� Who is Sustainability International? What is the definition, history and general ideas and theories surrounding their mission, vision or principles?

Sustainability International is a non-profit organization that is based upon three main concepts of sustainability, conservation and health. Through field research, training and technical assistance, they want to improve environment sustainability within developing countries. By training local leaders about conservation and proper protection of resources, their goal is to conserve ecosystems and protect bio-diversity in those developing countries. Along with sustainability and conservation education, their goal is to improve health of indigenous peoples through health promotion and disease prevention.

What do you think they want to make their audience aware of about this organization? Inform, persuade, other? Elaborate.

Based on their website and Twitter feed, I think their primary goal is to raise awareness of people’s living conditions in developing countries. Their secondary goal would be to get people to care, and want to join their cause.

What are some of statistics related to Sustainability International and their overall purpose?

According to their Twitter, there are over 30 million people who call the Niger Delta their home. However, the water is polluted with oil and it needs to be cleaned up. #CleanUpNigerDelta is one of their most common hashtags used, as they are trying to raise awareness about this issue and come up with a solution. Cleaning up the delta will improve the three main concepts which they promote; sustainability, conservation and health.

List FIVE attributes about Sustainability International. What does it do? What does it stand for? Why does it exist?

1 Raises awareness about living conditions in developing countries.

2 Educates others on how to get involved.

3 Teach, train and educate local leaders on the three concepts; sustainability, conservation and health.

4 Conserve and protect resources

5 Educate about current issues

In your own words, create a 200 word summary of Sustainability International as if you were introducing it at a luncheon or explaining it to someone in casual conversation. Cover who they are, what they do and what they are trying to accomplish.

Sustainability-International is a non-profit organization who is dedicated to sustainability, health and conservation in developing countries. Their goal is to provide innovative solutions to improve environment sustainability through research training and technical assistance. They also focus on training leaders about conservation and proper protection of resources to conserve ecosystems and bio-diversity. One of their current projects includes empowering women by providing them with resources and job opportunities. A second project focuses on girls’ education and healthcare providing them with scholarships, school supplies, mentoring opportunities, career guidance and emotional development. The third project underway is the “Clean up the Niger Delta Project”. Their goal is to raise awareness about the human rights and environmental disaster in the Niger Delta. They want to keep Shell, and the international oil companies accountable for the disaster they have created as well as bring medical examiners and health monitors to help the 30 million people of the Niger Delta. For more information, visit their website www.sustainability-international.org.

What are five key terms or phrases you would use if you were searching online for a cause like this?

1 Conservation

2 Sustainability

3 Niger Delta

4 Ecosystems

5 Education

What would benefit this organization most? Support? Connections? Fundraising? Volunteers? Attendance at an event? Why?

One major thing that would benefit this organization is a better website. There isn’t much information about the group, how they came together, who their leaders and partners are etc. A general background on these areas would help their credibility immensely. People want to know about the people behind the project and their brand just as much as they want to know about the project. Their current website gives limited information about this. Secondly, they would benefit from working with other groups/organizations with similar goals. Since this is such a large area they are focused on, they need lots of resources and partners to make sure all aspects are covered. Lastly, their attendance at an event to promote their company and projects could do the organization wonders! Some sort of environmental fair or seminar would be a great place to start. There is a variety of seminars at the university level that provide their contact information that Sustainability-International could contact. Even if they don’t get set up with something right away, it would be a great way to get their name out there and network.

The importance of sustainability and why it’s lacking in the Niger Delta| The main purpose of sustainability is so the earth can continue exist in the future, and continue what it was designed to do; provide fresh air, clean water, produce food and allow us all to have a high quality of life forever. However that is not where the earth is at now. If humans were follow the 4 basic principles of sustainability, the earth will thrive. These principles include; reduce dependence on fossil fuels and heavy metals, reduce dependence on synthetic chemicals that persist in nature, reduce destruction of nature, and ensure people are not stopped from meeting their needs. The demand for basic needs increase as the population increases. Humans need clean air water and food. Everything that humans need for survival and well-being depends directly or indirectly on our natural environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency “Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations” . To 1

protect human health and the environment, we must continue to have water, materials and resources. Humans have become a threat to our own way of life. Sustainability is dependent on society, economy and environment.

http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm1

Sustainability-International is a 501 (C)( 3) non-profit organization who works to conserve the environment, protect the health and human rights of indigenous people. Based out of Orlando Florida, Sustainability-International is a fairly new organization with hopes to raise awareness about the environmental disaster in the Niger Delta. All of their funds are based off of donations and sponsors.

Website: http://sustainability-international.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SustainIntl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sustainabilityintl Info on the disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhRiO6iaDjU&feature=youtu.be Donations: http://www.cleanupnigerdelta.org/

The EPA is aiming to make sustainability the next level of environmental protection. Through advances in science and technology and promotion of innovative green practices, sustainability can be achieved. Sustainability was lost over 50 years ago when oil spills were neglected and never cleaned up. The mess snowballed from there resulting in an unsafe environment for the indigenous people of Nigeria. In order to reestablish a sustainable lifestyle in the Niger Delta, a plan to clean up the oil spills must be put into action. In addition, research, training and technical assistance are needed to help prevent this in the future. The first step is to raise awareness of what is happening and how you can get involved. Check out http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm for more information on sustainability, as well as http://sustainability-international.org/ and http://www.cleanupnigerdelta.org/ for more information about #CleanUpNigerDelta.

STATUS UPDATE

Did you know that 30 million people use the Niger Delta as their main water source? The Niger Delta is the world capitol of oil pollution leaving these people without safe, healthy drinking water. In 2011, the United Nations named the Niger Delta of Nigeria as one of their 8 disaster and conflict areas of the world. There hasn’t been any oil clean up in over 50 years. It will take 25-30 years to clean this up. Shell and the Nigerian government set up a 1 billion dollar fund to clean this up but 2 years later nothing has been done. We need your help to raise awareness about this issue! Check out the links below and share this with all of your friends! #CleanUpNigerDelta http://www.cleanupnigerdelta.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhRiO6iaDjU&feature=youtu.be

1) Twitter: Sustainability International cares most about sustainability, conservation and health. Select one of those themes to craft a 140 character tweet on a related story. Reference Associated Press, World News or CNN to find a relevant national story. Reference: Twitter Post Guidelines

MESSAGE 1 of 8 people in the Niger Delta are at risk of dying from cancer because of polluted drinking water. Put this to an end #CleanUpNigerDelta

LINK http://www.cleanupnigerdelta.org/

c. Comment: @nature_org posted the following tweet. Using the @SustainIntl handle – draft a response based on their core principles on conservation.

i. Saving island wolves of Alaska: Unexpected ideas for conservation: http://nature.ly/1Anh5qN  pic.twitter.com/iehE2KmGFg

@SustainIntl: “What was the best motivator to get people to care about the conservation of these endangered wolves?”