging purpose-driven economy, using business as a force for good in Tennessee. Certified B Corporations are businesses that are committed to using business as a force for good. The B Tennessee community includes business leaders, engaged employees, and citizens who envision a more sustainable future. B Tennessee is a community of purpose-driven businesses and citizens energized by a sustainable future, led by a desire to use business as a force for good. Urban Green Lab now serves as a resource for local businesses interested in pursuing B Corp Certification by providing connections that aid in the Certification process, and we are working to grow the support system around B Corporations in Tennessee.