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In Our Community |

Resources

Interested in learning more about what sustainability options exist in the Auburn/Opelika community? We’ve put together a small sample of local and regional sustainability-related resources to get you started.

Feel free to let us know about any organizations or resources you think should be on our list!

Food

Food choices have a direct impact on our health, the wellbeing of food producers, and the natural world. Things to consider when making food purchases include:

  • Distance to site of production
  • Method of Production/Processing
  • Seasonality
  • Nutritional Value

Whether you’re a member of a CSA, shopping at a farmer’s market, growing your own food, or making a run to the grocery store, Auburn provides many opportunities to make sustainable food choices.

Grow Your Own

Alabama Cooperative Extension – Lawn & Garden

Lee County Master Gardeners of Alabama

Fresh from the Farm

Eagle’s Harvest Produce

Grow Alabama

Hornsby Farms, LLC

Opelika Main Street Farmers Market

Randle Farms

The Garden Market Farms

The Market at Ag Heritage Park

Food Purveyors

Auburn University Fish Market

Auburn University Meats Laboratory Retail Sales

Food Bank of East Alabama

Parkway Farmers Market

Water

Water is a limited and irreplaceable necessity for life on Earth.  Humans and countless other species need sufficient supplies of fresh, clean water to survive.

The choices we make every day – from how much water is wasted or contaminated to how we care for our land – impact nature’s ability to provide this precious resource for our use.  To learn more about water, and how you can help protect it, consider contacting one or more of the following organizations.

City of Auburn – Water Resource Management

Opelika Water Works Board

Alabama Cooperative Extension – Water Resources

Save Our Saugahatchee

Friends of Chewacla Creek and the Uphapee Watershed

Alabama Water Watch

Alabama Rivers Alliance

Homes

If our homes are poorly insulated, built, or designed, they can waste resources, cause environmental harm, and cost us much more than necessary.  Sustainable building and home improvement practices can reduce the cost of operating our homes and decrease resource use, while bringing beauty and functionality into our lives.  So whether you’re renting, building, or own your home, a number of local resources exist to help improve the performance and comfort of your home, while reducing its impact on the natural world.

Alabama Restore

Lee County Habitat for Humanity

Going Solar in Alabama

The Alabama Tenants Handbook

United States Green Building Council – Alabama

Transportation

Getting from where we are to where we need to be can have a significant impact on our pocketbooks and the planet.  Choosing to walk, bike, use public transportation, or power vehicles with alternative fuels can be a great way to improve health, save some money, and/or reduce environmental impact.

Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition

Bicycle Auburn

Groome Transportation

Lee-Russell Public Transit

Materials

What we choose to buy and from where, along with how we dispose of goods and materials once they have reached the end of their useful life for us, can have a lasting impact on the availability of natural resources.  By choosing wisely, we can reduce amounts purchased, reuse what is purchased over and over again, and make sure that at the end of a product’s useful life it enters a new resource stream rather than a waste stream.

Check out this list of places to shop for new or new-to-you items, donate old goods, or recycle what would otherwise become waste.

Thrift Stores

Goodwill

Harvest Thrift Supercenter

Lee County Flea Market

Lifesavers Mission Thrift

Antiques and Consignment Sources

Angel’s Antique and Flea Mall

Craigslist

Plato’s Closet

Resurrect Antiques

Recycling

City of Auburn Recycling Guide

City of Auburn Recycling

East Alabama Recycling Partnership

Buy Nothing Project

Community and Culture

Vibrant communities are necessary for a sustainable society, and each one of us can contribute to creating a thriving social fabric.  Embracing local culture and history and participating in community activities and organizations, including local government, contribute to communities characterized by connectedness, caring, equity, and engagement.

Auburn provides a number of ways to engage with the cultural and historic richness of our region.  In addition, events throughout the area provide ample opportunities to get out and have fun with your fellow Alabamians.

Arts

Auburn Area Community Theatre

Auburn Arts Association

The Arts Association of East Alabama

Civic Life

Auburn Rotary Club

City of Auburn

City of Opelika

Civitan Club of Auburn

League of Women Voters

Lee County Alabama

History

Lee County Historical Society

Horseshoe Bend National Historic Site

National Memorial for Peace & Justice

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site

Warm Springs Historic District (GA)

Museums and Events

Auburn and Opelika Tourism Bureau

Julie Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art

Museum of East Alabama

Personal Wellbeing

Personal health, happiness, and fulfillment are conditions necessary for a sustainable society.  Self-care nourishes and replenishes us, and enables us to contribute to the wellbeing of others and the community as a whole.  Yet, in today’s fast-paced world, it can be hard to carve out time to take care of ourselves – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Here are just a few of the many local resources that can help us reconnect with those things that make us our own personal best.

Natural Areas

Chewacla State Park

Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve

Tuskegee National Forest

Recreation

Alabama Power Lakes & Recreation

City of Auburn Parks & Recreation Department

City of Opelika Parks & Recreation Department

Health

East Alabama Mental Health Center

Lee County Health Department

Lee County Humane Society

Rape Counselors of East Alabama