About EASI
Seniors Acting for the Environment
The Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement (EASI)
is a national nonprofit coalition of environmental, aging and
volunteer organizations established in 1991 as the result of a
visionary agreement between the US Environmental Protection Agency and
the American Association of Retired Persons. EASI's mission is to
increase opportunities for older adults to play an active, visible
role in protecting and improving the environment in their communities.
EASI's national partners include over 300 national, state and local
public and private organizations such as:
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
Corporation for National and Community Service
US Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management, National
Park Service
Coastal America
North American Coalition on Religion and Ecology
National Wildlife Federation
US Environmental Protection Agency
National Rural Water Association
National Association of Physicians for the Environment
National Association of Towns and Townships
US Department of Agriculture: Forest Service, Natural Resources
Conservation Service
National Association of Counties
Groundwater Foundation
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Commonwealth of Virginia
University of North Texas at Denton
Pennsylvania Business Roundtable
US Department of Health and Human Services: Administration on
Aging
Oklahoma Blue Thumb
National Park Foundation
RSVP Association of Washington State
EASI identifies support for senior volunteer activities that address
national, state and local environmental priorities. Through its
national network of 12,000 local organizations, EASI selects local
hosts to recruit, train and recognize senior volunteers who carry out
a wide range of environmental activities.
Initiated in 1997, the first statewide Senior Environment Corps is the
result of a partnership between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's
Departments of Aging and Environmental Protection, the Corporation for
National Service and EASI. Focused on water quality, the program has
mobilized older Pennsylvanians to carry out quality-assured chemical,
biological and habitat assessments and to collect the water quality
data into an innovative electronic database accessible through the
Internet.
In 1999 the Commonwealth of Virginia established the EASI Virginia
Senior Environment Corps based on the Pennsylvania model. In 2001,
EASI partnered with Oklahoma Blue Thumb to establish a statewide
Oklahoma Senior Environment Corps.
EASI is headquartered in Catlett, Virginia and has offices in
Arlington, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Red Lion, Pennsylvania, and
Denton, Texas. Its staff oversees government and private sector
funding that is granted to local host organizations, providing support
for recruitment, training, and supplying senior environmental
volunteer programs.
In 2002-2003 EASI provides support for a wide variety of environmental
activities that include but are not limited to:
Water Quality Monitoring
Watershed Assessment
Children's Health Initiative
Classroom Environmental Education
Forest Management
Outdoor Environmental Education
Stream Corridor Restoration
Brownfields Revitalization
Source Water / Groundwater Protection
Home Testing for Radon
Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance
Community Gardens
Senior Ranger Corps
EASI Ambassadors
Partners Against Weeds
Senior Volunteer Leadership
From $10,000 start-up money in 1991, EASI's annual budget has grown to
$2.7 million in 2002-2003. The first Senior Environment Corps projects
in 1993 mobilized 26 older adult volunteers; in 2003 over 100,000
seniors will be involved in significant environmental activities
through the Senior Environment Corps program.
EASI also provides how-to information on all aspects of senior
environmental volunteer programs and helps individual Senior
Environment Corps become self-sustaining. Through its electronic
assets -- EASI's Internet site and server -- individuals and groups
all over the world are able to communicate their ideas for new ways
that older adults may make a significant contribution to sustainable
communities.
EASI publishes an electronic newsletter, EASI Does It!, for 7,000
organizations around the world. EASI partners with the University of
North Texas at Denton to produce the Sustainable Communities Review, a
semiannual journal that merges traditional concerns for the
environment with the social and cultural aspects of community life.
EASI's other publications published in collaboration with its partners
include brochures and manuals such as The Physician's Green Office
Guide, the Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Training and Field
Manuals, How to Create a Successful Homeland Security Program, How to
Establish a Successful Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps, Establishing a
Successful Brownfields Revitalization Project, and A Green Home is a
Healthy Home.
Briefing Paper on Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement
for Senior Involvement